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Capitalise on it quickly by thinking out of the box.

Look at Melaka as a heritage city. Only on weekends do you see a burst of activity, mostly around the fort and the reclaimed area which includes the malls. The tourists (locals, singaporeans) decant from their buses, walk around Jonker St in their t-shirts, take some photos, buy some local pineapple tarts and eat chicken rice balls and satay. Then they walk around in the malls, buy some shirts from Parkson, eat another nice meal, get into their vehicles and go home.

They don't spend serious money like what you see in the malls of Beijing. There are four there and these are jam-packed seven days a week from opening at 10am till close at 7pm with the peoples of the world. White, yellow, brown and black, it's a veritable congregation of the united nations. The ATMs outside hum with the rolling out of money, the sidecafes fill with people eating burgers and drinking coffee, the insides of the malls hustle and bustle with consumerism galore. Young and old, they come from all corners of the world, like bees to honey. Easily millions change hands everyday. Eyes light up like christmas trees when they see the souvenir dolls, pearls, luggage, jackets, shoes, handbags, pens, thumbdrives, computer games, dresses, pants, t-shirts, table-cloths, trinkets, ceramics, tealeaves, watches, etc. Everything the weak-willed desires at prefire sale prices that can be stacked hurriedly into 20kg max bags to take home. The negotiation techniques run the gamut. All emotions are displayed for the next case study on human psychology. And beyond these malls, there are other places patronized only by their locals. Warehouse-sized, you will need newton's telescope to see the other end from where you stand; jaws agape at the size of the enterprise and the numbers of shoplots filled to the roof with everything that can be hand-carried on this planet.

Transport everything over from there to here. That's how you can kickstart sleepy towns. And because of the olympics, they have stood down on the issuance of too many visas. That gives you a window of opportunity for these two months, at least. Which means those who want to go there may find it easier to go instead to Penang, the new little Beijing for the consuming tourist.

Commandeer every vacant lot in the island, fast-track the locals esp. the malays, come to quick agreement with the merchants of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and organize the inbound tourist agencies to get the new program up and about. Penang, the greatest shoppers' (and eating) paradise of Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile fight tooth and nail in Parliament to get back the duty-free status for the island; if Langkawi can, Penang must. Reprocess anyone who disagrees as prawn paste for export to Europe.

No tweedlethumb, tweedledee. Sit and die or stand and live. Decide and act.

Jeff,

As a die-hard Penangite, I've to let you know that we are George Town (two words), not Georgetown.

SS Quah
Penang, Malaysia

JEFF OOI says: A look at Google gives a mixed pot of spellings.

Jeff, if you check with the Penang Museum (they have the original Charter declaring George Town as a city), I'm sure you'll see that it used two words. Of course, you'll also see Georgetown but these, ahem, are by people who don't know any better.

JEFF OOI says: True. It's high time I revisit the Penang Museum. The last time I did was in early 1990s.

Jeff,

I researched on this topic in Oct 2007 and would like to share with those who have an interest in heritage conservation :-

Focus on Penang Heritage Properties in George Town conservation area

http://www.intproperties.com/blog.php?subaction=showfull&id=1193710107&archive=&start_from=&ucat=3&

Heritage conservation in George Town

George Town Conservation Zone

Guidelines for heritage conservation in George Town

Pricing trend of historical shophouses in George Town

I am glad that George Town finally listed on UNESCO's heritage list and hope that it will boost Penang profile internationally and attract more heritage tourists to Penang.

More info on Penang Properties at www.intproperties.com

George Town inscribed as Unesco heritage site.

Dear YB Jeff,

Congratulations to the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, various pro-heritage NGOs, the former state government of Penang, the machinery at the Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang (MPPP), the state civil servants and most importantly, the people of Penang with their fine effort to achieve the UNESCO Listing of World Heritage status for George Town.

Hopefully the new State Government together with the George Town Heritage Committee will continue with its Noble efforts to RESTORE "the Pearl of the Orient" together with its Free-port status to its former Glory can be realised & achieved.

I'm really confuse with "George Town" or "Georgetown", when I was a boy scout, since the British time, the Scout troop in Penang are either using Georgetown North or Georgetown South, but why now is George Town. Who has seperated Georgetown? Please tell me?