To find out once and for all whether one of the two arches there is really leaning, ‘someone’ set up two plumb lines last night at the arch.
He found that not only is the arch tilting dangerously, it has worsened since the use of the theodolite in early May. It was then five inches off the vertical, but is now 15 inches.
The upright stick corresponds to where the string starts at the top of the arch. The lead plumb that you can see (metal upside down pyramid thing) should be where the stick should be IF it is perfectly vertical. You can see that the plumb is way off, by about 15 inches.
It also looks like its tilting both along the major as well as the minor axes, assuming the two arches were perfectly aligned to start off with.
Thanks to this mysterious ‘someone’ for this expose and the public service rendered.
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We lived in Penang by the Botanical gardens for a few years before moving to the UK. We were planning to have a holiday there this summer but after seeing what’s being done to Penang with the Stalinist style Botanical Garden Arches etc I think we’ll be going to another country.
Hi Mark, you will be happy to note we are bringing down the arches 🙂
For once LGE shows no gut at all against BN’s irresponsible project. Where is MPPP and LGE? Why still allow the arches to stand on the state land? LGE like to fight, but when we really like him to fight for us, he just chicken like KTK. Wonder what wrong with Penang fengshui, why our CM all seem to behave like chicken when they are not appointed by KFC.
Hi cheahst and Habby,
Maybe both of you are right – if the Tourism Ministry refuses to demolish the 2 arches, the State Govt should consider putting up plaques declaring “The Leaning Arches of Botanical Gardens, courtesy of the BN Govt.”
I get it now!!! .
Ng Yen Yen as the Minister of Tourism is trying to create a new tourist attraction .
“THE LEANING ARCHES OF BOTANICAL GARDEN”
Hip Hip Hooray !!!!!
Ah, finally! Our very own Arc de Folly. whatever the cause & cost, it shd NOT be demolished. Don’t throw away good money after bad money. Enshrine it, so that people will remember the wastrels, “How the Feds spent our hard earned ca$h” Let this be the symbol, an icon, a tombstone, of irreverence to the spirit of the place and irrelevance to the spirit of the rakyat. btw, dict.com… all meanings most appropriate 🙂 fol·ly /ˈfɒli/ [fol-ee] Show IPA –noun, plural -lies for 2–6. 1. the state or quality of being foolish; lack of understanding or sense. 2. a… Read more »
Hi everyone, It’d be interesting to see how and who are behind the sudden surge in “Yes” votes (> 2000 voted ‘Yes’ in a matter of hours!!) in the survey on the Botanic Garden Arches! It’s obvious someone or organisation orchestrated this sudden surge in voting. Irrespective of whether the arches are leaning or not, safe or not, I would strongly urge Malaysians, Penangites in particular, to demand that the arches be demolished. The arches are an eyesores and totally out of character with the serene surroundings of the Botanic Gardens! We’d also like to know who is the architect… Read more »
Hey, did some newspaper reported Ng Yen said will bring down the arch if proven dangerous?
Mr Anil, please email the fact findings to her Ministry quickly before anybody injured.
btw, what is the recommendation from Friends of Penang Botanic Garden?
Well, this news is now out in the Star today. So she should be aware of it now.
I like to ask Ng Yen Yen to search her heart and answer honestly if these arches blends in with the natural surrounding of the Gardens. I like to hear her views, I mean her honest views, not tainted by politics. Care to reply Yen Yen ?
Remember the house by the lake in Perak first collapsed and soon after, an entire roofing structure at the Bt.Burok Stadium in Trengganu suffering similar catastrophe. By proportion, this arch is chum change when compared to the two examples above but let’s not forget the mother of all cock up’s – the misadventures of Bumi Highway – where hundreds of millions was spent to put right a fundamental flaw, to no avail. Going by “best practices”, the entire construction should have been scrapped but no way this garbage of a govt, Works Ministry were ever going to swallow some pride.… Read more »
Since the M’s cohorts support gambling, I for one would like to gamble on this tilting arch falling down anytime soon!
Are the Feds gambling this tilting arch with the lives of tourists or the Rakyat?
LGE, since you disagree with gambling, even so gambling with lives of innocent people, why not do something about it proactively? Or wait until it is too late? You will then be conveniently blamed (sabotaged) by this tilting arch.
Anil, Don’t be so pessimistic. This tilt of the arch is all part of grand tourism plan to undercut the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy as well as the Leaning Clock Tower in Teluk Intan. With this Senget/Tilting/Leaning Archway, Penang is now set to rocket to the top of the Malaysian tourism arrivals chart. Without doubt, our farsighted Minister of Tourism, Ng Yen Yen is going to be soooo excited by this development. I would think that CM Lim Guan Eng will be very pleased by this as well since he did not do anything to stop this futuristic project… Read more »
If it is proven that the arch is tilting progressively be it 1 inch or 20 inches, the local council should start investigating whether it will pose any danger to the public. If it is they must order for the immediate removal and not wait for the federal tourism minister to conduct her poll for answer.
Inches? A retired surveyor, obviously! What’s that in bolehmetres? On a purely nit-picking note, you shouldn’t be so sure the tilt has worsened unless you were using the same instrument on both occasions. I would be inclined to put greater trust in the plumb-line. If that surveyor has the time and the inclination, I’d be interested to see a few regular measurements. If the two measurements are accurate, would you expect to see ‘off’ increase by 6mm per day? How wide is the base? I’m visiting Penang soon, I’d like to calculate the time when it’s going to fall down… Read more »
I look forward to your calculations!
It’s rainy season this month and for this CONTINUOUSLY TILTING arch to be left unattended is … irresponsible of the Feds.
Ng Yen Yen, why not you pitch tent below this arch and wait…?
Your so called public opinion is not valid in the face of this CONTINUOUSLY TILTING episode. Engineering fact is telling us the urgency of this matter, pull it down now! Or you want to wait for some unfortunate souls to be sacrificed in the name of your irrelevant public opinion?
The authorities should cordon on that place immediately so that the public is not exposed to danger of impending collapse. Ministry of Tourism should stop work immediately and thorough investigation should be conducted. In the meantime, warning signs should be placed around the area to warn the unaware public of the danger. thank you