My Wish List for Penang (updated April 18th)

I'll update this post as I think of more to add.

More parks, please

Sorry, Patrick Badawi, take your PGCC plans and shove it! I hope the state gets a smart, sustainable plan for the interconnecting parks instead. With 1.5 million vehicles on the state's roads (and 1.06 cars per person!), a green lung is much needed. Perhaps they could take some pointers from New York's Central Park.


Improve public transport

This is such an old problem. I wish the monorail, modeled after Singapore's MRT, will become a reality. In the meantime, the state should take over the entire public bus system. We simply cannot tolerate an atmosphere where bus drivers are being threatened with parangs to their necks! Look at Boston's MBTA system: buses and trains generally run on-time, their schedules are online, and users can plan their trips point-to-point with estimated travel times to their destinations. I would settle for Penang buses being on time.

As of April 18th, the estimated completion date of the Second Link to the mainland is September 2011, at a cost of RM4+ billion. Is it too late to scrap this project? We really don't need more cars on the island, but we do need to ease congestion on the Penang Bridge. The ferry operators have long complained about running a loss-making public service, when they should be looking into new technology and some fresh thinking. Perhaps water transport can be corporatised? I find it ironic that we can take a high-speed ferry to Langkawi and Medan but not to Butterworth.


Review high-rise building permits

Now that PGCC and its 35 towers are all but history, the government needs to be much more selective in allowing developers to build one skyscraper after another. Ivory Properties is planning to build over 1000 new high-rises in the next 2 years. Obviously, developers think there is much potential in creating housing catering to the upmarket clientele. But housing for the middle-income family is already so expensive, higher than in KL, because we only have so much land. We need quality, affordable housing, where profit margins aren't quite as large for the developers. Yet, even if there are 1000 new condominiums and they cannot be filled by existing Penangites, do we really want people migrating into Penang, clogging the island with more cars, when public transport is so woefully lacking? And bear in mind, this plan is only by one developer. There will be others, some who will end up bankrupt, leaving cleared plots and half-raised structures in their wake. We already have enough of those.


More tourist attractions?

Apparently the state government is miffed that Penang was not on the list of the 3 must-see locations during Visit Malaysia Year 2007. They're considering building an attraction like a zoo or aquarium to pull in the tourists. Who needs a zoo when there's already one in Taiping and why build an aquarium when there's one in Langkawi? Must we have an attraction featuring trapped animals? Can we be sure they won't end up neglected like the ones in the KL Zoo? Besides, we already have the Butterfly Farm in Teluk Bahang. What we really need for tourism is to clean up the beaches and waters. Perhaps impose entrance fees, say $5 per car, to enter "state beaches". This is standard practice in the US.


Build something unique, educational and family-oriented

Many families spend their time week after week in shopping malls, which is a tragic waste of time and money. KL has the PetroSains Discovery Center. Penang could have a discovery center or children's museum catering to those aged 3-12. Boston has a fantastic one while the one in Ann Arbor shows that a smaller space and smaller budget can still translate into a good museum. A successful children's museum would automatically become an attractive tourist attraction.


Improve the culture factor

We have museums, art galleries, heritage houses and a library but how many Penangites actually visit all these places? We need to up the cool factor. Museums and galleries need to improve on their outreach programs. Coordinate with schools and encourage them to make regular field trips to these spots. The state education department could even direct schools to integrate state history into the curriculum, requiring visits to any 2 museums per school year.