The Inclusive Ownership Of Penang And Its Paradox

PENANG IS FULL of inhabitants who were not born here. In fact, there is some oft-repeated “test” to decide if someone not born on the island is truly a Penangite or not. So far can the triviality over identity go.

On a good day, I think of Penang as an inclusive, if ironic, entity, having a bit of everything. It has hill and sea, east and west, old and new. It is provincial yet cosmopolitan, a cultural hub yet national fringe, industrialised yet relying greatly on small family businesses (some of which have since become heritage brands explored in this issue). It has a relatively small population, but also a reputation for bad traffic jams. It attracts people from all parts of the world, yet is notorious for its brain drain of talent to foreign lands.

On a bad day, I think of Penang as being neither here nor there, neither this nor that. This could mean a fragile identity and weak self-understanding, or even a lack of vision and passion. But if that means that it is in a constant state of becoming, of transformation, of indefinability, then it is a good sign. It is adaptive and undefinable because it does not fear change.