Cover photo: Turning of a chapter: the proposed Penang South Reclamation (PSR) scheme will see the creation of three new islands off the southern coast, with the intention of funding the Penang Transport Master Plan – an emphatic attempt by the state government to invigorate economic growth by providing sufficient housing and attracting foreign direct investment with an eye on creating a smart city ecosystem. Commencement of the project presently hinges on the approval of an environmental impact assessment report and public feedback. Pictured: a fisherman’s wharf at dawn, by the Penang Bridge’s Bayan Lepas exit into Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu.
Once known as the rice bowl of Penang, not many would have envisioned Bayan Lepas as the vibrant urbanscape that it is today. Sweeping paddy fields dotted by buffaloes and bunkers from the war used to line the town’s main road. The irrigation network’s countless canals offered fun for the young, when fish fighting and frog catching were common pastimes. It was often referred to as “the other side of the island”, rural and remote.
The 1970’s saw it turning into a high-tech industrial hub. It eventually blossomed to become the “Silicon Valley of the East”. Today, it continues to thrive in big data analytics, e-commerce, cloud computing and the Internet of Things.
This visual account of everyday life in and around Bayan Lepas at present is as much a dip into the past as it is a glimpse of the future.
