George Town is situated on the north-east corner of Penang Island and was name
after Britain’s King George III. In 1995, it started a bid to be listed as a historic city in UNESCO’s World Heritage Cities program. Finally on 7th July 2008, the UNESCO has endowed the title to Penang. The recognition by UNESCO created awareness from all levels and soon, Penang will regain back its luster as the Pearl of the Orient. I strongly believe that Penang should remain as the Heritage City because it has a lot of heritage buildings, it can preserve the aesthetic values of the city and it promotes Penang for tourism. The first reason is George Town has a lot of heritage buildings that it can proud of. It shows the world that its heritage buildings can co-exist alongside modern development because in some countries, locals do not appreciate what they have in their own backyard and their potential heritage buildings are neglected and left to decay due to ignorance and also lack of funds. George Town has about 97 buildings being listed as heritage buildings which include historical mosques and Chinese clan kongsi. Secondly, the recognition by UNESCO to acknowledge George Town as a heritage city means that the initial heritage core zone and buffer zone should be preserved from further development that would change the city skyline and its aesthetic values. The core zone covers an area of 109. 38 hectares and there are more than 1,700 historic buildings within the core zone align on four main streets of Weld Quay, Beach Street, Masjid Kapitan Keling Road and Love Lane. Some people might say that to become the Heritage City, the Penang Government has wasted a lot of money. The heritage buildings which has been abandoned, filled with bushes and had been burned down should be restored and the government had to loan about RM200 million. However, the Penang Government has set up the strategies to make profits by promoting Penang for tourism. The pro-active communities promote George Town as a living heritage city and when tourists come to Penang, it will cover the money that has been used restore the heritage buildings. In conclusion, I totally agree that Penang should remain as the Heritage City because the heritage buildings, cities or monuments which are under the UNESCO will be vetted by UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Countries which are chosen to be under the program must maintain and manage their areas or landmarks and set up a full reporting system to UNESCO. So, Penang can remain its heritage buildings, preserve the aesthetic values of the city and at the same time, promotes Penang for tourism.