All that glitters in George Town
By Soon-Tzu Speechley, Photography courtesy of Chin Yoon Khen
January 2015 FEATURE
George Town’s trendy cafes and boutique hotels are often seen as a sign of the city’s revitalisation, but rising rents are pushing out long-time residents and, in the process, eroding the intangible cultural heritage for which the city was named a World Heritage Site.The shop is cool, dark and charmingly cluttered. Floor-to-ceiling shelves overflow with brightly coloured paper printed with traditional Chinese motifs. The back wall is presided over by a statue of the Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin, who gazes...
Soon-Tzu Speechley
studied History and Asian Studies at the University of Melbourne. He now works at the Architectural Conservation Lab at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). His writing has appeared in a number of publications in Malaysia and Australia. He tweets @ speechleyish.
Photography courtesy of Chin Yoon Khen
