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By The Edge Options Team.  LAST year, the Options team embarked on a special project close to its heart — an issue dedicated to the heritage of George Town, a Unesco World Heritage Site. The issue was titled “On the Heritage Trail in Penang” (Sept 1, 2008), a project that explored a segment of our history that a new generation has forgotten or doesn’t know about.
Done in conjunction with the celebration of Merdeka, our stint saw us swapping our stilettos and fancy handbag for loafers, sandals and backpack, and traipsing the streets of the Penang capital to uncover the city’s soul and cultural identity.
Yes, it was quite a departure from the personality profiles of CEOs, luxury watchmakers and fashion designers that regularly grace our pages. All our efforts in this new direction paid off — we came out with a highly conceptualised issue from start to finish. While it was reward enough to see the four challenging days spent in Penang manifest into 56 pages of interviews and photo essays, we were honoured to learn that at the recent Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Awards for Editorial Excellence ceremony, this issue garnered us an Honourable Mention in the Excellence in Special Issue or Special Section category. (In every category, only two awards are given out — Honourable Mention and the Award of Excellence. The Award of Excellence in our category went to South China Morning Post for its Beijing 2008 Olympic Special Issue.) The award is given to a newspaper special pullout or magazine special issue that uses the best combination of writing, design and photographic excellence to enhance its overall presentation.
The citation by the judges for the Options award read: “Good combination of editorial, pictures, design and local knowledge to produce a stand-out issue on a topic that has been covered often but not usually as well.”
Options editor Surinder Jessy was in Hong Kong last week (June 11, 2009) to accept the award on behalf of the team. She says, “When I collected the award, I was indeed very proud to belong to The Edge editorial family of editors, writers, photographers, artists and sub-editors. In my 20-odd years in journalism, this is indeed the best team I have worked with. The judges’ comment clearly tells us that we successfully merged all our different skills to produce an issue that impressed an 84-member international panel of judges. It is all about teamwork and I think that putting together the Heritage Issue last year was a clear example of the great teamwork that exists in The Edge. And this really is, in my opinion, one of the greatest strengths of The Edge.” When we were planning this issue, Malaysia was still coming to grips with the result of the historic general election in March that saw the ruling government lose its customary two-thirds majority in Parliament and the opposition wresting control of five states. Surinder was keen to pursue a theme that would enable us to explore slices of society responsible for change and Penang provided a rich case study.
Penang’s bumpy ride over the past two decades oddly matched the changes sweeping Malaysia. The country’s push to industrialise during the two-decade premiership of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad often came at a high price for its rich multi-cultural heritage. Haphazard development led to neglect of Penang’s historical buildings, which defined the island’s rich multi-ethnic communities. But over the past few years, a group of individuals and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have decided to work together to stop Penang’s rot and Unesco’s listings have given due recognition to their relentless work.
The Options team — Surinder and writers Jacqueline Toyad, Anandhi Gopinath, Grace Chin and Elaine Lau — together with The Edge’s photograpers Haris Hassan and Patrick Goh — spent four days scouting every corner of George Town. Haris, who is deputy chief photographer, and Patrick documented the whole experience in a series of colourful, beautifully composed pictures. We spoke to prominent Penang families and individuals, entrepreneurs, the man in the street; observed the everyday life of Penangites; and learnt about the architectural elements and significance of the various buildings.
We showed up in George Town ready with an itinerary built on contacts suggested by Janice Yeap, great-granddaughter of Penang’s illustrious son Yeap Chor Ee, and Lyn Chai, group communications and investor relations director of E&O Bhd. However, none of us imagined that it would snowball the way it did. After hosting us at their Malihom Estate in Balik Pulau, Janice’s parents, Datuk Seri Stephen Yeap and his wife Irene, went out of their way to get us in touch with a few more people they thought could help us with the kind of stories we were trying to gather — this after sharing with us about Chor Ee and his legacy of giving that continues till today.
We also met individuals and members of NGOs dedicated to saving and restoring the city’s heritage. Historian Khoo Salma Nasution, whose family home once played host to guests like Chinese revolutionary Dr Sun Yat Sen, shed some light on the people behind the heritage revival in Penang. The team also delved into the world of the kongsi to illustrate how structures like the clan association buildings, apart from providing tangible links to the past, can also serve as a vehicle to preserve and practise the tradition and culture of the community. And in a rare interview with Terry Tham Ka Hon, the publicity-shy owner of Penang’s famed E&O Hotel and managing director of E&O Berhad, we explored the business of heritage and the story of how the Grand Dame of Penang was restored and refurbished to her former glory.
Some of our most special moments in Penang were meeting men in the old crafts that are slowly losing their place in the modern world. It is they who keep the true soul of George Town alive — still dedicated to their age-old trade in the cradle of the city around Campbell Street, Stewart Lane, Queen Street, Market Lane and Pitt Street, to name a few.
The almost 500 pictures taken during the four days were simply remarkable. The Edge photographers outdid themselves. As Haris put it: “In my 10 years with The Edge, this was my best assignment ever.” From candid to composed, the pictures were so remarkable that they were collated into three different photo essays of George Town. It helped that the design desk comprising Raymond Khor (assistant art director), Lee Wan Yee (senior graphic designer), Calvin Yuen and Andy Lee pooled their talents to produce creative layouts that made the Heritage issue such an easy and compelling read.
When the issue hit the streets on the eve of Merdeka, the response was overwhelming. Our editors at The Edge continued to receive SMSes, phone calls, emails and letters from readers here and abroad, weeks after its publication. In fact, the E&O group purchased the pictures from us, which it used in its coffeetable book The E&O Hotel: Pearl of Penang, which was lauched in December last year. To date, we still get feedback on the issue.
The Heritage edition was sponsored by HABIB in whom we found an apt partnership, given the theme. The jeweller also has roots in Penang — it was in George Town that the founder, Datuk Habib Mohamed, set up shop 50 years ago. This in turn provided us with another heritage story of yet another intriguing legacy born in Penang. We interviewed the father and son (Datuk Meer Habib) team and spoke to them about the rise of their brand from a humble shoplot in Pitt Street to being a public-listed jewellery company with global presence.
We could not have told the Heritage tale without the people of Penang and it is them we have to thank wholeheartedly for welcoming us with open arms and sharing their stories. Indeed, they helped us to not only understand Penang’s rich heritage but also opened our eyes to the elements that already exist and which only need to be further developed if we, as a people, want to move forward towards our ideal Malaysia.
There are still a lot of untold stories in Penang and we hope one day to be able to share more of them with all of you, our readers. ** Republished with permission. This article first appeared in the . Related articles - World Heritage listing: A new George Town? (iGT Features, 26.11.08)
- Rules of restoration (iGT Features, 16.12.08)
- Confluence of cultures (iGT Features, 12.01.09)
- What is the value of world heritage status? (iGT Opinion, 17.01.09)
- Heritage: What we ought to do (iGT Opinion, 30.03.09)
- Heritage & Culture (iGT NetBuzz, June 1 to 7, 2009)
- Heritage & Culture (iGT Netbuzz, June 8 to 14, 2009)
- Heritage & Culture (iGT NetBuzz, June 15 to 21, 2009)
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