By Neil Khor.

WHILST our attention is fixed on Bagan Pinang, where a by-election will happen on Oct 13, there is new drama brewing in Pulau Pinang. Perhaps, it is providence that demographically Bagan Pinang has an unusually high number of Indian voters and that in Penang, the Kg Buah Pala, an Indian urban village, issue is throwing light on an important matter that the government continues to ignore.

If the BN is still trying to analyse why it continues to bleed support, it need look no further than the living conditions of Malaysians. Yes, from the air and through air-conditioned cars, there is nothing wrong. In fact, Malaysians should be grateful that our country is so orderly and, some would suggest, attractive to tourists.

Yet a scandal is being created in Tanjong Tokong or "Temple Point" in a 1950 George Town City Council brochure. As most Malaysians have only short term memory, one always have to remind them that they are living in a country where things flip and flop. In January 1957, George Town was declared a city by Queen Elizabeth II. This meant that George Town is Malaysia's first "city" by the international standards of its day. There was a mayor and a city council. Today, we cannot even define the city limits!

Overnight it becomes a 'squatter village'

In 1900, a German photographer Messrs. Kleingrothe of Medan, visited Malaya and took photographs of many states in Peninsular Malaya. He visited Penang and took photographs of George Town. He also took photographs of Tanjong Tokong village, which is the oldest continuously inhabited Malay village on the island.

Tanjong Tokong village is said to have been established by Tuan Guru Haji Hassan Fusanah and, I think, Masjid Tuan Guru may be named after him. There is also a very old Muslim cemetery behind Jalan Gajah. It is also said that Tan Sri Elyas Omar, former mayor of Kuala Lumpur, is originally from this village.

Typical of Penang, the village is also home to the Tua Pek Kong temple. Like the Malay village, Tanjong Tokong was home to Chinese migrants before the coming of Francis Light in 1786. There are two graves near the Chinese temple by the sea. It is here that Chang Li, a Hakka pioneer, was deified as Tua Pek Kong, representing the spirit of pioneering heroes.

For those of us who grew up in Tanjong Tokong, the village was a green-lung and where friendships were formed. Many of my friends moved to high-rise flats when parts of the village were demolished. Then a road was built right through it. The sea was reclaimed and gone too were our simple pleasures like collecting siput remis on the beach. This is not sentimentality but a lament at the loss of access to the sea that was once taken for granted.

Like Kg Buah Pala, Tanjong Tokong village is now overnight a "squatter village" and the villagers are now "squatters". These things happen in Penang more often than elsewhere not because there is a hidden agenda against Penang but because land is so valuable here and the pressures of "development" overwhelming.

Thus, there is little respect or control over "development". It is always claimed that construction stimulates economic growth. The aggregate effect is very wide and reaches a great number of people. In short, we must not regulate it too much otherwise there will be a dearth of jobs. Presumably, this is also another American model that we have adopted wholeheartedly.

In the case of Penang, one wonders how any government, past and present, can allow things to continue the way it has been for the last 30 years. If one trace development projects from Jalan Tanjong Tokong through to Tg Bungah and Batu Feringghi, one would be amazed at the number of high-rises and newly-opened housing estates. Some of these areas were designated for water-catchment purposes. At every point, public access to the beach has been sealed-off. In some cases, free-hold property has been offered on reclaimed land!

Presumably, the developers at Tanjong Tokong village will be making a lot of money. One will say that the villagers should not stand in the way of "development". That they should be happy with their little flats, some as big as 600 sq feet! No need to live in tin-roofed huts and forget about the way of life you are so used to!

Pressure reps to do the right thing

Whilst no one would disagree that Penang needs to continue to develop, we are surely a mature enough economy to put into practice some controls. The days of low-cost manufacturing are over. Penang cannot improve if its roads are clogged with cars, organic waste pollutes its beaches and uncontrolled development creates ghettos that breed criminal activity thus endangering society at large! Who in their right minds would invest in a place like that?

More importantly, there must be more regulation and sustained effort to assure Penangites that the property they buy will not be taken away from them 50 years down the road simply because some developer wants to make money. Property owners in Penang must remember that a lot of their properties are lease-hold and their descendants can easily be turned out in the near future if this kind of flip-flop policy is left unchecked.

There is a very famous scene from Chinese hell featuring a group of people suffering from hunger. It is not because they have no means to feed themselves. They all have a very long spoon each. But because they would not help feed another, they all ended up hungry together.

Today, there is very little sympathy for the folks at Kg Buah Pala and support for the folks at Tanjong Tokong will be just as lukewarm. If one thinks "development" affects only folks who live in tin-roofed dwellings, think again. Ask the folks at Tanjong Bungah and Pearl Hill. Hillside development and rock-blasting has forced some of them to beat pots and pans. Even heritage property owners in Gurney Drive are not spared.

The people of Penang need to apply pressure on their elected representatives to do the right thing by the folks at Tanjong Tokong. This is not for their sake alone but to protect our collective interests. Imagine, fifty years down the road, your grandchildren being declared "squatters" because suddenly your freehold property has been "nationalised" or the government of the day refuses to renew your lease.

The folks at Tanjong Tokong have quietly compromised by having a road cut their village in half, many moved quietly into smallish flats and all lost their livelihood when their bay was reclaimed. Surely, they should be allowed to keep their mosque, cemetery and the last vestige of their identity as a community.

**Republished with permission. This article first appeared on September 16, 2009 in Malaysiakini.

Related links

• Tanjong Tokong Overview (5xmom, You Tube, 17.09.09)
• Tanjung Tokong villagers oppose project (Anil Netto, 15.09.09)

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