Confessions of a Penang girl

by Yeoh Siew Hoon

Everytime I return to Penang, I am torn between two feelings – delight that, despite the years, my hometown hasn’t changed that much at heart and sadness that somehow it’s fallen behind so many other tourism destinations in Asia in terms of allure and appeal.

There was a time when Penang was truly the Pearl of the Orient, when it was one of the top island destinations in Asia that longhaul travellers aspired to visit. Tell someone you were from Penang and they’d go, “Oooh.” Now they go, “Oh.”

And the only nice thing they have to say is, “Great food.”

Call it lack of leadership, blurred vision, poor planning or whatever, Penang lost its way in tourism terms.

Beaches were neglected, roads were not improved upon, hotels remained the same, and the tourism product got stale and there were no new “sexy” developments that get a destination talked about.

In short, the buzz went out of Penang.

Secretly, I felt relieved. At least, my island has not been overtaken by mass tourism, the way other places have been. I can still go to places I went to as a child and find them still there.

I can still go to the same food stalls and find it’s now a second or third generation cooking the same thing.

There is comfort in such familiarity.

But as someone working in the travel industry, I feel frustrated. I can see the potential and the possibilities. To me, Penang remains one of the most authentic places in Asia where travellers can immerse themselves, if they wish to, in experiences that are without guile and artifice.

Away from the beaches – where Penang cannot possibly compete with the likes of Phuket and Samui – the island has many things going for it. A charming city centre that is full of history, character and colour; shophouses that are for real and not tarted up for tourists; a deep sense of community that prevails among its residents; and folks who are generally genuinely friendly and not out to fleece the “foreigners”.

Yet most of the tourism action is still concentrated on the Batu Ferringhi stretch. And this is where I feel there’s a mis-connect.

Today’s travellers want to connect with local life, and Batu Ferringhi is deemed by locals as the “foreigner” strip.

Few of my friends choose to eat, shop or play at Batu Ferringhi, unless they have visitors in town.

So here’s the Catch-22. As long as visitors only stay in Batu Ferringhi, they don’t get to experience the real Penang. And they go home comparing the beaches and the nightlife with Phuket’s or Samui’s or Bali’s, and guess who’s the loser.

One major hotel group that’s trying to inject new life into Batu Ferringhi or at least move the game up a notch is Shangri-La which invested US$29 million to redevelop the Rasa Sayang Resort.

Many raised their eyebrows at the size of this investment and many are still wondering if they’ll ever get back their return.

The resort re-opened last September and a year later, it is celebrating the fact that it’s been voted into fourth place in Conde Nast Traveller’s Readers’ Travel Awards 2007 in the Overseas Leisure Hotels – Asia and the Indian Subcontinent Category.

It was the highest ranked Malaysian hotel on the list and worldwide, it came in at 22nd place.

General manager Arbind Shrestha believes the award is not only recognition for the hotel, but also for Penang. “This is going to give Penang the recognition it deserves.”

One award does not a summer make though, but it is at least a step in the right direction for Penang as a tourism destination.

This time round, I heard of several new developments that industry players on the island are welcoming, which they say herald the rejuvenation of Penang.

The Batu Ferringhi River is to be rehabilitated at a cost of RM7 million (completion date 2008). Also proposed are a cable car link between Butterworth and George Town, a second bridge and monorail, the Tanjong City Marina and Penang Global City, which will include a performing arts centre and a convention centre.

The Goddess of Mercy Statue, a big attraction for tourists from Asia, is also to get a RM40 million facelift.

Forgive me though if I am not jumping out of my chair in jubilation yet.

Until and unless air access to Penang is improved (where are the low cost flights), proper destination planning is undertaken and visitor experiences are enriched intelligently and creatively, I feel the real Penang will continue to be one of Asia’s best kept secrets.

Which, really, is not such a bad thing, when you think about it.

Catch more of Yeoh Siew Hoon every week at The Transit Cafe

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