Tag: penang
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WWWarisan #8 is out
Just a quick post to let you know that the 8th edition of my heritage newsletter, WWWarisan, is now out. You can read the newsletter online here. If you enjoyed reading the letter and want monthly heritage headlines delivered straight to you inbox, do consider subscribing – which you can do here.
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A new piece in New Mandala
Just a quick update. I wrote a short op-ed on some of the threats facing Melaka and George Town – Malaysia’s UNESCO-listed historic cities – for New Mandala. For me, the two cities highlight issues of urban governance that are relevant to Malaysia as a whole. The mounting urban crisis in these historic cities highlights a couple…
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Komtar on Failed Architecture
Eyesore or icon, Komtar has come to represent George Town. Its transformation will be a barometer of the direction the city takes in the early twenty-first century. Across the historic centre, homes have made way for spaces of consumption, and old traders have given way to new businesses. The reinvention of Komtar’s main tower, with…
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Getting around in Penang; hearth and home in Singapore
I’ve been meaning to write something about Penang’s Transport Master Plan, which is an ambitious but (I think) highly-flawed document. That piece is still in the works as I read up more about the plan, but in the meantime, the new Penang Monthly has hit the shelves. My byline appears twice in this issue. The…
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Liquid assets: two pieces on Penang’s water infrastructure
From colonial aqueducts to the 21st-century climate change, these essays examine how Penang’s waterworks have kept the taps flowing.
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Get off my lawn: when public parks aren’t so public
Some thoughts on Gurney Wharf, and the increasing influence of private money on public spaces.
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Bricks and mortals: two kinds of heritage, the same sad outcome
The demolition of Runnymede House and eviction of Kampung Siam are two tragedies that tell a similar story.
Dr Soon-Tzu Speechley 