Penang Heritage Documentary by RTM

Last January I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Mr. Harjit Singh Hullon from RTM. He would like me to be their guide when they shoot some footage meant for overseas satellite broadcasting about heritage buildings in Penang.

I happily obliged and spent three days showing locations to the crew which were worth filming for the documentary.


We covered Penang National Park, the Heritage Trail, Little India, Street of Harmony and also the intangible aspect of heritage like day to day lives of normal folks at the market, at the temples, etc.

The skits have not been processed yet as we speak but I will keep you posted. It would be nice to see the web site name http://www.penangheritagecity.com rolls on credit at the end of the show.

Penang beaches

Today being Sunday, I decided to leave my cellphone and my computer for half a day. We went to the beach by bus. Took 101 RapidPenang bus from KOMTAR to Batu Ferringhi at only RM2.00/adult. Actually you can get a good view from the bus as it is higher up than most vehicles on the road. The winding road shows off the horizon beautifully.

What I did not like to see was some parts of the hills were being cut off drastically to build high-end real estate. Now, the rule is that no one can develop anything above 200 feet above sea level. However, money talks, greasing the palms of some officials can take you quite far.

The kids had a good time as always at the beach. They spent hours swimming, playing around, collecting shells and just being children. We are lucky to live where we can easily go to the beach for a swim at anytime we want.

It had been raining for the last few days and there was a lot of debris in the water. This did not dampen the fun in the least. I have a lot of experience with handling young children while traveling. You can read my story here when we went to Pangkor three years back.

Other than Batu Ferringhi, Tanjung Bungah and also Teluk Bahang are the famous beaches in Penang. These beaches have a big concentration of touristy hotels as well as high end property. A lot of expatriates make these beaches their homes.

There are a few other beaches which are rarely mentioned: those at Penang National Park in the area of Teluk Bahang. Pantai Kerachut and Pantai Ai Ling are some of the better beaches here.



These Penang beaches are not that far from George Town, they are part of Nature Heritage of the island.

Now that you know about them, why not go and take a day off to discover these hidden gems?

Have fun in the sun at Penang beaches.

Penang National Park
Pangkor vacation with children
Retire in Penang by owning real estate here.

Pulau Jerejak as a heritage site?

This island on the east side of Penang is the longest island around the area. It is shaped like a tear drop and is only about one nautical mile from the east beach of Penang near Queensbay. It got its name from a convicts' jail and a leper colony which were housed there (at different locations).

Jerejak literally means "iron grille".

Despite its not so glorious past, you should be thankful that after the last convict and leper being shipped out, the island was left as it was for many years. Tropical jungle and wild animals, especially sea eagles and birds flourish.

Now, however, it is sad to see that even from Penang, one can see that the northern hill slope of the island is being denuded. I heard that they are building a water reservoir at the peak.

Why is this necessary? It is pretty near to Penang itself. Wouldn't across-the-channel piping be sufficient enough to supply the island with water? What kind of asylum this time that the authorities are planning to build?

I feel really disappointed. After all, having lived here almost my life, the island has been very special. it is big, solid and beautiful. Old pre-war buildings left behind sadly were being looted for precious scrap metals. Erosion caused by the construction of the new water reservoir results in untold damage to the jungle and also marine life.

This island should be gazetted as a National Park as part of our heritage. If the people who are in charge think about the future, instead of their own pocket, we can hope that the fate of Pulau Jerejak will not fall victim again so that only selected few can have their golf courses or their marina there.