Penang Hill Landscape Evolution and Heritage Conservation

The Penang Story International Conference 2002 18-21 April 2002, The City Bayview Hotel, Penang, Malaysia
a Organisers: The Penang Heritage Trust & STAR Publications
Penang Hill: Landscape Evolution, Heritage Conservation, and Sustainable Tourism S. Robert Aiken, Professor of Geography at Concordia University E-mail: raiken@vax2.concordia.ca
ABSTRACT Tropical hill stations owed their origin and early development to colonialism. They were specialized highland outposts of colonial settlement that initially catered to Europeans in search of health, relaxation, and amusement. Today, many such places are popular tourist attractions. Penang Hill was established by the East India Company in the late 18th century, making it one of the earliest imperial outposts of its kind in the British colonies. Always small and only modestly developed, it has never consisted of much more than a mosaic of open and wooded spaces, a network of winding roads and paths, and a collection of named bungalows at staggered elevations, each set in its own compound. Because it has, thus far, largely escaped the consequences of large-scale development, it continues to possess a heritage of considerable natural and cultural value. The paper is divided into three parts: the first describes the evolution and composition of the hill-station landscape; the second deals with natural and cultural heritage and the need to conserve it; and the third argues that any proposal for the development of Penang Hill as a place of resort should pay attention to the principles of sustainable tourism.
S. Robert Aiken, Penang Hill: Landscape Evolution, Heritage Conservation, and Sustainable Tourism
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The Penang Story International Conference 2002 18-21 April 2002, The City Bayview Hotel, Penang, Malaysia Organisers: The Penang Heritage Trust & STAR Publications
Penang Hill: Landscape Evolution, Heritage Conservation, and Sustainable Tourism Tropical hill stations were functionally specialized highland outposts of colonial settlement that initially catered to Europeans in search of health, relaxation, and amusement. They originated in the Netherlands East Indies and British India in the early 19 th century, and this novel type of settlement eventually appeared in other parts of Asia that came under colonial domination, including Malaya (Spencer and Thomas 1948; Crossette 1999). Generally small and isolated, always defiantly out of place, the colonial hill stations were insular little worlds that symbolized European power and exclusiveness (Kenny 1995). What was the rationale for these purpose-built places? One argument is that their major function was to serve as places of refuge from the perceived health hazards of the lowlands, which were mainly attributed to the baleful and pestiferous effects of the tropical climate (Mitchell 1972). But the hill stations were also, indeed primarily, resorts, that is to say, they were specialized social places that Europeans frequented for fun and relaxation, for social intercourse with family and friends, or for mere dalliance. The point of reference or model for the hill station as a place of resort was the metropolitan spa and the generally later seaside resort. As King points out, the hill station provided in its physical, social, psychological and aesthetic climate, the closest approximation to conditions of life at home (1976: 165). Detached from the alien land and life of the lowlands, secluded in the cool and airy highlands, the hill stations offered isolated, exclusive milieus where European sojourners could feel at home. Home was the model or ideal, for more than anything else the colonial hill stations were replacement or substitute places places that were intended to resemble and feel like wellloved distant homelands. No wonder that visitors to the highland resorts commented so frequently on their bracing air, on their familiar-appearing landscapes and architecture, their neat little gardens, and on other simple reminders of home. Nostalgia was the common experience of most visitors. The British established four hill stations in Malaya: Penang Hill, Maxwells Hill, Frasers Hill, and Cameron Highlands. Penang Hill, situated on the lovely island of Penang, was established by the English East India Company in the late 18th century, which would appear to
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make it the oldest hill station in the British Empire. The other three hill stations were positioned on the flanks of the Malay Peninsulas rugged spinal column, the Main Range, and they were developed in the 1880s, 1920s, and mainly 1930s, respectively. All four hill stations lacked most of the institutions that characterized their Indian counterparts. Small and only modestly developed, each was essentially a collection of bungalows. Only extensive Cameron Highlands experienced any appreciable growth, and that came mainly from the development of commercial agriculture, not from its role as a place of health-and-recreation. It has long been an article of faith among scholars that the hill stations of the upland tropics invariably owed their genesis and early development to colonialism. Peninsular Malaysias newest hill station, Genting Highlands, is a major exception to that rule. Situated on the Selangor-Pahang border some 50 km from Kuala Lumpur, to which it is linked by road and helicopter service, Genting Highlands dates from the post-colonial 1960s. Now a sizeable touristand-gambling resort with posh hotels, condominiums, a cable-car system, and other facilities and amenities, it was founded by two local Asians, not by representatives of Western lites (Reed 1979). None of Peninsular Malaysias older hill stations has grown appreciably since the end of the colonial period in 1957, although numerous proposals for their development have been advanced. In 1979, tiny Maxwells Hill was renamed Bukit Larut and its old bungalows were stripped of their colonial names, but otherwise it remains largely unchanged. Nor, with the exception of a few new hotels and a variety of rather minor tourist attractions, has there been much development at Frasers Hill or Penang Hill, while the economy of Cameron Highlands is still mainly based on specialized commercial agriculture. There has, on the other hand, been a change in the composition of the hill-station clientele, most of whom are now domestic holidaymakers and international tourists (Aiken 1994). This paper focuses on the genesis, development, and heritage value of Penang Hill and the need to protect it for the benefit of present and future generations. It is divided into three parts: the first describes the evolution and composition of the hill-station landscape; the second deals with heritage, both cultural and natural, and the requirement to conserve it; and the third
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argues that any proposal for the future development of Penang Hill as a place of resort should pay attention to the principles of sustainable tourism. Penang and Penang Hill Penang Hill
The island of Penang, or Pulau Pinang, lies off the coast of Province Wellesley near the northern entrance to the Strait of Malacca. Distance to the mainland varies between three and sixteen kilometres. A bridge connecting it to the mainland was opened in 1985. Nearly quadrilateral in shape, the island is composed almost entirely of granite, has an area of approximately 294 km 2, and consists of a mass of dissected hills rising sharply from a narrow coastal plain. Elevation increases towards the north-central part of the island, where Western Hill (the highest point on the island) and Penang Hill are located. In spite of the word hill in the name, the hill station occupies part of a narrow, steep sided, undulating ridge whose highest elevation is about 760 m above sea level. Between the upper ridge and the inner edge of the coastal plain west of George Town several erosional remnants stand out as isolated, generally rounded hills. These features were stripped of their rain-forest cover early in the colonial period and bungalows were erected on or near their summits. The present-day hill station consists of a mosaic of open and wooded spaces, a network of winding roads and tracks, and a collection of bungalows at staggered elevations, together with a variety of generally minor structures. The upper tier of bungalows is more or less linked by Jalan Tuanku Yahya Petra (formerly Summit Road) and various footpaths. A funicular railway descends form near the top of Strawberry Hill to the lowlands close to Ayer Itam. From atop the hill station, great vistas unfold over George Town and across the shipping channel to the verdant coastal plain of Province Wellesley and Kedah to culminate in the distant blue-green mountains of the Main Range. The built-up part of the hill station extends from the vicinity of the defunct Crag Hotel in the north to a little way beyond Fern Hill to the south, and it is within this area that the great majority of Penang Hills historic buildings, together with their annexes, gardens and other surrounding features, are found. The most intensively developed part of the area is Strawberry
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Hill, where a relatively extensive tract of flat-to-undulating land is occupied by a complex of public buildings and other structures, including the top-station of the funicular railway, the Tea Kiosk, a community hall, and a mosque. Flat land within the built-up area is at a premium, and most of it has already been utilized. Much of the area surrounding the built-up part of the hill station is wooded. Secondary forest, criss-crossed with tracts and trails, covers the southern slope of the hill-station ridge, and extensive tracts of largely undisturbed lowland tropical rain forest clothe the complex of hills to the north of the ridge. The general region of which Penang Hill is a part is characterized by generally steeply sloping topography and granite-derived soils that are shallow, contain little organic matter, and are readily erodible. Early Penang Francis Light, a private or country trader long resident in the East, took possession of Penang on behalf of the East India Company in 1786. Penang was primarily acquired for naval and strategic reasons, although the Company hoped that it would also serve as an entrept for tropical produce from the Malay Peninsula and the neighbouring archipelago. After about 1799, the Companys earlier doubts about the importance of the island were set aside, and, in 1805, Penang was made the fourth presidency of India (the other presidencies being Bengal, Bombay, and Madras). The Companys new expectations were based mainly on several panegyrics that greatly exaggerated the natural, economic, and strategic advantages of Penang, including its potential as a naval base (Macalister 1803; Leith 1804; Popham 1805). But Penang soon proved a great disappointment to the Company, and, in 1826, it was combined with Malacca and Singapore to form the presidency of the Straits Settlements. Penang remained the headquarters of government until 1832, when the capital of the Straits was moved to Singapore. The basic outlines of Penang Hill took shape during the first two decades of the 19 th century, when the hill station enjoyed a brief heyday. One result of Penangs elevation to the status of a presidency was the arrival on the island of a new, enlarged staff of civil servants and military officers, and it was mainly from this official class that there arose some demand for health-and-resort facilities on the ridge overlooking George Town. But as the total number of Europeans on the island
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probably did not average more than 300 in this formative period, the hill station remained small and only modestly developed. When the presidency was abolished in 1830, the Companys staff of officials and its expenditure on the island were reduced greatly, while the pool of other potential users of the hill station, such as planters, merchants, and traders, remained very small. A period of stagnation ensued that lasted until the 1920s, when a funicular railway brought new life to the hill station. Development of Penang Hill Penang Hill was probably the first imperial outpost of its kind in the British colonies because it originated in the late 18th century, whereas the earliest hill stations in India date from around 1820. As early as 1787 a rough track had been cut through the rain forest to the signal house on the crest of the ridge overlooking George Town. The first dwellings on Penang Hill they probably date from the late 1790s or very early 1800s were bungalows erected by the East India Company for the temporary accommodation of its civil and military officials (Leith 1804: 10-11). Called variously Government Hill, Great Hill, or simply The Hill, the core of the early hill station occupied part of the undulating upper ridge between Fern Hill and Strawberry Hill. The preeminent hill-station site was atop Flagstaff Hill, where Bel Retiro, the governors bungalow, was located. This structure consisted of two large thatch or atap-covered bungalows connected by a covered plank passage or gallery that was cool and airy when opened along the sides. Towering above Bel Retiro was a flagpole that served as a beacon or signal station. Nearby on Mount Hygeia (named for the Greek goddess of health) accommodation for Company employees was available at Convalescent Bungalow. Visitors to the island who wanted to spend a night on the hill sometimes used Convalescent Bungalow, although such a sojourn required official permission. On a neighbouring elevation stood Fern Hill, the medical officers residence, which also contained a dispensary for invalids (Ward 1830). Slightly below and a little to the north of Bel Retiro, on what was generally called Haliburtons Hill, was the spacious bungalow of Thomas Halyburton (as his name was actually spelled), a British merchant and sometime sheriff of Penang (Wathen 1814; Bastin and Rohatgi 1979). The bungalow on this hill was sometimes referred to as
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Belle Vue or Bellevue, and the hotel that now occupies its site has retained the latter form of the name. Another commodious bungalow stood on nearby Strawberry Hill. According to a Dutch visitor in 1824, the summit of the hill was graced by a shady and scented garden of roses and strawberries, whence this spot has derived its name of Strawberry Hill (cited in Bastin and Rohatgi 1979:30). The site of the old bungalow and gardens has been occupied for several decades by the Tea Kiosk, below which is the upper terminus of the funicular railway. These bungalows, together with a few others about which little information has survived, were loosely connected by a tree-lined path (now called Jalan Tuanku Yahya Petra) that petered out on the summit of Western Hill, which had been cleared of forest but was not built on or cultivated. The rounded hill immediately below the upper ridge was linked by a winding path to the track leading up to the hill station, although the bungalow there, called Highlands of Scotland, and cleared land were primarily part of the plantation economy. The neighbouring hills, including Mount Olivia, the Pentlands (or Pentland Ridge), and Mount Elvira, lacked direct access to the hill station and were too low to be of much value to invalids. They occasionally served as places of refuge and resort, but they functionally were not part of the hill station. The early hill station was reached in two stages: from George Town to the foot of the ridge on horseback or by palanquin or gharry (usually a two-wheeled carriage or cart drawn by a horse or pony and plying for hire), and from there to the crest of the ridge by Sumatran pony or in a sedan chair. Readers of Dennyss 1894 Descriptive Dictionary of British Malaya were informed that [t]he charge for a pony up the hill is $1, and the same for the mount down. The charge for a chair coolie up is 35 cents, and a similar charge for the journey down. From five to eight coolies are required for each chair, but, of course, this is regulated by the weight of the person to be carried. Before ascending the hill it is necessary to make arrangements with either Messrs. Hin Lee and Co., or Boon Tek and Co., who will provide the necessary ponies or coolies at the foot of the hill (p. 284).
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Several additional bungalows were erected on or below the crest of the main ridge in the half century or so after about 1830, and the Crag Hotel opened for business in 1895. But few other changes occurred before or indeed for some time after the completion of the funicular railway in 1923. Over the years from around 1928 to 1941, however, the railway had a considerable impact on Penang Hill because, among other things, several miles of contour roads and paths were constructed and these opened up sites for new bungalows at staggered elevations; a police station, a post office, a Public Works Department (PWD) office, and several other structures were erected on or near Strawberry Hill; a reservoir and pumping station were built on Tiger Hill; dwellings and other structures for railway employees were constructed near the railway line; several non-Europeans acquired hill-station bungalows; and the accessibility of the hill station was greatly enhanced. The Penang Hills Railway was completed in 1923 (three English engineers had attempted to build a similar kind of railway in the 1890s, but the equipment they installed failed to operate). About 2 km long and rising some 726 m above sea level, the railway negotiated the steep gradient of the ridge in two entirely independent sections: from the lower station near Ayer Itam to a transfer station about half-way up the rise, and from there to the upper station on Strawberry Hill. The railway featured numerous viaducts and a precipitous tunnel near the top end of the line, making its construction a considerable engineering feat. With the opening of the hill railway, Penang Hill soon became a popular holiday resort. The number of visitors to the hill station increased from 136 000 before the war to 351 000 in 1951, according to a 1952 guidebook to the island. Penang Hill has changed very little over the past half-century, although proposals for its development have been floated from time to time. No plan for the hill station has generated more controversy than one announced in late 1990. Drawn up by a subsidiary of Berjaya Corporation, it called for, among other things, a 200-room hotel on the site of the former Crag Hotel, a condominium development, a cable-car linking the Botanic Garden to the hill station, a shopping and entertainment complex, and a theme park. Opponents of the massive scheme joined forces to form an organization called Friends of Penang Hill, whose stated goal is to protect the natural and cultural heritage of the hill-station area. The project has not gone ahead. Landscape with Bungalows
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Landscape is a rather ambiguous concept whose meaning is elusive. It is the humanized scene, nature variously made over by humans, that I have in mind, or what geographers call cultural landscape (Meinig 1979). The landscape, the continuous surface that we see around us, mirrors the interaction between humans and environment over space and through time. Cultural landscape has material or tangible content but it is also a symbolic expression of cultural values and meaning. Viewed from this latter perspective, it is a medium to be perceived, read, and interpreted on the ground, in written texts, and through artistic images (Olwig 1996: 645). Bungalows and their gardens were, and indeed still are, the characteristic cultural artifacts in the Penang Hill landscape. Whether on the plains or in the hills, no other building or construction was nearly so redolent or symbolic of the imperial presence as the bungalow, the basic residential unit of the European colonial community. Typically, the bungalow was well away from its neighbours and set in a clearly demarcated compound. Virtually all bungalows were built by amateur architects who were military engineers or employees of PWDs. Both the name and form of this adaptable house-type it served not only as private dwelling but also, for example, as rest-house, hotel, club, and district office originated in India, where the Europeans there apparently adopted and adapted the indigenous huts of rural Bengal to accord with their own social and cultural preferences. A bungalow in early 19th-century Penang was a hill dwelling for temporary use by Europeans. The term at that time apparently was rarely applied to lowland dwellings, which were usually called houses or residences. Company bungalows with names of English, Scottish, or literary provenance pre-empted the scenically most attractive and airy sites on the upper ridge above George Town. Social status and elevation were in tandem: the governors bungalow, Bel Retiro, occupied the most commanding site atop the hill, with the bungalows of lesser officials and merchants below. Several of the bungalows, including Convalescent Bungalow, were relatively small. The bungalows were low, one-storey dwellings that were oblong or square in shape. They sat on slightly raised plinths or on low brick pillars, and they had mud or woven-mat walls, pyramidal atap-covered roofs, and all-round deep verandas supported by slender wooden posts. The verandas were protected from heat and glare by split green-bamboo screens or chicks that could be
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rolled up when not in use. Internally, they probably comprised an open central area that was used for lounging and dining, with bedrooms opening off on either side. Intended for temporary occupation, the bungalows were only partially furnished. Each bungalow was set in a spacious compound that was demarcated by fences of linked hurdles or screens of trees and shrubs to ensure privacy and seclusion. A large area around each bungalow was cleared of vegetation and allotted to a garden, a gravel drive running down to a roadside gate, and, to the rear of the dwelling, a kitchen, servants quarters, a well, and storage space for conveyances; the open space also admitted light and allowed ventilation. The result was a privately controlled, more or less self-contained milieu that was largely sustained and maintained by the labour and services of dependent Asians. Some of Penang Hills bungalows eventually acquired an overlay of fashionable architectural details, while others were replaced by more substantial structures, including a few of two storeys. The old bungalow on Strawberry Hill was replaced by another, called the Tea Kiosk. Both the form of this building and the composition of its surrounding garden were typical of the handiwork of the PWD. Bel Retiro acquired a stone wing in 1890, and the northern end of the building, which had been neglected or damaged during the Japanese Occupation, was reconstructed in 1949. Other more elaborate bungalows or houses include the main part of the former Crag Hotel, itself essentially an assemblage of bungalows, and Southview Bungalow, built of granite blocks. To my knowledge, very little has been written about the bungalow gardens on Penang Hill, and I have not conducted an inventory or a detailed study of them. I offer only a few comments about the gardens during the colonial period, and hope that someone else will bring the story up to date. Most of early Penangs senior Company officials were probably selected from the middle class of the finely graded metropolitan society, and among their landscape tastes and preferences was a love of the informal or natural landscape garden and a growing interest in exotic plants. It is clear from the appearance of the grounds surrounding Suffolk House, the most elegant of the early 19 thcentury residences in the lowlands, that ideas associated with the picturesque landscape garden had reached the island by that time. Suffolk, John Crawfurd wrote, resembled an English gentlemans
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mansion and park, where clove and nutmeg trees . . . are substituted for oaks, elms, and ashes. The grounds contain from two to three hundred spotted deer (1828: 10). Most of the bungalow gardens on Penang Hill were probably small, modest creations, although visitors to the hill station praised them for their elegant tastefulness. They were usually constricted by the steeply sloping local topography, and the garden at Bel Retiro comprised a series of sharply descending terraces. As the hill retreat of the governor, however, Bel Retiro could boast the largest and most elaborate of the hill-station gardens. The bungalow was surrounded, and almost concealed, by fine trees and shrubs, and the garden was stocked with a variety of exotics. The exotic species in the Penang Hill gardens included pineapples and sunflowers, two New World plants with a long history in South-East Asia; roses, strawberries, and other flora from temperate climates that reminded the hill-station clientele of home; and a selection of flora that was probably introduced from places like India and Burma, the hinterlands of Macao and Canton, and the Moluccas in all of which it is known that British plant hunters were active in the early 19 th century. Penang was on a major trade route, so other sources of introduced plant species cannot be discounted. The main features of the Penang Hill gardens during the early 1800s were a lawn-like green sward, scattered shrubs, a few flower beds, and here and there some large trees that were probably remnants of the original rain forest. The general effect was one of contrived naturalness. By the mid-19th century, some of the gardens had become more elaborate and showy, reflecting metropolitan taste for greater formality. A good idea of what British gardens in the lowlands were like in the 1920s can be obtained from Kathleen Goughs A Garden Book for Malaya (1928). It is reasonable to assume that the hillstation gardens of the inter-war period were generally similar in layout to those of the lowlands, except that they featured a greater emphasis on flowers and shrubs from temperate climates. Briefly stated, the garden that the British preferred was semi-formal in design and featured well-kept lawns that evoked restfulness and provided a background to flowers and shrubs; flower beds that were square, circular or oval in shape; trees to sit under and to shade the house from the
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back premises; well-chosen and well-disposed shrubs; herbaceous borders; and pot plants like coollooking ferns or decorative flowering plants. Nearest the house was the flower garden proper, together with beds and borders. Pot plants were displayed on verandas, on strands in the open space below houses raised on pillars, and along the drive or path in front of the house. As might be expected, numerous plant species from cooler climates flourished in the highlands. The siting, demarcation, content, and arrangement of the bungalow-compound embodied and reflected social status, private or governmental control of space and labour, preferred visual experiences, and a desire for privacy and separateness. The garden within the compound was a particularly important means of maintaining self-identity, while well-loved flora from temperate climates evoked nostalgia. Together with a network of shaded paths and tracks and a mosaic of open and wooded spaces, the bungalow-compound provided the setting for the activities and lifestyles of the peripatetic hill-station clientele. Social Life and Leisure During the whole of the colonial period, Penang Hill had few facilities for amusement and leisure. It lacked a pub, a club, a race-course or cricket grounds, a public library, shops, or even a native bazaar. In short, Penang Hill had none of the institutions or facilities that characterized even small Indian hill stations. It was a relatively insignificant little belvedere of empire, and even today it remains, as already noted, mainly a collection of bungalows. In spite of its shortcomings, Penang Hill did possess certain attractions, including diverse topography and generally splendid scenery, interesting and abundant flora and fauna, shaded paths and open spaces for walking and riding, pleasant gardens and secluded bungalows with cool verandas, the company of other Europeans, freedom from the constraints of lowland authority, and opportunities to escape from the perceived baleful effects of the tropical climate and the socially restricting presence of non-Europeans. Most forms of social interaction and leisure took place outdoors in part because the climate was agreeable, in part because there were few indoor facilities and tended to follow the dictates of fashionable behaviour in the contemporary metropolitan society.
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A trip to Penang Hill invariably included a visit to the waterfall or cascade some 67 km northwest of George Town, which was a popular picnic spot and whose rugged grandeur appealed to early 19th-century landscape tastes. There were bath-houses and a hotel near the falls, which were incorporated, in 1884, into the Waterfall (or Botanic) Garden, also a favourite attraction on the way to the hill station. Having visited the falls and the botanic garden, the sojourner could continue up the winding path to the hill station, with an occasional stop along the way to admire the ever expanding view of the lowlands or to inspect the rich diversity of the rain-forest flora and fauna. Typical outdoor activities at the hill station included an early morning pony rode to Western Hill, where there was ample open space for exercise on foot or on horseback; collecting specimens of the local flora and fauna in the surrounding forests; walking or going on picnics or shooting expeditions; painting and sketching; or simply admiring the scenery from a good vantage point. Penang Hill acquired a hotel in 1895. Situated a little below and to the north of Strawberry Hill and occupying the former property of a Scotsman, one Captain Kerr, this was the now defunct Crag Hotel, a popular honeymoon resort and a focus of social life at the hill station for several decades. The Crag was acquired around 1905 by the celebrated Sarkies brothers from Armenia, who ran it as a branch of their more famous Eastern & Oriental Hotel in George Town. A comfortable hostelry, it consisted of a village of bungalows grouped around or near a large, central building that contained sitting- and dining-rooms. Winding, shady paths connected the bungalows, and a rose garden graced the site of the main building, where there were occasional dances and other social gatherings. Both before and for some time after the completion of the funicular railway, the visitor to the Crag Hotel was conveyed there in a sedan chair from Strawberry Hill. A variety of social activities and leisure pursuits occurred in the bungalow compounds, where they were associated in particular with the veranda, that cool, airy, and raised place where friends were greeted and entertained, where dogs lolled, children played, vendors displayed their wares, books were read, letters written, music performed and listened to, cards played, plants potted and tended, where breakfast and sometimes other meals were eaten, and where sojourners lounged in long low rattan chairs with fixed or folding leg rests.
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The lifestyle of the colonial hill-station clientele was largely sustained and maintained by the dominance-dependence relationship between the small but powerful European lite and the Asian cultural groups that composed the majority of the population. Virtually everything had to be hauled to Penang Hill from the lowlands travellers and their accoutrements, fresh food, prepared drinks and medicines, various household goods, ornamental plants, and even vegetable mould for the gardens. Consequently there was a demand for bearers, porters, and other labourers, most of whom were Malays or Tamils, as well as for haulage and delivery services. The flow of goods, services, and labour was essentially unidirectional, and it was largely parasitic on lowland land and life. The fun and relaxation that Europeans enjoyed at the hill station was largely made possible by the dualism that characterized colonial society. Penang Hill was a socio-cultural product of the dominant European colonial community in an alien and distant milieu. The interaction of selected representatives of the metropolitan society with the particular biophysical characteristics of the location yielded a cultural landscape in which the bungalow compound was the main artifact. The bungalow symbolized cultural transfer from India, while the layout and composition of the garden reflected local conditions, metropolitan tastes, and possibly the movement of horticultural ideas from India (Aiken 1987, 1994). Penang Hill Today The composition of Penang Hills clientele has greatly changed since the end of the colonial period. Today, it is Penangites themselves, together with other Malaysians and small numbers of international tourists, not British sojourners, who comprise the majority of visitors to the hill station. On the other hand, Penang Hill itself has changed very little over the past fifty years or more. Several factors account for its arrested development, among them relative isolation, lack of flat land to accommodate further growth, and competition from more popular tourist attractions. What change there has been, it might be argued, has resulted from benign neglect: witness, for example, the several bungalows that are sadly in need of repair or complete rehabilitation. Other bungalows, I understand, are underutilized.
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Because it has, thus far, largely escaped any form of large-scale development, Penang Hills attractions for todays visitors are much the same as they have always been: cooler air, tranquillity, temporary residence in a bungalow (or at the Bellevue Hotel), walking and hiking, admiring the flora and fauna, and enjoying the splendid vistas that unfold from various vantage points. Natural and Cultural Heritage Heritage Heritage, according to a UNESCO document, is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations (2000: n. p.). Heritage has burgeoned over the past few decades from a largely lite preoccupation with grand monuments, unique treasures, and great heroes into a popular crusade that now also touts the typical and evokes the vernacular (Lowenthal 1998: 14). A flourishing industry in its own right, heritage caters to an ever-growing clientele whose interests span everything from Elvis memorabilia to the Holocaust. What has generated interest in such a diverse set of heritages? Part of the answer appears to lie in dismay at the dizzying speed and scale of change in our everyday surroundings, together with a profound loss of trust in the future. Heritage interests and concerns range from the global to the local. That the natural heritage is global, writes Lowenthal (1998), is now beyond dispute. Fresh water and fossil fuels, rain forests and gene pools are legacies common to us all and need all our care. Cultural resources likewise form part of the universal human heritage (p. 228). Global agencies with heritage agendas include UNESCO, which seeks to encourage the identification, protection, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. A great many pressure or interest groups, voluntary organizations, and other collective enthusiasms are also devoted to conserving and protecting legacies of various kinds. Examples include conservation groups, nature societies, bird watching organizations, campaign groups to protect particular buildings or streetscapes, and so on (Urry 1996). Penang, Crossette (1999) observes, has long been a center of multiple advocacy movements and protests, where social action groups and environmentalists flourish (p. 166). Of particular importance in the present context is a network of organizations called Friends of Penang Hill, whose goal is to conserve and protect the Hills natural and cultural heritage (Khor et al. 1991).
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Heritage and History Heritage is often misconstrued as history. While the viewpoints of the two often converge both, for example, share an interest in making the past more accessible their aims and modes of persuasion differ significantly. Lowenthal (1998) makes the distinction succinctly: History explores and explains pasts grown ever more opaque over time; heritage clarifies pasts so as to infuse them with present purposes (p. xv); and further, the most critical distinction between the two, he notes, is that truth in heritage commits us to some present creed; truth in history is a flawed effort to understand the past on its own terms (p. 119). Unlike history, which attempts through critical enquiry to tell a true story about the past, heritage attempts to improve the past, celebrating selected aspects of it while discarding others (Lowenthal 1998; Arnold 2000). As an outsider, I am not well placed to appreciate what it is that Penangs diverse cultural groups wish to celebrate or discard. Natural Heritage Penang Hill that is, the undulating and steep-sided ridge occupied by the hill station is part of a complex of dissected, generally wooded hills in the north-central part of Pulau Penang, and it is in this larger context that I briefly describe its ecological significance and value. The hill-station ridge forms the divide or watershed between several rivers and streams that drain the surrounding region, and a number of water catchments that supply Penangites with part of their water needs border the ridge. Considering that Penang is not a water-rich state and that, in fact, it is heavily dependent on Kedah for a large proportion of its water needs, priority should be given to retaining forest cover in these (and other) water catchments. Much of the Penang Hill area is characterized by steep slopes, fast-flowing rivers, and granite-derived soils that are easily eroded when cleared of vegetation. As long ago as the 1930s, Soper (1938) warned of the dangers of soil erosion on Penang Hill, commenting that the soil contains coarse quartz which renders it open and friable; it is consequently very easily eroded when exposed, but if suitably covered it can absorb very heavy falls of rain (p. 408). The key phrase here
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is if suitably covered.
More recently, a study of soil-erosion risk based on the rainfall
characteristics of Peninsular Malaysia placed Penang in the highest risk category (Morgan 1986). The forests of the greater Penang Hill area not only protect soils from erosion and supply Penangites with clean water but also provide valuable habitat for a rich assemblage of flora and fauna, among which are some 80 species of birds that inhabit the hill; numerous mammals, including tree shrews, civet cats, flying lemurs, squirrels, pangolins, and monkeys; and a diverse flora that includes species that are endemic or rare (Khor et al. 1991). Deforestation has proceeded apace in Peninsular Malaysia since the 1960s, with the result that virtually all of the great lowland tropical rain forest is gone (Aiken and Leigh 1992). A remnant of that once extensive forest realm still clothes the hills of Penang, and I would argue that it should be treasured, not only for its ecological, scientific, and recreational significance but also for its intrinsic value. That the Penang Hill forests are part of Malaysias natural heritage is beyond dispute. The environmental record resulting from upland development elsewhere in Peninsular Malaysia should give pause to planners and would-be developers of Penang Hill. At Genting Highlands and Cameron Highlands, for example, clearing forest to make way for roads, hotels, crops, and other land uses has resulted in severe soil erosion, river sedimentation, and mounting threats to rare or endemic flora. These and other potential impacts of upland development are clearly recognized in the governments Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines for Development of Resort and Hotel Facilities in Hill Stations (Department of Environment 1995). Cultural Heritage In this section I focus on three aspects of Penang Hills cultural heritage: material culture reflecting the historic character and evolution of the hill-station landscape; cultural values that mirror long-standing affection for and attachment to the place; and, not to be forgotten, the written and pictorial record of landscape and life on the Hill. I should note here that I have not conducted a detailed study of any aspect of the contemporary hill station and that, consequently, certain of my comments are speculative rather
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than definitive. Furthermore, I recognize that there are several possible readings of the same heritage; that we are not well-informed as to how peoples popular memories, of a place, industry, or social institution, are stimulated, enthused, and then organized into a potential documentation of remembrance; and that we know relatively little about just how people use and respond to heritage sites (Urry 1996: 53-54). Khor et al. (1991) provide a useful overview of Penang Hills cultural heritage, and I draw liberally on their work in what follows. Bungalows and gardens, open and wooded spaces, roads and tracks, numerous fine vistas these, as I have already suggested, are the main characteristics of the hill stations cultural landscape. The great majority of all structures on the Hill are of pre-World War II vintage, and much of the charm and attraction of the place derives from its arrested development. Khor et al. (1991) capture the essence of the place: The location of the upper Hill, the sensitive way in which it has been developed (with very limited development over so many decades), the absence of vehicular traffic, the pleasant cool temperature, the spectacular views, the quietness broken only by the musical sound of birds and wind through trees; the blending of the small buildings and houses into the environment, and most of all the little roads and trails in the midst of lush, tropical forests: these are some of the factors that have given Penang Hill its unique atmosphere so beloved by all those who visit it (p. 36). And they provide a useful summary of what should be protected and conserved, including (a) all cultural and natural features which express the Hills historic character; (b) the relationship between buildings and open spaces; (c) all pre-war buildings and their interior and exterior formal appearances; (d) the historic surroundings of buildings [including gardens and trees]; (e) the general historic hill resort area; (f) vistas and views; [and] (g) the verdant hills as a backdrop to the city (p. 39). To my knowledge there have been no studies of the attitudes and values that Penangites and out-of-state visitors attach to Penang Hill. In view of Penangs cultural diversity, it might
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reasonably be expected that the hill station means different things to different socio-economic and cultural groups. And what, if anything, is the significance of the fact that the hill station, like virtually all other such places, is largely a product of colonialism? These matters aside, it is clear from even casual observation that many Penangites enjoy escaping from the bustle of city life to the peace and quiet of the nearby Hill. Finally, it should not forgotten that the cultural heritage of Penang Hill includes what has been written about the place in diaries and letters, topographical works, official reports, and other published and unpublished sources; various representations of landscape and life on the Hill as recorded in paintings, engravings, drawings, maps, postcards, and other illustrative materials; and a great many memories. Dispelling Myths The protection and conservation of natural and cultural heritage is poorly served by certain widely held misconceptions about nature and culture. I take a brief look at two persistent myths. (i) Contrary to widespread opinion, nature is not characterized by stability, balance, harmony, and equilibria, although the language of popular ecology and environmentalism remains suffused with such notions. On the contrary, we live in a non-equilibrium world, in which change takes place all the time, in all sorts of directions and at all sorts of scales, catastrophically, gradually, and unpredictably (Stott 1998: 1). Change is the norm, stability illusory. In large part because stasis and stability have been emphasized over flux and change, humans in nature are viewed as the problem, upsetting the delicate balance, harmony and control that we so avidly desire (Stott 1998: 2). Although nature is largely unpredictable and beyond our control, environmental management is still largely guided by notions of stability and equilibrium. What is required instead is to recognize and accept that change is the only constant, and that, among much else, there is a need to devise land-use models, zoning regulations, riskmanagement strategies, and other procedures to accommodate change. In addition, I would argue that we should view human agency in a more positive light.
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(ii)
Many natural scientists and environmentalists view nature and culture as discrete and incompatible essences. In their eyes, unsullied nature is superior to any product of human intervention in nature. From this dualistic perspective, humans are seen as the problem, because they despoil pristine nature and degrade the environment (Lowenthal 2000). Such views tend to overlook the fact that humans have been transforming the natural world since the dawn of prehistory; that consequently very few, if any, truly natural environments exist anywhere on earth today; and that in many parts of the world human intervention has created and maintained environments which are arguably richer and more diverse in species, scenic beauty, historical interest and recreational opportunity than the natural forest and other ecosystems they have replaced (Green 1995: 405). Catering to small numbers of travellers, tourists, and other visitors has always been
Penang Hills chief raison dtre. With this in mind, I now take a brief look at the role that sustainable tourism might play in any future development of the Hill. Sustainable Tourism Tourism is the worlds largest industry and one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy. In 2000, it accounted for about ten per cent of global GDP. Visits to Asia, Africa, and other developing regions have increased dramatically, and the World Tourism Organization (WTO) predicts that by 2020 Asia will be the most popular destination after Europe, attracting more than a quarter of the world tourist traffic (Mastny 2001: 13). The growth of tourism has contributed substantially to Malaysias economy. Tourist arrivals in the country increased from 7.93 million in 1999 to 10.22 million in 2000, when revenue from tourist spending amounted to RM17.31 billion (US$4.56 billion), according to the WTO (2001). That tourism plays an important role in the national economy is recognized in the Seventh and Eighth Malaysia Plans, which include incentives to stimulate its further development. Pulau Pinang has long been a favourite destination of visitors to Malaysia, most of whom gravitate to its beaches and big resort hotels. In 1998, there were some 3.25 million visits to the
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state, or roughly 40 per cent of all tourist arrivals in Malaysia in that year. Efforts to generate more tourists include the massive scheme, already mentioned above, to develop Penang Hill. It is well known that tourism, especially so-called mass tourism, can cause varying degrees of harm to natural systems, cultural artifacts, and local populations. Popular tourist attractions include coastal areas and fragile upland regions. Penang possesses both. Tourism developments in such areas, including new hotels, resort complexes, and roads, often degrade ecosystems, pose threats to the survival of wildlife, and generate large quantities of waste. Because tourism is one of the worlds least regulated industries, it often has negative implications for local economies, cultures and ecosystems (Mastny 2001: 7). Ironically, tourism often destroys the very beaches, forests, and other attractions that lured visitors in the first place. There is a growing interest in alternative forms of tourism, and an increasing number of environmentally and socially conscious consumers are seeking destinations and tour companies that offer ecotourism, which the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN, now called the World Conservation Union) defines as environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features, both past and present) that promotes conservation, has low negative visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations (UNEP 2001). Ecotourism is the fastest growing sector of the tourism industry. Penang Hill and Sustainable Tourism Because the ecotourism label has been used by the travel industry to drum up a new clientele of nature lovers and adventurers, and because the use of the eco prefix implies that cultural matters are excluded from ecotourism, any future plan to accommodate tourists on Penang Hill should focus on the broader concept of sustainable tourism. A more inclusive concept, sustainable tourism aims to fuse the principles of sustainable development with tourism and attempts to harmonize a variety of economic, socio-cultural, and ecological concerns. A sustainable tourism perspective on Penang Hill would emphasize, among other things, the role that such tourism can play in generating revenue and employment for Penangites, while
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maintaining the natural and cultural heritage of the Hill. Basic to such a perspective is the requirement to respect local peoples cultures, lifestyles, and aspirations. Efforts to promote sustainable tourism need to be shared among a wide range of stakeholders, including governments, the tourism industry, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), host communities, and tourists themselves (Wearing and Neil 1999; Mastny 2001). Governments, NGOs, and the tourism industry are increasingly promoting the principles of and best practices associated with sustainable tourism, and 2002 was designated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as the International Year of Ecotourism. UNEP and the WTO, which were jointly responsible for co-ordinating international activities during 2002, acknowledge that there is little consensus about the meaning of ecotourism and that some concerns still need to be addressed. They make a clear distinction between the concepts of ecotourism and sustainable tourism: the term ecotourism itself refers to a segment within the tourism sector, while the sustainability principles should apply to all types of tourism activities, operations, establishments and projects, including conventional and alternative forms (WTO and UNEP 2002). I list the main principles of sustainable tourism below: Contributes to conservation of biodiversity. Sustains the well-being of local people. Includes an interpretation / learning experience. Involves responsible action on the part of tourists and the tourism industry. Is delivered primarily to small groups by small-scale businesses. Requires the lowest possible consumption of nonrenewable resources. Stresses local participation, ownership and business opportunities, particularly for rural people (UNEP 2001).
In 1991, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) adopted a code for environmentally sensitive tourism to reflect these principles (PATA 2001). In a speech at the opening of PATAs 50th annual conference in April 2001, Prime Minister Mahathir endorsed the idea of sustainable tourism when he obvserved that the government will continue to ensure that the tourism industry
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in Malaysia is managed on the basis of sustainable development. He added that ecotourism may represent the world's best hope for saving fragile ecosystems (Anon 2001). On the face of it, then, the promotion of sustainable tourism is a stated goal of the federal government. Likewise, the Sustainable Penang Initiative (SPI) also implicitly backs the goal of sustainable tourism through its stated support for integrated and holistic development planning and public education about sustainable development and how to achieve it. Indeed, the SPI has gained a reputation for its foresight in charting Penangs development based on the five principles of ecological sustainability, social justice, economic productivity, cultural vibrancy, and popular participation (SPI n.d.). The Malaysian Nature Society, which represents the broad base of support for the protection and conservation of Penang Hills natural and cultural heritage, advocates sustainable tourism, if properly carried out, as a viable alternative to proposed massive development schemes (Chan 1999). Given the lack of regulation in the tourism industry in general and a trend toward greenwashing tourism with unsubstantiated eco-friendly attributes, sustainable tourism providers are increasingly looking to accreditation by eco-labeling certification schemes. Sustainable tourism development on Penang Hill should be guided by the work being done to produce reliable standards and certification systems for this burgeoning industry. Such systems allow companies and agencies to adopt mutually recognized standards that help consumers identify reliable and authentic sustainable tourism goods and services. As part of this attempt, a set of principles and an agreed framework (The Mohonk Agreement) was developed identifying the key common elements of a sustainable tourism certification program. This agreement has already been used to develop and guide tourism certification projects in several countries (CEC 2001). Sustainable Tourism at World Heritage Sites The need to promote sustainable tourism has been recognized by UNESCO, which, together with UNEP, recently launched a four-year project called Linking Conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism at World Heritage Sites (UNEP 2002). Lessons that are relevant to the sustainable development of Penang Hill as a tourist venue may, in due course, be learned from
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this project, which attempts, through work with various stakeholders, to bring conservation education, planning, business development, training, and marketing techniques together. The aim is to create a blueprint for other initiatives by demonstrating that local people can work together to conserve their heritage by balancing the demands of tourists with the needs and cultural traditions of residents and local users, while protecting landscapes and the environment. UNESCO is also working jointly with PATA on a project called IMPACT, the aim of which is to produce a series of publications based on individual case studies of heritage sites in the AsiaPacific Region. Drawing on real experiences, the case studies will be used to educate tourism industry personnel and heritage managers on ways of further developing the tourism industry while preserving the regions natural and cultural heritage (UNESCO 2001). The sustainable development of Penang Hills tourist attractions requires careful planning, with the involvement of all stakeholders, so that its unique historical, cultural, and biological heritage is protected for present and future generations. Envoi Is there scope for further development of Penang Hill? The answer is yes, provided it is smallscale, pays attention to the fragile nature of the hill-top habitat, respects the cultural heritage of the place, and focuses on improving existing hill-station services and facilities. Large-scale projects, on the hand, are likely to eliminate or greatly alter two of the main attractions of Penang Hill, namely, the charming tranquility of its cultural landscape and the rich diversity of its natural environment.
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REFERENCES Aiken, S. Robert. 1987. Early Penang Hill. Geographical Review 77: 421-39. Aiken, S. Robert. 1994. Imperial belvederes: the hill stations of Malaya. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Aiken, S. Robert, and Colin H. Leigh. 1992. Vanishing rain forests: the ecological transition in Malaysia. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Anon 2001. Sustainable tourism development, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. Daily Express, http://www.sabahtourism.com/ecotourism.htm, Viewed 3 March 2002. Arnold, John H. 2000. History: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bastin, John, and Pauline Rohatgi. 1979. Prints of Southeast Asia in the India Office Library: the East India Company in Malaysia and Indonesia 1786-1824. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. CEC. 2001. From principles to practice: compendia of in situ sustainable tourism in North America. Montreal: North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC): http://www.cec.org/files/PDF/ECONOMY/tourism-8e2_EN.pdf, Viewed 10 March 2002. Chan Ngai Weng. 1999. Penang Hill Teluk Bahang cable car system: what are the hidden costs? Malaysian Nature Society, Penang Branch: http://www.el.net.my/naturesociety/ article7a.htm, Viewed 3 March 2002. Crawfurd, John. 1828. Journal of an embassy from the Governor-General of India to the Court of Siam and Cochin China. London: Henry Colburn, reprinted Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, Oxford University Press, 1967 and 1987. Crossette, Barbara. 1999. The great hill stations of Asia. New York: Basic Books. Dennys, N. B. 1894. A descriptive dictionary of British Malaya. London: 'London and China Telegraph' Office. Department of Environment, Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, Malaysia. 1995. Environmental impact assessment guidelines for development of resort and hotel facilities in hill stations. Kuala Lumpur: Department of Environment.
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Gough, Kathleen. 1928. A garden book for Malaya. London: Witherby. Green, Bryn H. 1995. Principles for protecting endangered landscapes: the work of the IUCNCESP working group on landscape conservation. In Cultural landscapes of universal value, edited by B. von Droste, H. Plachter, and M. Rssler. New York: Gustav Fischer Verlag. Kenny, Judith T. 1995. Climate, race, and imperial authority: the symbolic landscape of the British hill station in India. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 85 (4):694-714. Khor Kok Peng, Martin et al. 1991. Penang Hill: the need to save our natural heritage. Penang, Malaysia: Friends of Penang Hill. King, Anthony D. 1976. Colonial urban development: culture, social power and environment. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Leith, Sir George. 1804. A short account of the settlement, produce, and commerce, of Prince of Wales Island, in the Straits of Malacca. London: J. Booth. Lowenthal, David. 1998. The heritage crusade and the spoils of history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lowenthal, David. 2000. Environmental history: from the conquest to the rescue of nature. In Cultural encounters with the environment: enduring and evolving geographic themes, edited by A. B. Murphy, D. L. Johnson, and V. Haarman. Lanham, MA: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. Macalister, Norman. 1803. Historical memoir relative to Prince of Wales Island, in the Straits of Malacca. London: Printed for the author by J. H. Hart. Mastny, Lisa. 2001. Traveling light: new paths for international tourism; Worldwatch Paper 159. Washington DC: Worldwatch Institute. Meinig, D. W. ed. 1979. The interpretation of ordinary landscapes: geographical essays. New York: Oxford University Press. Mitchell, Nora. 1972. The Indian hill-station: Kodaikanal; Department of Geography Research Paper No. 141. Chicago: University of Chicago. Morgan, R. P. C. 1986. Soil erosion and conservation. Essex, England: Longman Scientific & Technical.
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Olwig, Kenneth R. 1996. Recovering the substantive nature of landscape. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 86 (4):630-53. Popham, Sir Home. 1805. A description of Prince of Wales Island, in the Streights of Malacca; with its real and probable advantages and sources to recommend it as a marine establishment. London: John Stockdale. Reed, Robert R. 1979. The colonial genesis of hill stations: the Genting exception. Geographical Review 69:463-68. Soper, J. R. P. 1938. Soil erosion on Penang Hill. Malayan Agricultural Journal 26: 407-13. Spencer, J. E., and W. L. Thomas. 1948. The hill stations and summer resorts of the Orient. Geographical Review 38:637-51. SPI. n.d. The Sustainable Penang Initiative home page: http://www.seri.com.my/spi/, Viewed 3 March 2002. Stott, Philip. 1998. Biogeography and ecology in crisis: the urgent need for a new
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Penang Hill Landscape Evolution and Heritage Conservation

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Penang Hill Landscape Evolution and Heritage Conservation

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The Penang Story International Conference 2002 18-21 April 2002, The City Bayview Hotel, Penang, Malaysia

a Organisers: The Penang Heritage Trust & STAR Publications

More recently, a study of soil-erosion risk based on the rainfall

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