PD, a town in the throes of death

By Zefry Dahalan -Free Malaysia Today


SPECIAL REPORT PORT DICKSON: The signs of decay are everywhere in this once thriving holiday town. Crumbling unfinished buildings are scattered all over the place.

Among these are many hotel projects that were started during the economic boom of the early 1990s and abandoned during the Asian financial crisis at the end of that decade.

“They are an eyesore,” said M Ravi, the state assemblyman for Port Dickson.

He called on the state government to do something towards reviving these projects, saying they could help give new life to the dying town and beckon back the tourists.

Speaking to FMT, Ravi lamented the tourism authorities’ lack of imagination in their planning for Port Dickson and the once-popular Teluk Kemang Beach not far from the town.

“There is hardly any entertainment even for local folks, not to mention tourists,” he said.

“Believe it or not, there is not even a cinema in the entire town.”

As a result, he said, youngsters ended up at the beaches at night and the chances were high that a lot of hanky-panky was going on.

"Port Dickson is a place for retired people; there is no place you can go for the kind of fun that young people enjoy,” he said.

He also complained of the lack of variety in hawker fare along the beaches.

There are nearly 400 hawker stalls on the stretch of beach from Port Dickson to Teluk Kemang, but you can’t find a single one selling Chinese or Indian food.

"Is this what you call 1Malaysia?” asked Ravi. “Why can't you have a few Chinese and Indian food stalls to reflect a true Malaysian culture?"

Ravi also attributed the unpopularity of Port Dickson to a lack of local crafts and local foods that could be seen as unique to the area.

"When you go to Langkawi, you can find cashew nuts coated with honey that you can't find anywhere else in Malaysia,” he said.

“In Penang, you can find sweet pickled nutmegs. In Terengganu and Kuching, you can find many crafts.

"But here in Port Dickson you don't have anything to offer to tourists that they can't find anywhere else in Malaysia.”

Army Town

In a bid to revive Port Dickson’s popularity — or perhaps to win votes — Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak declared last September during campaigning for the Bagan Pinang by-election that the town would henceforth be known as “army town" because of the presence of a large number of army camps in the area.

He said the government would launch a number of major development projects to benefit the army folk of Port Dickson.

No significant development has been seen since, except for a plaque depicting an armoured car at the Sua Betong junction on the Port Dickson-Seremban Expressway.

Ramli Ismail, a retired army officer, scoffed at the idea of an army town status for Port Dickson.

"Apart from the armoured car plaque, there is nothing new to show that we’re an army town,” he said. “Even if we’re an army town, how’s that going to pull in tourists?”

He said he disagreed with Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who suggested last March that the army open up their barracks as accommodation for tourists.

"The rules clearly say that you cannot even take photographs inside the camp for security reasons,” said Ramli. “But now you’re allowing tourists to live in the camp?

"If I were a foreign spy, I’d pretend to be a tourist. I would take my mobile phone into the camp, take pictures with it and gather important information like the exact locations of ammunition and bombs.

"The very idea is a threat to national security.”