This photo journal, another in the Penang 2008 series, features the middle-class suburb of Pulau Tikus which is best known for it’s two majestic temples across the street from each other - the upright & sleeping Buddha temples. It’s also where the upscale shopping complex, Gurney Plaza is located. The suburb is located just west of Georgetown with Burmah Road as its main street.

This area, once the home of “Millionaire Row”, had more than its share of fabulous mansions & bungalows at one time, especially along Northam Road (now Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah). It’s a story of rags to riches & riches to ruin. Originally a European suburb, Chinese millionaires began to take over at the turn of the century, & they competed with each other to see who could build the most elaborate mansion. Sadly, many are now abandoned because their descendants are no longer interested in maintaining the house or the old style of living. So they squabble over the family estate & sell their ancestral home to the highest bidder. Land speculation is also rife because these low profile mansions & bungalows are occupying valuable land that could be sold for new 30 storey towers. So many old mansions & bungalows are allowed to go to rack & ruin so the land can be sold for a small fortune. (Many have been designated as heritage properties which prohibits their destruction, but there have been cases of convenient fires etc......) Although a few have been restored & recycled into business places, unfortunately, demolition & decay is the sad fate of Penang's former Millionaire's Row.

Historically the home of Penang's Eurasian, Thai, Burmese & Arab minorities, the Pulau Tikus of today is the address of choice for Penang’s middle-class & expatriates. It is also a hub of trendy shops, pubs & restaurants catering to the well-heeled locals & tourists.

Scenic Gurney Drive (at least for now), with its long waterfront promenade, is lined with restaurants, coffee shops, clubs, pubs, & upscale hotels & condominium towers, not to mention the upscale Gurney Plaza shopping complex. Sadly, a number of highrise condominium towers have been erected here in recent years creating a concrete wall which cuts off the view & sea breezes. What is really worrying is a large planned land reclamation project that will extend 0.8 kms out to sea, thus creating another wall. Ironically, that wall would rob the current highrise dwellers of their view & give them a taste of their own medicine?

You can find out more about Pulau Tikus here: http://www.malaxi.com/about_pulau_tikus.html