PENANG - Though Malaysia escaped the brunt of
the tsunami's effects, the country - especially its
northern areas - faces some testing times ahead. For the
industrialized resort of Penang especially, the
tsunami is the latest in a litany of woes that has
plagued the island.
The national economy has
been only marginally affected, but there could be some
visible short-term impact on tourism flows in Penang,
which recorded most of the country's 68 deaths. The
latest disaster, though not as horrendous in impact as
in neighboring countries, has added to the pall of gloom
felt in recent times.
Only coastal areas in the
northwest of the peninsula were struck by giant waves.
Fishing villages in Kedah state were devastated, but
densely populated Penang Island, where the tsunami
slammed narrow stretches of the coastline from the
northeast to the southwest, recorded the most
fatalities.
Worst effected in Penang were
fishing villages, squatter settlements, and shops close
to the coastal road that rings the island. Beach hotels
suffered minor damage. Many of their guests were warned
to stay clear of the beaches by beach boys who were
alerted by their counterparts in Langkawi Island further
north, where the tsunami had hit earlier.
Most
of Penang Island, including Georgetown, the capital, and
Bayan Lepas in the southeast, where the hub of
Malaysia's electronics industry is located, was spared.
As a result, gross domestic product (GDP) growth in
Malaysia's diversified economy is likely to be only
minimally affected.
Some 3,500 people were
evacuated in Kedah and 800 in Penang. The tsunami
reportedly caused losses estimated at around RM30
million (US$8 million) in the four affected northern
states of Penang, Kedah, Perlis and Perak.
About
1,000 fishermen have been affected, and the fishing
industry is likely to take a jolt. Prices of seafood
could rise. Before the tsunami, Penang recorded fishing
hauls valued at some RM150 million a year.
Unlike countries such as the Maldives and Sri
Lanka, Malaysia's well-diversified economy doesn't
depend as heavily on travel and tourism, which accounts
for just 7% of Malaysia's economy. Officials don't see
any significant impact on tourism as a result of the
tsunami.
"In the immediate short-run tourism
might be down, but I don't think the industry will be
affected in the next six to nine months," Toh Kin Woon,
the Penang state government council member in charge of
economic planning, told Asia Times Online.
One
travel agent when contacted said, "I am sure there are a
lot of tourist cancellations but only certain parts of
the tourist belt in Batu Ferringhi and Tanjong Bungah
were affected. Earlier the hotels were full, but now I
am finding it easy to get rooms."
Malaysia has
expected RM30 billion from tourism in 2004, up from
RM21.3 billion in 2003, and RM25.8 billion in 2002.
"Last year [2004] was a good year for us on the whole,"
said the agent. But that hasn't always been the case in
the industry. A year earlier, in 2003, tourist arrivals
to the country plunged to 10.6 million visitors from
13.3 million visitors in 2002, a result of fears arising
from the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and
bird flu epidemics in the region.
Occupancy
rates at Penang's beach hotels had also been steadily
spiraling downward from 66.7% in 2000 to 46.7% in 2003,
according to officially cited figures. In the same
period, Penang's city hotels recorded even poorer
occupancy ranging from 50-53%. Visitor arrivals to
Penang also fell from 3.8 million in 2000 to 3.0 million
in 2003, while the share of international arrivals (out
of total arrivals) plunged from 62% to 38%.
The
decline appears to have its origins after 1997, when the
Asian financial crisis erupted. For instance, aircraft
movements at Penang airport from 1992-97 ranged from
35,000-37,000. But from 1998-2002, movements had dropped
to 26,000-28,000, though the number of international
passengers at Penang airport has been fairly steady at
just over a million over the last decade. Asia Times
Online contacted three officials at the Penang chapter
of the Malaysian Association of Tours and Travel Agents,
but all were tightlipped or said they were unable to
speak to the media.
Still, there is a glimmer of
hope for the tourism industry. Penang state government
council member Toh said it would take time for rival
destinations such as Phuket to return to normal. "If
anything, it might increase our tourist arrivals, as
some tourists may be looking for an alternative to
Phuket."
Another travel agent, who declined to
be quoted by name, expressed similar sentiment. "There
had been some cancellations into Penang, but other
tourists heading for Sri Lanka and Phuket have switched
to Penang," he said. "So there have been gains and
losses."
But the island state clearly faces a
problem. "The problems in Penang have been compounded by
external crises such as 9/11 [the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001], the SARS epidemic and then the
outbreak of bird flu in the region," said the travel
agent first interviewed by Asia Times Online.
But the Pearl of the Orient, as Penang is also
known, has also lost its luster in recent years. "Just
look at the polluted sea water and the litter in the
state," the agent lamented. "What attractions are there
in Penang?"
The deteriorating physical
environment and the destruction of some of Penang's
heritage sites have upset some residents. Throw in the
poor public transport system, worsening traffic
congestion, periodic flash floods, recurrent smog, and
soaring house prices, and it is clear that the island is
no longer the paradise of the East it once was for both
locals and expatriates.
The tsunami has also
sparked greater public awareness of the dangers that
nature can unleash, and it is likely to lead to greater
environmental concern among the public. This could have
far-reaching repercussions for future infrastructure
projects in the pipeline. In the past, projects have
been given the go-ahead despite public misgivings over
the favorable "independent" environmental impact
assessments.
A proposed multi-billion ringgit
second bridge linking Penang Island to the mainland,
which has already generated controversy, could meet
fiercer resistance this time around. Another proposed
project, the Penang Outer Ring Road, had also
encountered stiff opposition from residents' groups
mainly for environmental reasons and lack of
transparency in decision making on the project.
Despite the delay in alerting the affected
areas, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi appears not to
have suffered any major damage to his stature. His
decision to cut short a foreign trip, his call for
prayers instead of New Year celebrations and his prompt
visits to affected villages and evacuated residents have
touched many.
But the government faces criticism
that adequate financial relief isn't reaching affected
residents fast enough and some of the relief effort is
being politicized. And when former deputy premier Anwar
Ibrahim showed up at relief centers to visit evacuees,
things got decidedly awkward for officials and ruling
coalition supporters. On the ground, in clean-up and
relief efforts in Penang, the government bureaucracy was
set in motion well after Buddhist and church volunteers
had started work - not a good sign for Abdullah's avowed
goal of improving the efficiency of the bureaucracy.
In Internet blogs, there have been angry
reactions about the lack of warning from Kuala Lumpur
about the dangers posed by the earthquake. Emergency
services and response teams were clearly caught napping.
A local daily reported that the Malaysian Metrological
Services Department knew about the earthquake soon after
it occurred but only faxed that information two or three
hours later to their northern branches in Penang and
Langkawi Island. Eyewitnesses said rescue services -
ambulances, civil defense vehicles, helicopters - were
slow in arriving even in urban Penang.
But
perhaps the biggest casualty for Malaysians was the
destruction of the illusion they had nurtured all these
years: that through some quirk of fate and good fortune,
their country had somehow been spared the horrors of
disasters of this sort - a belief that tragically fueled
the complacency.
Anil Netto
is a freelance journalist based in Malaysia, covering
political and social issues. A former accountant, he is
currently joint coordinator of Charter 2000-Aliran, a
network promoting press freedom in Malaysia.
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