Here are more telling signs of the worsening environmental situation in Penang. Time we woke up and did something about it.
Blog-reader Steve Oh shares with us what Penang was once like:
Anyone who knows Penang will tell you it is such a beautiful island with an alluring and rare charm that even beguiled Somerset Maugham the novelist, who spent time there. But take a drive along its unique sinuous coastal road round the island and you will see how the poor island has suffered a tortuous existence since development hit the island. It is like Cinderella ill-treated. The Pearl has lost its lustre, and without its blue seas, perhaps greenish at ground level, it has lost its natural appeal.
I inspected a beachside property and was aghast to see several illegal houses built of concrete and zinc roofs that had been there for some time right smack on the beach in front of it. And you can even find illegal food shops on some beaches! You wonder where all the sewage go. There are big open monsoon drains that flow into the sea and you can find some beside those beautiful hotels. Do they seriously want people to swim in the sea? Ask a silly question! Sigh.
Yes, we remember our childhood days on the beaches of Penang. We used to dig for siput at Gurney Drive. They were plentiful and you could play on the sand and the water was typically Penang but not as crystal clear as the sea at Muka Head but still relatively unpolluted.
The rape of Penang’s natural heritage will not stop until Penangites themselves mobilise to stop the rot. The new government has a challenge on its hands but it is a challenge that requires every Penangite to feel a sense of ownership and chip in.
Mut recalls what it was like fishing off the coast of Penang:
Even in the early 80s we could still find nice sandy beaches; for me, the srtongest signal that something was going wrong came when fishing trips yielded worse catches.
