“DOES PENANG EXCEPTIONALISM still exist?” That question was put to me recently by a learned and slightly agitated visitor.
I assume the query stems from distress over how recent developments in the state have been too much, too hasty and too uncontrolled. It is a valid worry—and also an increasingly common one. The speedy spreading of built environment in Penang is real enough. While some see this as economic success and necessity, others hear the death knell of an environmental and cultural paradise.
It got me thinking about what it is that is being lost, exactly, and whether the process can be reversed.
