Heritage Hope for Kampung Tanjong Tokong

Kampung Tanjong Tokong is a Malay village on the verge of complete disappearance. In fact the Malay houses, some having stood for hundreds of years, have been demolished and the villagers moved to transit homes nearby. The developer, the Urban Development Authority (UDA), is compensating these villagers with high rise apartments.However, a group of villagers are lobbying for the kampung (village) to be retained as a heritage site - taking a leaf out of the pages of the Kampung Buah Pala saga. Kampung Buah Pala had tried this route, hoping that the village will be declared heritage site to save it from demolition, but failed and Kampung Buah Pala is now, no more. Two experts in heritage conservation, Dr. Wazir Jahan Karim and architect Lawrence Loh presented the plans for preserving part of Kampung Tanjong Tokong to the Penang State Government. CM Lim said the state is powerless in halting demolition and development as the land belongs to UDA. Nevertheless, the state will submit the plans for conserving part of the village to UNESCO as there are historical traces which proves that Kampung Tanjong Tokong existed even before Georgetown, which is itself a UNESCO Heritage site. Video by Chan Lilian, Citizen Journalist