Urban Conservation Network in Asia and Its Future: Heritage, Cultural Identities and Asian

Dynamism

The 3-day Symposium was organised by the Nara Machizukuri Center from Japan, co-

organised by Penang Heritage Trust and Lestari Heritage Network, supported by George

Town World Heritage Incorporated and the Penang State Government with funding from the

Asian Neighbours Program by Toyota Foundation and Think City Sdn Bhd. The aim of the

Symposium was to:

“Promote the exchange of opinions about recent heritage activities in Asian cities and the

promotion of citizens’ network in the future, from the viewpoint of global society, living

communities including intangible cultural heritage, and the survival of local cultural

identities.”

With an agenda “to build a new flexible Asian network by making better use of web

platforms and social media”, the participating organisations consisted of: Japan - Nara

Machizukuri Center and ICOMOS Japan; Korea - Seoul Bookchon Cultural Forum; China -

Huaqiao University; Taiwan - Taiwan Institute of Historical Resource Management;

Cambodia – Khmer Architecture Tours; Myanmar – Yangon Heritage Trust; Thailand – Thai

ICOMOS, Chiang Mai Urban Development Institute Foundation, Phuket Community

Foundation; Indonesia – Indonesia National Heritage Trust, Aceh Heritage Community

Foundation, Badan Warisan Sumatera, BPWN (Badan Pemberdayaan dan Warisan Nias),

PAN-Sumatera Network, Jogja Heritage Society, Paguyuban Cak & Ning Surabaya.

The establishment of an Asian network aims to strengthen the voice of heritage

conservation in Asia as well as collaboration between member organisations to tackle the

challenges of rapid globalisation and diminishing heritage. According to Khoo Salma

Nasution, President of Penang Heritage Trust: “The current state of Heritage NGOs is like

Environmental NGOs from forty years ago, facing huge challenges with only small voices,

with the general public unaware about how the problems are going to affect them.”

The activities throughout the 3-day Symposium included a heritage tour and mini

conference at the Penang Teochew Association hall on Day 1, Conference at E&O Hotel on

Day 2, Internal NGO meeting at Penang Teochew Association hall on Day 3. Below are the

abstracts and summaries of the symposium presentations from the 3 days.

Day 1

The day started with a 3-group heritage walk in through Georgetown in the morning to

provide participants a clear picture of the places’ history as well as the progress and issues

faced in conservation efforts before and after the UNESCO Heritage Listing. Khoo highlighted

the eviction of tenants operating in the old trades after the repeal of Rent Control Act which

caused a considerable loss of intangible cultural heritage in George Town.

Among the other issues are: politically-motivated intervention which hampers heritage

conservation effort such as the conversion of the former Heritage Training Centre at Syed

Alatas Mansion into the Penang Islamic Museum around the year 2000 (unsuitable due to

full air-conditioning of the museum space which caused the building to be currently

unusable due to termite infestation), erosion of traditional building methods and injection of

inappropriate foreign elements in heritage conservation practice, eviction of tenants and

gentrification, commercialisation of shophouse activities to cater for mass tourism, the lost

opportunities of conservation funding which focused on heritage renovations emphasising

physical impact to the built environment but with inadequate capacity building and training

for the professionals, builders and artisans.

The day continued with a mini conference at the Penang Teochew Association. It started

with an introductory video of the Penang Teochew Association and the restoration process

of the Han Jiang Ancestral Temple, followed by an introduction to the George Town World

Heritage Site by Lim Chooi Ping from George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI).

Lim described the series of programmes undertaken by GTWHI since its establishment,

including a Heritage Clinic for building owners, capacity development workshops for various

professions interested in heritage conservation and management, and acting as co-

presenter of the annual George Town Festival. GTWHI is also involved in several special

projects such as Greening George Town, Way Finding System (signage improvement and

unification at sites of importance within the World Heritage Site), Intangible Heritage

Inventory, Cleaning of the Historic Protestant Cemetery, and conducts or administers these

in collaboration with various government and non-government bodies such as the Penang

State Government, Penang Municipal Council (MPPP), Think City, Penang Institute and

Penang Heritage Trust. Answering a question from the audience regarding the rising

property price of shop houses and whether there is any state policy to regulate it; Lim stated

that there is an absence of relevant policies to tackle this issue yet at the moment.

Khoo Salma Nasution, President of Penang Heritage Trust aims to evoke consensus through

greater sense of ownership amongst the locals, particularly stakeholders in George Town

with “community mapping of cultural diversity through the presentation of historical

narratives” from The Penang Story campaign, which started with the successful Penang

Story Colloquia and Conference of 2001-2002.and now continues by highlighting Penang's

links to regional and global history. The campaign encourages individuals from various

ethnicities and cultural minorities to contribute their share of stories ranging from events

and people, foodways, economic activities, values and beliefs, education and all other

aspects which gives George Town its ‘soul of the city’, or ‘Outstanding Universal Values’ in

UNESCO terms. The campaign intends to instil deeper understanding and appreciation of the

public for the cultural diversity of George Town and encourage local community pride for

their own heritage; helping to prevent the homogenisation of cultural diversity as a result of

globalisation.

Dr. Gwynn Jenkins presented her work on the “Visions of Penang” online archive website.

The project is building a knowledge bank for heritage research, developing an archive for

historical visual data such as building plans, maps, photographs and construction drawings,

which are vital as restoration references to get things right at the beginning, as well as to

establish a building history. Using her restoration project of 23 Love Lane as a case study, Dr.

Gwynn described how old building plans helped them to rediscover building history and

elements such as a concealed well and stable during the restoration process, pointing out

the difficulties in locating information about the building’s past, and having to refer to

archives in Singapore for assistance – underlining the importance of George Town to

establish its own archives of historical references. The VOP is a work in progress.

Lim Gaik Siang, the Honorary Treasurer of Penang Heritage Trust, presented a recent project

for an Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, commissioned by GTWHI, documenting

trades and occupation, artisans and handicraft in George Town through a cultural survey

process. The painstaking effort included workshop training for cultural surveyors, the

preparation of questionnaires in 3 languages, door to door survey, data entry and translation,

documentation and output. Revealing the current situation of more than 400 vacant units in

George Town at the end of the survey, the inventory is also vital for the identification of

endangered trades in George Town which can lead to the formulation of possible solutions

for further conservation action.

In addition to the Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage project, Penang Heritage Trust

has established the Penang Apprenticeship Programme for Artisans (PAPA) to ensure the

continuation of the knowledge of artisans to the future. Ho Sheau Fung, Manager of Penang

Heritage Trust, acknowledged the imminent threat of dying trades and endangered trades

due to modernisation of lifestyles and globalisation, where the individuals from the

endangered trades themselves are usually old, may be experiencing difficulties with

evictions, high rentals, lack of help, difficulties of transportation, etc. The repeal of Rent

Control Act has significantly affected the social structure of George Town, causing the loss of

artisans due to the hike of rent price.

Prior to the PAPA programme, PHT engaged the artisans through a heritage education

programme with Arts-ED where groups of school-aged children visited the artisans and

produced posters and trail maps to generate a wider appreciation of the trades from the

younger generation. The “Living Heritage Treasures Award” was introduced to create a

sense of pride amongst the artisans about their respective crafts and to try and encourage a

desire to pass their skills on to the next generation, while establishing cooperation with the

artisans to allow for the documentation of skills. PAPA engaged artisans for apprenticeship

after the award by allocating deserving individuals under the artisans’ guidance to learn

their craft and apply it in his/her future career. However, the project was (is) challenged by a

lack of funding from government and the end of the sponsorship term for the “Living

Heritage Treasures Award” from its original sponsor, with no renewal. Though there have

been some progress over the years with apprentices setting up their own businesses under

the guidance from the program, it takes time to judge the success of PAPA as the results

need to be assessed over a longer period. However, the real challenge lies on the priority of

the programme whether to concentrate on adapting the crafts to cater for tourism or to

make it relevant to the everyday lives of people in order to ensure its sustainability.

Lim Chung Wei, Community Resource Development Officer of GTWHI, and Ho Sheau Fung

described the annual George Town World Heritage Day Celebrations and George Town

Festival, which grew into a month-long event due to increasing support and interest from

the state government. The Celebrations were intended to be participatory and not to stage

merely celebrative events which might be viewed as foreign to the local communities; the

communities, therefore, were invited to contribute performances and cultural

demonstrations as collaborators and co-presenters. Last year the celebrations were

extended beyond the boundaries of the GT World Heritage Site to engage unlisted

endangered heritage buildings in order to create awareness and subsequently evoke further

remedial actions, while generating wider appreciation for other historical and culturally

significant places in Penang, with the “One Night in Bangkok Lane” event in GTF 2012 which

showcased the culture of the Thai community in Penang, highlighting the cultural diversity of

Penang as a whole.

Tan Yeow Wooi, founder of the Tan Yeow Wooi Culture Research Studio, shared examples of

his many restoration projects in George Town, and revealed the current issues of ignorant

intervention on shop houses, from renovation to demolition and rebuilding in non-

compliance of restoration guidelines due to weak enforcement from the local council. He

also highlighted the plight of unprotected shop houses outside the heritage zone which are

dilapidated due to negligence from owners and responsible authorities, while attention is

concentrated on the heritage zone.

Dr. Naziaty Mohd. Yaacob, Senior Lecturer at the Architecture Department of Universiti

Malaya, remarked that much has to be done to provide universal access to heritage sites and

properties for physically challenged individuals. Her universal access audit on 12 sites in

George Town, revealed a large number heritage buildings with high thresholds and which

are therefore not wheelchair-friendly or accessible to the disabled. Understanding the cost

concerns of property owners to upgrade their properties to be universally accessible, she

suggested appropriate solutions for particular situations. However, she stressed the need of

enforcement on the usage of accessible car parks and recommended surveys to be done on

aging residents who are part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of George Town in terms of

their living and workspace accessibility in heritage properties.

Towards the end of the question and answer session, an emotionally touched participant

from Sarawak voiced out her appreciation and amazement on the efforts done on George

Town and expressed her deep concern and grievance for the diminishing heritage in her

home state.

Khoo Salma Nasution explaining heritage issues to participants during heritage walk

International delegates passing by a row of shophouses under restoration funded by

ThinkCity.

Sunitha Janamohanan from GTWHI briefing participants at the GTWHI office.

Dr. Naziaty Mohd. Yaacob from University of Malaya presenting case studies of universal

access to heritage sites and properties in George Town.

Day 2

In the keynote address by Professor Yoshifumi Muneta, Director of Japan ICOMOS, – “New

Trends in four fields of the conservation of the World Cultural Heritage – Considering Asian

Dynamism”, the scope of heritage concepts has expanded meaningfully from individual

monuments to historic urban landscapes, accommodating intangible values and everyday

living heritage for the past 40 years since the World Heritage Convention was declared,

bringing drastic changes to the conservation measures (from national importance to local

distinctiveness; separate conservation to integrated conservation; expert-led to community-

led).

It goes beyond the conservation of physical heritage itself and values the quality of life of the

local communities related to that heritage which leads to changes in the theory and practice

of heritage resource management in 4 categories: the concept of heritage, the role of

heritage in society, issues concerning significance, and changes in management practices

such as the development of standards.

Acknowledging the importance of people, the local community as the critical factor of

heritage conservation and sustainable development, the theme of the 40 years anniversary

of the World Heritage Convention held in Kyoto from 6-8 November 2012 was “World

Heritage and Sustainable Development: The Role of Local Communities”. Local community

involvement is given more attention than before, as they are the ones who own, use and live

in or live with that heritage. Consensus building and conflict resolution among stakeholders

are equally important as the products of the conservation projects as the processes are

much related to the happiness of the people.

Prof. Muneta stressed that adaptation of traditional culture and craft industries in modern

times is vital to suit itself to the currently rapidly changing society, hence enhancing its

versatility. He shared several examples of craft industries in Japan which successfully

transformed themselves to produce market-oriented products; one such example being in

the ceramics industry, from manufacturing pottery to producing artificial teeth. Heritage

itself has to be versatile and modernised, enabling it to be passed down to the next

generation. Differences in legal systems and language problems are among the obstacles

hampering international cooperation in heritage conservation.

In the next presentation, Ichiro Iwai, Director of Nara Machizukuri Center (NMC), Japan

shared the history of NMC and its expansion of its NGO network to Asia since the 1990s.

Established in the historical town of Nara in 1979 to conserve historic urban areas, NMC

started exchange programmes with NGOs in Asia such as the Penang Heritage Trust in 1991,

and in Chiang Mai, Seoul, Aceh, and so on. They established the Asia and West-Pacific

Network for Urban Conservation (AWPNUC) together with other NGOs in 1991 and this work

was continued through Lestari Heritage Network in 2004.

Despite decades of effort to conserve heritage, many historical urban areas in Asia remain in

crisis, due to threats from globalisation and a capitalist economy which has led to the

destruction of many historic towns and the community within. In Japan, historic towns were

the victims in the 1960s-80s and in China, towns are now being rapidly destroyed. Emerging

economies like Myanmar, Indonesia and Cambodia will be the next targets of the forces of

the global economy.

Although listed, UNESCO heritage sites are under threat of losing its historic communities

and intangible living heritage as they are excessively transformed into tourist attractions

which cater for tourists instead of local residents. Mr. Ichiro presented examples of

dehumanizing conservation practices in other countries that should be avoided, such as the

eviction of the local communities in a historical town as part of city beautification effort by

the government in response to heritage listing, subsequently turning it into a ghost town

due to the loss of everyday activities.

He stressed that the network has to be strengthened now to send strong messages on Asian

ways of NGO and community-led urban conservation to the world, and expressed the desire

for NMC, as a member of the Asian network, to play an important role in urban conservation

in today’s global society.

In the Q&A session prior to the tea break, Professor Muneta answered questions about his

views on the heritage scene in Penang from the audience. He acknowledged the challenge in

conservation practice in Penang from its multicultural society compared to a homogeneous

society like Japan. He commented that the custodians in the Penang heritage scene appear

to have overlapping roles, and therefore the situation here may differ from that in Japan.

The conference continued with a presentation from Catrini Pratihari Kubontubuh from the

Indonesia Heritage Trust (Badan Pelestarian Pusaka Indonesia – BPPI) sharing the steps of

heritage movements in Indonesia over the last two decades. The movements emphasise

community welfare, involving the conservation of folk heritage, heritage education for

primary schools and the establishment of a heritage emergency response team responding

to disasters. Among their major breakthroughs were the recent establishment of the

Network of Heritage Cities in Indonesia (Jaringan Kota Pusaka Indonesia – JKPI) in 2008

which aims to consolidate the heritage movement amongst conservation activists from

various cities; and a joint cooperation project with the Ministry of Public Works and

Directorate of Spatial Planning in the establishment of a Heritage Cities Planning and

Management Programme (Program Penataan dan Pengelolaan Kota Pusaka – P3KP) in 10

pilot cities which is helping to form a stronger heritage movement in Indonesia.

Besides the issues of diminishing of its once diverse cultural and natural heritage due to lack

of awareness, Aceh, which was devastated by the tsunami in 2004 faces challenges in its

heritage recovery efforts, according to Yenny Rahmayati, Executive Director of the Aceh

Heritage Community Foundation. The recovery of Aceh’s tangible and intangible heritage

received little attention from the government compared to housing and infrastructure

reconstruction. Besides the lack of funding from the government, the reconstruction and

rehabilitation effort has been hampered by lack of experts and legal protection on heritage

buildings as well as missed opportunities due to government intervention, though well-

intended. Low community involvement due to lack of public awareness resulted in the need

of external engagement in restoration efforts which could end up as unsustainable

operations. Her presentation covered the period of before, during and after the tsunami;

from reconstruction and rehabilitation to after completion of the heritage building recovery

process in Banda Aceh. Disaster preparedness was considered in the heritage recovery effort

in order to minimize the impact should disaster strike again, which, it is hoped, will not

happen.

Yongtanit Pimonsathean, Director of ICOMOS Thailand explained the history and

transformation of ICOMOS Thailand from a government body to an NGO in 2009 after its

establishment in 1985. ICOMOS started as a government managed organization with

government officials appointed as executive members to form a national committee. This

created an issue of mismatch of heritage perception between the top level committee with

professionals and academics in heritage conservation, resulting in a stagnation of

conservation practices during the early years. The priority of the government approach in

heritage conservation was limited to tangible heritage such as historical temples and palaces

based on international standards adopted from ICOMOS at the time, with little regard to

intangible and everyday life heritage.

Mr. Yongtanit stressed that the international standards on conservation practices are

neither right nor wrong, but the matter of suitability in its application in the context of

Thailand needed to be questioned. The conversion of ICOMOS Thailand into an independent

NGO changed conservation practice from top-down to a bottom-up approach which is more

community-oriented. As a NGO in Thailand, the organisation now faces hurdles such as lack

of experts and economic incentive for heritage conservation, and unclear policies on

heritage site management and evaluation – reflecting the vast potential and challenges

faced of the heritage practice in Thailand.

According to Long Xuan, Professor of Architecture at Huaqiao University, China’s

conservation practice faces challenges from hyper-rapid urbanisation and the lack of

democracy in government due to its one-party nature. The administrative structure of the

Communist Part of China limits society building due to its treatment on community as lowest

level of government that responsible for wide range of public services which is supposed to

be autonomous in theory as enacted in the State Constitute 1990. He shared his experience

of bottom-up, tripartite partnership between the cultural elite, government and community

on the conservation of Tianzifang, after civic resistance on the change of its land use into a

CBD zone by the Shanghai City Government. Though successful, there are unresolved

questions such as how to further empower the community and promote ‘development from

within’ by art intervention, and how to integrate the new arts and creative industries into a

community’s everyday life in a sustainable way.

Cambodia and Myanmar’s heritage are currently under threat from rapid economic and

urban development pressure, based on the presentations from Moe Moe Lwin, Acting

Director of Yangon Heritage Trust, and Yam Sokly from Khmer Architecture Tours. Property

speculation and increasing land price are the main culprits of the fading heritage in these

historical cities. Challenged with the absence of rent control and deterioration of historical

buildings in the city, as a new NGO, Yangon Heritage Trust faces low degree of public

awareness as the country is recovering from decades of military junta rule. With the hike of

rent price, many activities which were once in heritage properties are forced to the streets,

while high rise developments are proposed in historical city centers. Flooding in heritage

zones during wet season has also become a growing threat due to climate change.

According to Yam, development pressures have caused the violent eviction of communities

living near Beoung Kak Lake in Phnom Penh for land reclamation by a developer, and this has

caused a great loss to the intangible heritage of the local lake communities, not to mention

the immeasurable social destruction done. He stated that a study of the future Phnom Penh

master plan revealed no zoning protection been given or proposed for the preservation of

urban heritage buildings by the Municipallity of Phnom Penh. Restoration efforts are

challenged by insensitive renovation and a lack of original building materials. Lime which

was commonly used as plaster for historical buildings is hard to find, leading conservationists

to resort to cement plaster instead. Public and private institutions are now trying to increase

public awareness through publications, public lectures, exhibitions, documentation projects,

study visits and community meetings to strengthen the foundation of heritage conservation

in the face of globalisation.

Alice Chiu, Secretary General of the Institute of Historical Resources Management from

Taiwan shared her experience on the transformation of heritage districts in Taipei, using the

case study of Dadaocheng. Responding to the declining importance of Dadaocheng due to

urban sprawl, a citizen movement was initiated by the Yaoshan Cultural Foundation in 1987

to evoke public awareness, leading to major conservation and restoration efforts. In order to

tackle the problem of development pressure, overpopulation and modernisation, the

Department of Urban Development from the Taipei City Government established a legal

instrument for special district zoning and Transferable Development Rights (TDR) which

allows for plot ratio transfer from a heritage zone to commercial land which can cater for

higher density, protecting the urban heritage environment while ensuring profitability for

developers. Incentives were given to encourage restoration and rebuilding of historical

buildings to its original condition based on historical references.

Over 200 buildings have been renovated, restored, rehabilitated and rebuilt to date since its

implementation. The commission of Urban Regeneration Station in the heart of Dadaocheng

‘approaches’ the local community to offer consultation, technical assistance and citizen

participation in the conservation process. Donation of historical buildings in the heritage

zone for public reuse rethinks the cultural and economic value of conservation and

regeneration mechanism which allows for wide possibilities to enhance the identity of

citizens and create new attractions. As initial resistance from the public and developers was

faced due to a lack of understanding of policies, communication is vital to allow conservation

efforts be carried out in a less controversial manner.

Nuttakorn Vititanon from the Creative Urban Solutions Center (CUSC) in Chiang Mai

described the programs undertaken by the organisation covering education of Lanna culture,

sustainable urban management, Buddhism, value-added waste management, climate

change and more. In response to development pressures on Chiang Mai which has greatly

affected its environment with pollution and social problems, CUSC organises campaigns to

stop the expansion of city roads, protest against new skyscrapers and advocate for more

public spaces. He shared his experience on the restoration process of Hueantonchoke House

in 2010, a mixed colonial building in the 1930s.

Manissaward Jintapitak (CUSC) shared her particularly distressing experience of

conservation with examples of damage done to historical Lanna temples due to government

intervention on the restoration of heritage buildings which is more inclined for tourism

purposes. Government-hired contractors with little knowledge of local culture and craft

were appointed for the restoration of local temples instead of local artisans and resources,

resulting in insensitive and inaccurate conservation practices which ruined the historical

elements of the temples. CUSC served as a ‘public watch’ platform to report the misdoings

done on the temple restoration by the contractors and utilised social media to gain public

support and participation in the process.

Pranee Sakulpipatana, Vice President of Thai Peranakan Association, described the unique

historical personalities of Phuket Peranakans and their heritage homes on Deebuk road, or

the “Millionaire’s Row” of Phuket Old Town. Her presentation featured some well-preserved

shophouses in Phuket of Tan Eng Kee, Tan Jilai and Sophon Eakwanich. She explained that

culture is the secret prosperity of a community and shared her experience on community

participation in the Phuket Old Town Festival. Ms. Pranee’s charismatic and entertaining

presentation included particularly humorous observations and a song, “Over the Rainbow”,

for the audience, which ended with a remark quoted from an old saying “keep your house,

so your ancestor will bless you”.

Mr Masahiro Muro and Mr. Hiroaki Yonemura, Chairman and Director of the Nara

Machizukuri Center from Japan, shared case studies on the practical use of vacant historical

houses and the current situation and progress of NMC projects. Japan is currently facing the

problem of an aging population, while the trend of rural-urban immigration further reduces

the population in historical towns. This has resulted in the increase of vacant houses at the

historic town of Imai-cho which are slowly deteriorating. Among the 700-800 machiyas

(traditional Japanese shop houses) in the Imai Important Preservation District, half of them

are vacant and/or dilapidated.

NMC has introduced a series of campaigns in the conservation of historical buildings and

sustainable community development; one of them through collaboration with a Non-profit

organisation (NPO) to encourage citizens to rent and stay in the machiyas to experience the

living experience, further enhancing the purchase demand of the vacant machiyas. This

resulted in practical adaptive reuse of the vacant machiyas into public buildings, display

rooms, restaurants, common lodging houses and shops. Art festivals are also organised as

part of the town regeneration strategies. At present, nine traditional houses are designated

as Important Cultural Properties by the national government, three as prefectural cultural

properties and six as municipal cultural properties. Reducing the number of vacant machiyas

remained a long term commitment of the organisation.

Joo-yeon Lee and Kyung-taek Lee, Secretary-General and Assistant Administrator,

respectively, of the Bukchon Culture Forum explained the history of Bukchon and the loss of

heritage treasures due to rapid modernisation and globalisation. The Bukchon Project was a

village revitalisation project in response to community resistance on the redevelopment of

Bukchon by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. With collaboration between the Seoul

Metropolitan Government, Bukchon community members and experts, the Bukchon Project

was aimed at revival of the community where traditional and contemporary features coexist.

Free of charge or interest-free financial assistance is offered to residents in construction and

restoration cost of the hanoks (traditional Korean houses), under the condition where the

residents promise to live in and preserve the hanok.

Due to the success of the project, the Bukchon Hanok Village has become a famous tourist

attraction in Korea. However, recent increase of tourist activities and commercialisation in

Bukchon has become an issue for the local community which has disrupted their daily lives.

The “Silent Sightseeing Campaign” was introduced as a remedial measure to reduce the

noise level generated from tourist activities. Lee stressed that a balance must be achieved or

the original identity of Bukchon will be lost forever.

International delegates attending the conference on Day 2. (photo by Benjamin Ong)

Mr Ichiro Iwai from Nara Machizukuri Center in his presentation.

Opening dinner of Heritage Symposium at Teochew Association joined by Chief Minister of

Penang. (photo by Benjamin Ong)

Day 3

The internal NGO meeting consisting of international delegates and representatives from

local organisations discussed ways to strengthen the heritage network in Asia. Three

separate groups were formed for a brainstorming session with the resulting proposals:

• Awards for community conservation projects to strengthen the overall impact of

network.

• Strengthening of the network through a regular newsletter (whether electronic

and/or print) to keep members of the network updated.

• The use of social media (Asana, Facebook and Twitter) as a platform for sharing

information and events, communication tool and online forum as well as to

generate outreach to people.

• Directory renewal of organisations within the network which includes new

information such as expertise.

• Exchange programs and field studies for students interested in heritage

conservation as shared curriculum between universities.

Towards the end of the meeting after further discussions, the group decided to revive

AWPNUC with a new name ‘Asia Heritage Network’. All resolved to strengthen the

connections between existing members and open the door to other Asian heritage

organisations to join this knowledge and expertise sharing platforms for wider cooperation

and influence in pushing the heritage agenda in Asia. In particular, it was recommended to

put forth an international volunteer programme in which each organisation would assist in

the recruitment and placement of young interns and volunteers in their counterpart

organisations in other countries.

The 3-day programme concluded with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding

between the Penang Heritage Trust represented by Khoo Salma Nasution and the Indonesia

Heritage Trust represented by Catrini Pratihari Kubontubuh with the aim to foster closer

collaboration and support between the two organisations.

Local and international delegates in group discussion on issues faced in the heritage practice.

The signing ceremony of MoU between the Penang Heritage Trust represented by Khoo

Salma Nasution and the Indonesia Heritage Trust represented by Catrini Pratihari

Kubontubuh.

Speaker’s view on Penang:

A sharing session was conducted in Mandrin on 13th

January night at Goh Kaki by Alice Chiu

from the Institute of Historical Resources Management in Taiwan. When asked about her

opinions on the current state of George Town by audiences, she gave her honest comments

stating that things are still ok at the moment, but in the wrong direction. Penang people in

general, are indolent in heritage conservation process in George Town, leaving much of the

decision making process to the local government which does not necessary come out with

good solutions. Local government on the other hand, must be willing to allow civil

participation in such process and realise of the power of incentives which can generate

wider cooperation from stakeholders in the conservation practice.

While facing lack of public participation, the free market on heritage properties and tourism

is killing the heritage zone. There is a need for good governance which creates a conducive

environment for heritage conservation through policy making. Transferable Development

Rights (TDR) is available in Penang, but it has not been fully used to its potential. A Vacant

Unit Tax should be introduced to cope with the problem of vacant shop houses. More public

spaces should be introduced to enhance liveability of the place. The heritage conservation

communities must acknowledge that some old trades will not be able to survive through

another decade; appropriate contemporary elements are needed for George Town to move

on.

Local civil society should create a consolidated civil movement as a catalyst to increase

awareness and influence changes in civil and heritage policies. They must realise that going

for a conference or talk and doing something about it is 2 different things. It will be just a

matter of time before George Town will lose its cultural identity which contributed to its

UNESCO listing in the first place if nothing is done about these issues.

Personal afterthoughts:

The symposium left the author with much content to digest but with one disturbing thought:

looking at what happened in the recent flooding of Venice, would it be time for coastal

heritage zones to plan pre-emptive and adaptive measures to the rising sea level due to

climate change? In 5-10 years’ time, it’s not hard to predict what would happen to George

Town if we extrapolate the flooding and high tide events happened to the place recently. It

would be a devastating blow to all the efforts poured on heritage conservation if the sites

were to be submerged under seawater due to climate change.

It is observed that a looser schedule is needed to create a condusive environment for idea

sharing in a conference; especially when certain international speakers who are not familiar

with English needed more time to speak their minds through their English presentation.

The Author would like to thank Khoo Salma Nasution from Penang Heritage Trust and Dr.

Naziaty Yaacob from University of Malaya for the opportunity to participate in the

conference, Sunitha Janamohanan from GTWHI for feedbacks and corrections on the draft

article.