National Heritage Act

World Heritage Office took an initiative to organize a forum by inviting officials from Warisan HQ to come over and give explanations about what constitute a heritage and to explain about National Heritage Act and what kind of benefits of stakeholders get when their sites are listed.

We were invited to KOMTAR, on a Sunday morning to allow more people who were interested to come over and listen to this discussion.

I put up some of the main points here on this Akta Warisan Negara page.

YB Lim Guan Eng, our Chief Minister came over to give his thoughts too, and kept reminding us that Penang still had not got its RM20 million allocation fund as promised by the previous Prime Minister.

National Heritage Act

World Heritage Sites in Asia Pacific

China and India lead in the number UNESCO of World Heritage Sites they have in their countries. There are 899 sites in total and the number is increasing. A lot of cities are submitting dossiers so that they can qualify. They have to fulfill at least 2 out of 4 criteria set aside by UNESCO. Especially OUV (Outstanding Universal Values).

Cities with heritage sites at their disposals can expect significant growth in revenue in terms of inflated real estate values, as well as becoming a major tourist attraction.

However,after obtaining the title, it is up to the people themselves to make or break this commodity. They have to upkeep their standards because UNESCO officials will come visit again after three years. The title can be taken away if the criteria is lost or not met at this time.

That is why the debate is still going on. How much development can we allow?

We discussed this and more at the recent heritage conference.

Read also part two, sustainable cultural practices.

My regret is that there should be more participants in this conference, a lot of educational organizations simply skipped this.

Suffolk House gets a UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Disctinction.

Suffolk House played host to the closure of the two day heritage conference. The event was nicely concluded with the award presentation by the representative of UNESCO to Penang Chief Minister.

Guests were treated to a dinner reception and for the first time had the opportunity to roam around the massive building.

Second day of the conference report
First day of the conference report

Official Opening of World Heritage Office by Mr Lim Guan Eng Penang Chief Minister.

Today is an auspicious day for Penang heritage enclave when the former Penang Heritage Center is now officially declared as World Heritage Office. Despite pouring rain, the ceremony ran smoothly as scheduled.

As one of the guests, I was happy to see quite a few familiar faces there. Mr. Lim Guan Eng, our Chief Minister started the ceremony by giving a speech. In his speech, he touched on the fact that despite the status of George Town as a UNESCO historic city, Penang is number four from bottom out of all the states in Malaysia in terms of funding received for approved restoration plans.

This is a pretty sad thing, we are hoping that the federal government will see the undying spirit of the people of Penang in preserving our heritage and thus increase the funding in due course.

After the ribbon cutting ceremony, we witnessed the CM signing the plague officiating the opening.

The center was nicely decorated with a lot of new exhibits on display, including classic tiles used for roofing and also flooring for the shop houses. Those surely attracted my attention very much. We were also told that RM20K was allocated to buy books and other journals to add to the archive at the center.

There were also slide shows and some videos published especially to promote this World Heritage City Program. Other places under this program are Borobudur in Bali and Lijang in China. Hopefully one day Penang will stand as tall as these famous places too.

See the full page about World Heritage Office in Penang

Penang Heritage Center is now World Heritage Office

Well, I have been meaning to visit this center for over a week now and finally I found the time to do so. As I was wondering about the new signboard outside the building, I asked Mr. Osman. According to Mr. Osman (a member of the staff there), since George Town is now a designated UNESCO Historic City, it is compulsory for the city to have a center to co-ordinate programs, disseminate information and also being the base for everyone to converge regarding heritage issues.

Not that Penang Heritage Center or Penang Heritage Trust has not been doing most of the above but this new center title is a UNESCO requirement. However, the daily business of this office is still 100% controlled by the local people.

Tomorrow, there is an official opening scheduled by the Chief Minister and I was invited to attend the ceremony. I will report the event to you in due course.

Oh yes, I was glad also to hear that Mr. Osman told me many people called the center from the information they obtained from my Heritage City Website. They got the phone number from the page I made a few months back. They also specifically asked for Mr. Osman by name. This shows that the Penang Heritage City web site is a really effective one in promoting heritage issues in Penang.

I enjoyed the free shuttle bus ride. In order to go to this office, take the MPPP Free CAT bus from KOMTAR and stop at Carnarvon Street bus stop. Cross the road, you will see the building.

Penang Heritage Center is now World Heritage Office

World Heritage Office at Carnarvon Street

A few days ago I mentioned that Penang Heritage Center signboard had been taken down. Today I saw a new sign at the building. It now says: "World Heritage Office" -- Pejabat Warisan Dunia.

I made a mental note to actually visit the place myself to see what the new title means, who are working there, etc, etc. The center is located at the corner between Acheen Street and Carnarvon Street.

Carnarvon Street is a busy place. This is where you will find old stationery and book stores, art supply shops, baking supply shops, nice kopi tiams and even shops to prepare for a traditional Chinese funeral.

A few weeks before Ching Ming, the rows of shops here sell many items for prayers made of paper. A majority of Chinese here are Taoists, and according to their religion, during the ten days of Ching Ming period, ancestor worships have to be properly carried out. They will visit the graves, cleaning them and offering many items such as food and also mock worldly goods made of paper. The date is set on 5th April annually but the worshipers have the option to make the trip within 10 days of the actual date.

Anyway, Johanna is going to have some extra activities at school and I will have the time to visit the former PHC tomorrow. Will keep you posted.