THE END OF World War II introduced trishaws to Penang, and between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, more than 2,500 of these vehicles plied the streets of George Town. It was the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-98 that caused its enduring popularity to plummet.
A decade later, following George Town’s inscription as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2008, the demand for trishaws was once again revived as tourists descended on the city by the thousands. Its numbers though have been greatly reduced. Only 130 remain on the island today, with 30 based in Batu Ferringhi and 100 meandering the inner city.
Trishaw operator Koay Beng Hong owns about 50 trishaws which he rents out to peddlers at a fee of RM2 per month. It is no secret that most of these peddlers are homeless, but are still intent on making their own living. Business has been sluggish since March, Koay says. Unlike in the aftermath of 9/11 during which Koay managed to recover his losses within a few months, Covid-19 is in a league of its own. According to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the tourism sector will need four years to bounce back.1 And based on feedback from local tourism players, it is feared that without proper planning, the recovery process may take longer than even that.
