The Charm of Old George Town

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

As many as 3,587 old buildings are neatly situated in George Town, the capital of Penang. The architectural styles of the buildings, from Art Deco to Chinese classical, including mosques, temples and churches that are hundreds of years old, have survived harmoniously next to each other. It was this pluralism of culture and religion that persuaded UNESCO to designate George Town a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 2008.

Tourists from all over the world have descended upon Penang. Based on Malaysia’s tourism statistics for 2010, the number of tourist arrivals was 5 million people. Out of this number the amount of foreign tourists was 3 million. How are the inhabitants of George Town able to preserve and revitalize their old buildings? Tempo journalist Suryani Ika Sari reports.

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THE heat here is terrible, worse than in Jakarta,” declared 27-year-old Nirmala as she left Penang Airport in Malaysia last May. Her watch showed that the time was 14:30 West Indonesia Time or 15:30 local time, nevertheless the heat of the sun still seemed to penetrate right into one’s pores.

That was the first impression that we received upon arrival in Penang. The blue of the skies, the heat of the sun and the warm sea air mixed with the s

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