Beyond Penang’s world heritage site, activists are fighting to save historic buildings

via Channel NewsAsia, 09 April 2023: Activists are fighting to save historic buildings in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Authorities have pushed back against accusations of not doing enough to conserve heritage buildings in the area.

Heritage activist Mark Lay weaved his Perodua Myvi in and out of traffic before slowing down and making an abrupt right on a two-way road in George Town, Penang.

The car halted in front of the gates to a vacant construction site. Lay got out, climbed on a pile of concrete slabs and peered over the hoardings, revealing a large but crumbling pre-war hotel that has seen grander times.What he wanted to highlight, however, were pieces of lime mortar and plaster that lay to the right of the hotel, remnants of what used to be the 208-year-old Runnymede bungalow, a one-time home of Sir Stamford Raffles.

Raffles worked for a Penang governor and spent time in Melaka before founding Singapore. His bungalow was built at the Penang site in 1808.

In 2016, landowners bulldozed the bungalow together with six other buildings in the Runnymede complex, which is outside the George Town World Heritage Site.

Source: Beyond Penang’s world heritage site, activists are fighting to save historic buildings – CNA