Heritage Buildings
in Penang Historic City
as defined by UNESCO

Heritage buildings, cities or monuments are vetted by UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Countries which are chosen to be under this program must maintain and manage these areas or landmarks and set up a full reporting system to UNESCO.

The august body then provides technical support, professional training as well as providing emergency assistance and funds in case of immediate danger to the buildings due to war or natural disasters.

UNESCO also supports steps taken by the local authorities in terms of publishing literature, spreading the word to the international communities and also acknowledging individuals and corporations who are pro-active in this effort.

Programs like treasure hunt, photography competition involving heritage buildings and other arts are very much encouraged.

It is really amazing that some of these heritage buildings which are over a hundred years are more solid than the ones built much much later. They withstood earthquakes, typhoons and other extreme elements well that they still can stand proud till today.

Sadly, most of the time, the locals do not appreciate what they have in their own backyard, due to ignorance and also lack of funds. A majority of potential heritage buildings are neglected and left to decay. Usually, it was the experts from developed nations who would take the initiative to protect these treasures from further damage.

There are over 200 properties listed on the World Heritage. World Heritage Cities Program is one of the categories. Since a city is alive and forever changing, it is a real challenge to balance its needs which are always evolving with respect to time. A fine thread has to be walked so that the demands of modern life is met without compromising the needs to preserve the historic character and identity.

Penang as a historic city

In 1995, the Georgetown city in Penang started a bid to be listed as a historic city in UNESCO's world heritage cities program. Together with Malacca, both cities were recognized by the Malaysian government as historic cities of the Straits of Malacca.

It is not surprising because both cities (together with Singapore) were former British straits settlement colonies and have been favorite destinations for both tourists and locals alike.

One of common trademarks of these cities are the ubiquitous shophouses. Rows and rows of them. There are many styles of shop houses, which evolve over the years.

Visitors and tourists come to visit and appreciate the cultural aspects as well as the historical significance the cities had made in the formation of the federation of Malaysia.  Hunters of antique treasures, lovers of quaint art and also students from all sorts of fields flock in to bargain, appreciate and learn.

The cities are also the melting pot of various races that make up the unique traits of current Malaysians. Inter-racial marriages are common and major religions worship side by side in total harmony.

Since Penang has been an entreport for more than a hundred years, the bustling city becomes the centerpoint for traders who built shophouses to sell their goods. The architecture of these shop houses evolve over the years and you can see how they have been changing.

Naturally, the state of Penang appointed a committee made up of members from various fields of expertise to study and implement many things to achieve the goal of becoming a heritage city. Among them were the local municipal council, architects, urban planners, academicians, tourism operators and also representatives from various ethnic groups.

It is now over ten years and we can see remarkable changes that the preservation effort in Penang have brought. Among others, there is a designated heritage trail as a guide for for visitors and the infrastructure for visitors are well maintained.

Finally on 7th July 2008, the UNESCO has finally endowed the title of historic cities to both Penang and Malacca.

Yap Temple at the corner of Armenian Street
 and Cannon Street (part of the Heritage Trail)

The program also saw that places of worship, colonial state government buildings, shop houses and individual mansions were given fresh breath of life through restoration and also renovation. Penang Heritage Center was established and together with Penang Heritage Trust, both bodies work hand in hand to create awareness, manage and raise funds and also organize many events and site visits.

Penang Heritage Center at the corner of Carnarvon Street and Acheh Street

One of the effort by Penang Heritage Center was to commission the building of a few scale models which are now on permanent display at their headquarters at Armenian Street. When you visit the center, you can see a detailed cut out model of a Chinese shop house (scale of 1:30mm) and also the full layout of streets (scale 1:300mm) which make up the Heritage Trail. The models were built by Freddie Lim, the art director of ZF Mirage Venture. As comparison, there is also a wooden Malay house scale model which was done by the students of a local university. This model is placed on the top floor or Penang Heritage Center.

As for restoration effort, a good example is St. Joseph Novitiate, which was retained amidst an up-market multi-million development at Gurney Drive.

Before, it was a teacher's training college and there used to be a neighboring wooden building used by Uplands School (a private International school). The original school building was demolished by the developer but thankfully, much to the relief of heritage buildings lovers, the novitiate was spared and included in the project.

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