GEORGE TOWN – Penang Hill seems to have brought together three of Penang’s chief ministers past and present at a special occasion to commemorate the funicular railway’s 100th anniversary celebration here.
For the first time in 15 years, the third, fourth and present chief ministers of Penang dined together in a gala event, officiated by Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak at G Hotel here last night.
Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon served as chief minister from 1990 to 2008, Lim Guan Eng from 2008 until 2018, and Chow Kon Yeow has held the post since then.
The event also saw the launch of a book authored by veteran photographer and droner David Loh and his journalist wife Rebecca Lee.
Datuk Cheok Lay Leng, general manager of Penang Hill Corporation (PHC), was seen beaming, as years of hard work has led to the engineering system to endure in bringing passengers and goods from the foothill in Air Itam to the top of the hill some 833m above sea level.
The railway system is also a tourism icon of Malaysia. The hill has ranked among the top five attractions in Penang since 2012.
Cheok, an electronics engineer, played an invaluable role in injecting a corporate sense to the hill’s management.
In video tributes, both Koh and Lim reminisced about how their administrations oversaw the sustaining of the nation's oldest funicular train system despite challenges due to environmental and financial issues and also concerns about inundating the hill with tourists.
Koh laid the foundation in the system’s maintenance while Lim envisioned the hill to be a world-class attraction. Chow will have to continue paying due attention to the hill, especially in terms of its heritage value.
The hill and its residents have encountered challenges, from wear-and-tear of the previous funicular trains, climate change which brought up to 300 landslides, land trespassing by vegetable farmers, and breakdown in train services due to surging crowds.
Workers recalled that there were more memorable events than nightmares for the hill and its residents, among whom is activist Ahmad Chik, a former Penang Heritage Trust council member.
There was even an incident where a woman gave birth inside one of the funicular coaches in the 1970s.
Chow said that such memories reflect the transformative journey of the Penang Hill railway from when it began a hundred years ago, as one of the earliest legacies of the colonial era.
“Over the years, the Penang government and the corporation have undertaken various initiatives to continuously improve the infrastructure and amenities on the hill,” he said.
“These efforts have been carried out through harmonious alignment with conservation efforts, and unwavering commitment to safety and reliability through slope stabilisation and maintenance works. This also includes the development of the forward-planning Penang Hill Summit Area Concept Master Plan,” said Chow.
In the offing are restoration projects involving the many government and privately owned bungalows dotting the hill, upgrading of social amenities and the widely anticipated cable car from the Botanic Gardens.
The project for the 3km cable car line is expected to be ready in the next two years.
“Tonight’s gala dinner is not just a celebration of the past, but also an opportunity to look forward to the future,” said Chow. – The Vibes, October 22, 2023
