TWELVE

This controversy over modern structures being planned in a heritage area listed by Unesco is a fitting symbolism of how our society has traipsed through a mesh of conflicts, while negotiating between two worlds – the new and the old – over this past year.

If there is one characteristic that has defined the news that hit Penangites over 2009, it is that of the conflict of change – how it has been put through, at what cost, and how rationally (or boldly) we have come to deal with it.

From the destruction of the century-old Kampung Buah Pala Indian settlement for a new upscale residential development project, to the amazing sight of the entire Sungai Gelugor coastline getting gobbled up for reclamation, displacing hundreds of traditional inshore fishermen,
Penangites have been forced to reckon with a massive tide of transformation.

And judging from the way it has been set into motion, it only augurs for many more changes to take place in the next year or two.

What makes this imminent physical transformation especially startling is that it is bound to influence changes in the far less tangible elements of our society – our attitudes, our behaviour, and our very culture.

Consider, for example, how the face of Penang’s communities would change overnight with one of the most major infrastructure projects looming over the island – the Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR). After it was reported in September that the project – shelved last year when it was excluded from the mid-term review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan – was being revived with an 18km-long toll highway cutting across Penang island, there have been many more intriguing developments.

Not only is the federal government getting set to arrange funding the project, it had reportedly also discussed for the concessionaire to have rights to reclaim 61ha of coastal space in Gurney Drive and another 142ha in Middle Bank, near Jelutong – for new townships to emerge.

Penangites are known to be a fiercely protective and parochial bunch of folk. And so the project will have to brace for resistance from groups concerned about environmental degradation and congestion. If the protests and opposition to the wanton hill-slope destruction for projects in Tanjung Bungah are anything to go by, the PORR is in for a rough ride.

As though that was not enough, a slew of other changes have also been put into motion. The second Penang bridge, though delayed again with its cost bloated to around RM4.5 billion, is scheduled to be ready within the next three years. When completed, the increased accessibility it would offer between the mainland and the island is bound to turn the quiet, rural character of many places on the island around.

Property prices in the idyllic back-waters of Balik Pulau, for instance, have been rocketing since the bridge’s construction was confirmed, with a slew of development projects just waiting to take place there.

Meanwhile, the Penang Port has been given approval for a channel deepening project that will allow large-scale transshipments to enter the waters, while a water taxi system is planned to increase mobility and accessibility for people all over the channel. A RM250 million allocation to upgrade the Penang International Airport – an exercise that promises to draw even more international connections to the island – has been confirmed even as a spanking cruise terminal at Swettenham Pier in George Town was finally opened this month.

Amid all these, the state authorities have implemented their share of policies to help protect certain marginalised communities. There have been, for example, the hard-core poverty eradication project, the senior citizens’ benefit scheme and a new micro-credit loan programme for low-income earners.

And in a larger picture, the industrial and the employment scenarios undergo their usual ebb and flow, with much influenced by the global financial situation.

But the test of the authorities will be how adroitly – and sensitively – they control and manage the projects that threaten to displace lifestyles and bring in new ones. It is the physical transformation of the face of Penang – put into gear by the authorities this year – that critically augurs how the very heartbeat of its people will turn in the few years to come.