No names like "Bandar Baru Balik Pulau (3BP)" (New Balik Pulau Town) have been thrown in yet, but Balik Pulau has clearly been embracing massive development all these years (read the first blog post on this site dated 7apr07), and to top these development, this month beginning 1 DEC 2007, BP folks get to flock every morning at a brand new RM17M public market complex -- the largest of its kind in the Malaysian state of Penang (after several postponements dated since Sept 2007, perhaps due to refusal by the traders at the old market to move after a very short notice). 
The new market complex and vicinity hosts a new wet market, MPPP district office, bill payment centre, food & drink stalls, bazaar shops (I managed to get a haircut at Khairi's, the only barber in the complex so far), Pasar Tani site (every Sunday), bus hub, shoplots (to be opened in early 2008), new low-cost housing flat (to open soon) and terrace houses (pending final construction works).
I first spotted the news about the new market in mid this year, hence a blog post on 3may07. Not too long afterwards, on 12may07 to be exact, we started hearing about the new Rapid Penang (a cousin to RapidKL, wholly owned by the Ministry of Finance Malaysia) bus hub coming to Balik Pulau at the same spot as the new market. After passing the heavy-in-construction zone for so many times, I finally had the chance to capture the view of the new amenities for Penang on 15jun07, including having an aerial view of the zone from a hill peak near Relau Hill Forest Reserve, which had been renovated during mid this year and named "Anjung Indah". Not long afterwards, by end of June applications are being accepted for the stalls in the Balik Pulau complex.
Soon later, by end of July, the long awaited Rapid Penang bus service and one of its major hubs that is to be located next the new Balik Pulau market, is all ready for launch for the first week of Aug 2007 when an MP from Balik Pulau, Dato Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya was spotted on 29 Aug '07 in Kongsi Town distributing the Rapid Penang flyers. The next day, NCER officially arrives in four northern states of Malaysia including Penang and the northern half of Perak. Two weeks later, Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was back in Penang (in addition to his occasional trips for Umno and Eid events, as hosted by Dr Hilmi) to officiate the two-year KKTM, the RM152-million higher learning institute for skills and talent training located at Simpang Empat/Genting, near MARA and Umno district office.Today, I finally had a chance to check out the new market complex in operation, together with Pasar Tani on its new site situated next to the market complex/Rapid Penang bus terminal. If my prior trip got me the photos of the empty buidings, today, my new set of photos capture the buildings and surrounding areas filled with people, although not many enough yet I suppose (many of these low-rental stalls are even yet to open three weeks since the complex started operating). Check 'em out here:
And it's not over... So far, we've welcome a new police HQ (IPDBD), mosque (al-Mokhtar), colleges (KKTM, ICT etc.), schools (Teknik etc.), bus terminal (Rapid Penang), market complex, sports complex and soon we'll welcome a tourism university (yes, the big U!), more IPTA & IPTS (higher learning institutions, private and public), national/global brand shops (we only have ONE, not including banks: 7-eleven!), better roads via Genting (to Batu Maung/Bayan Lepas -- it's just too long to reach the airport or the upcoming Second Penang Bridge now!), more broadband (wi-fi) hotspots, more industrious workplaces, among others...Better economy and social development for the town? I'd be just fine with if 3.5G/HSDPA would reach this part of the island, and the good eateries for tomyam, nasi kandar, and ais kacang stay... Perhaps, better e-commerce in Malaysia too, or I'd have to keep dreaming to see a Tesco/Carrefour/Walmart hypermarket on this part of the island.
sometimes we feel so proud about development in balik pulau(as im from bp too)but the fact is we are lagging far behind any other parts of penang or other places in other states.penang is a so called developed state in malaysia but balik pulau ppl are still lag behind.let me give an example..in 2004 during election a piece of land which is the paddy field in from of smk seri is called for a development and now election coming again..they started something?sure they will..all these are just political interest..nobody is interested in developing balik pulau..wake up balik pulau ppl..my ppl
ReplyDeletepalanivelan, i think it's unfair for you to judge balik pulau development as a whole due to the fact this particular piece of land in front of smk seri is having some problem, fyi, the area was supposed to be a boarding school complex, with a new township, the project itself was supposed to be a jv between Majlis Agama Islam and a developer, it didnt take off due to the fact that the bank had backed-off at the very last moment because they think it's not financially viable.Simple reason, for those who dont understand economy, it's very simple, you can't have a township without people coming to stay, likewise, you can't have an upgraded road without people wanting to use it. Thankfully, with our YB sitting inside MoF, he has secured government financing to kick-start the project again. The whole idea is to connect the penang second bridge, passing by batu maung, telok kumbar, all the way to pekan genting through the new balik pulau-telok kumbar backroad which is still under construction. In time, it will spur more growth to the south of balik pulau. Development will come slowly, if we want to fully open balik pulau, it can be done in just 2 years, but what would happen to those low income earners, like our kampung people, and the fishermen, they are not just malays, mind you, the poor chinese and indians will also need to be protected, the last thing that we want to happen is to have these people being crammed into low cost flat, as what is happening in KL, these certainly would promote social problem. Anyhow, this is no excuse to impede development, only that, the human capital will be developed in parallel with the development of economy
ReplyDeleteagreed with Palanivelan on his comments. We were not sharing same ideas since old school days..but this comments from him was a good one..
ReplyDeletefeeling proud that we have such infras are not a wise opinion... such infras must comes with such a better job and business opportunity too.. Or else we are the same as people in other parts like Georgetown and Tg. Tokong where the infras were good and real bigs but job and business opportunities were belongs to outsider (not Penangite).. the best Penangite or BP people can enjoy is just working as low-middle class people like waiter, cashier, cleaner, factory operator and selling nasi lemak still at road side...
If we have a hypermart in BP of course those high level are fullfilled by the people from KL especially they were hired by HQ in KL..and transferred to Penang..and we BP people just take peanuts and still we are so proud..PROUD OF WHAT BUDDY?
Open our eyes and look for our future not the town future... better still we earn big money and living in small and calm BP town as its old days... rather than earn peanut and living in a high living cost town due to ots development.. think about it man!
PALANIVELAN..hey man lost your phone number lah.. come and visit me at Jalan Bharu. (WHITE HOUSE)
why you like to complaint so much the trader? i come from balik pulau also, and i work as engineer in shah alam, the fact is, if you have good qualification, surely you will have good job prospect, it applies to everywhere!! i still come home to my kampung every month, and i think it is a marvelous place to stay, the infras are there to assist us in developing ourselves, not for the purpose to make us proud, if they build a college, how do u want to participate? do u want to be a toilet cleaner, or a lecturer? if they build a hotel, do you want to be a manager, or a bell boy?of course you qualification does count here, right? common sense laa brother, you dont complaint so much about locals not given opportunity, and earning kacang, if you work hard enough, you will succeed in the end, if you chit-chat hard enough at simpang empat kedai mamak barvin, you will remain the same lah
ReplyDeleteIm also from balik pulau, n i love balik pulau, it such a beautiful place to live before, even though now is alot of new building keep build up which replace the old houses or buildings, but i kinda confuse aint balik pulau was famous with what it had before?? the clean air, the peace... i know we need to grow up n keep devolope to make our country to known by others, but aint we also should keep some original beauty that belong to us, i dun mind ppl look at me as a kampung girl but the fact is i know im not n i love living here n enjoy a piece of peace that left n the beauty of mother nature we have, i just wish we can still have some original stuff that mother nature giving us.
ReplyDeletenow what i see is a brand new balik pulau n also a brand new living attitute for the resident here(what i meant here was the negative attitute). You may say im suck but i do care what i seen what a big price to pay for the result of devoloping ... the pearl will become gold which is just shine n cost alot, for me i still like the pure of pearl.
It just a piece of thougth from a balik pulau gal.
Balik Pulau ..
ReplyDeletei'm prefer Balik Pulau 2be what it's ?? simple develop not to much . we still like peace on the road, no need to wearing helmet but now the big Balai Polis Daerah already there ha ha .. but still dont have traffic light good.One more thing the road start jam esspecially during peak time .. the develope just to bring the Education center is enough not more then that , hope we not see another Bayan Baru at Balik Pulau . Of course we not anti develope but what important is for me it's peace ..NO KFC is OK ..
Friendly speaking from what I know , i don't think we can hold any longer once the road is completed the project we just wait another Bayan Lepas road to be ready and then everything will flow to Balik Pulau . That time i just can see with open mouse ... just wait any Menara will be build at Balik Pulau . like Menara Telekom ha ha ... sorry now we have one traffic light at Rapid Bus Station .. Hope Moderator can bring hot topic let the Balik Pulau talk don't bother what party we are ... what we need let they no what we want Balik Pulau to be .. pro&con they will choose the best . You can claim all this political or what bottom line are we ready to face it any party will be the same .. they will be good at 1st after that you no la ..
Balik Pulau ppl wake-up start improve your self for future don't let outsider take thier move ..
We can see now ...
Nak p makan .. kat mamak balvin
Thank you all for your comments... Looks like BP-ites really do have lots to talk about their hometown.
ReplyDeleteFizisma, I'd always welcome anyone who wants to join in and make this online 'forum' a much more active ones. This blog is a simple and experimental initiator, and more can be done to make it more resourceful.
If anyone wants to contribute their time and energy, feel free to buzz up to me, and we'll see what can be done... And we can always work together with ICTpenang and GaPeK (Gabungan Pusat eKomunity Pulau Pinang) etc. to boom up local independent journalism and media activities.
I'm proud to see many peoples talking Balik Pulau because I'm one of the anak Balik Pulau. In the last few years when we talking Balik Pulau then people definitely would say it's a rural place and far from the town! Today I had see many new houses project has been built such as in near to the new market, Botanica project in Air Putih, and also few project in Jalan Pondok Upeh just 1KM far from the Balik Pulau new market. Why I'm saying proud for Balik Pulau because of most of the new house owners were came from down town. I have a chances talked to them who bought a new double story house and staying in Jalan Pondok Upeh, they told me that why they decided move to Balik Pulau because of the main factor is the new house pricing in Balik Pulau is still low and reasonble if compared to house price which located in Sg Ara, Batu Maung, Bayan Baru....and many others that surrounding in that areas which cost >500k!, not so many peoples that afford to buy it. Another reason is they love the green enviroment with fresh air, they are very enjoy especially after working hours who came back from town. Their childrens loves the place so much because of they can cycling in the evening with safely and peaceful. Now a days, we can see so many foreign workers sorrounding us especially in Bayan Baru, Bayan Lepas which near to the factories. Indirectly we will feel that the living is unsafe.I'm not a anti-foreign workers but many peoples have the same feeling! Balik Pulau is not same, seldom to see foreign workers, you will feel comfortable living in Balik Pulau.
ReplyDeleteMany of the new residents earn big income which working in town area but they are more prefered living in Balik Pulau with lower spending.
KFC restaurant has setup completed and it will open at any time soon. One new Nasi Kandar restaurant also in renovation and will open up soon. Every things is there like MayBank, CIMB, AMMB, Hospital, Police headquater for South-West area and many more.....
I think this town will be develope more in the near future. Balik Pulau guys, are you ready?
bp is still faraway from being anywhere close to developed,infras are only a general capital.The mentality of the bp folks are very low in respect to average population of the world major cities for comparison.They are very slow from my observation paralel to developement or changes,rely too heavily from local community/party/etc.I think the greeneries will be lost within 8years from now,maybe the longest would be 12years max.Most land in bp will change hands within this 10 years dueto the population of the senior passing away n if the majority is ppl below 45yrs then greed/survival instinct in our ever demanding enviroment/economy will push this under exploited area toward a shorter lifespan for its natural state to change in a swift/forceful brutal way.It certainly would not be a bayan lepas/baru,it will be worse but on the surface seems to be fairly better for awhile until it gets crowded then the ugly reality kicks all level of society in the most painful but unpredictable way.nvm cos I'll be old then,known as no use old bag.
ReplyDeleteHi every one in Balik Pulau, I'm from Switzerland and had the chance to go to Balik Pulau a few times, the first time was 30 years ago and the last time was 1 month ago. So many changes around BP but it's still the place of malaysia which I like the most. In fact my dream is to move there soon. As a foreigner with malaysian heart there is one thing I regret and find sad. Why trying to make only modern housing estates, the traditional malay houses are so beautiful, there are parts of the country and scenaries and I noticed they dissapeared bit by bit, each time I go to BP there are less and less and when I see that my heart get pain. My dream is to find an old malay house and try to make it live again, having a piece of land to plant trees, to have chicken and goats around the house...I might sound nostalgic of the past...I must be a bit yes, but I'm not against developping areas, I'm just sad that most of the people only want to developp, make money....and they forget to take care of their beautiful heritage. Looking forward to stay in BP and get to know more people there. Mary
ReplyDeleteHi Mary,
ReplyDeleteJust sharing my experience have to you.
Think about it, without developing here i don't think Balik Pulau peoples can enjoy all the affords that deployed by the government and they will lack in behind compared to the city especially for the childrens that education in this town, which they will never feel how tough in current living in the world, how they compete to others when they are growth.
Just shared to my living experience I was born in Balik Pulau in 1968 and finished my primary and secondary education. I can tell you that I never go to kindergarten when i was in 5~7 years old, i even don't know what is that when people talking about kindergarten when I'm going to primary school! I even have to walking to school for about 4km distance because no school bus service provided because of at that time Balik Pulau has yet to developed and less people living here. Try imaging how hard at that time in my living. So i think you can realised that why peoples staying in Balik Pulau like to see developing in this town.
I'm staying in Balik Pualu for 34 years since I born, although now I have moved to city but I'm still miss this town and I even have bought a new house in Balik Pulau. I'm planning to come back here one day because Balik Pulau still is a very nice place for living. We will see few development projects to be carry out by the state government such as turn into education hub and tourism.
From your stand point as a foreigner we understand your feeling asking the question why not protect from developing but in reverse thinking Balik Pulau peoples has lack behind to others.
Cheers!
I can see a big mess in BP in ten years and tears for all the people forced out of their small kampong houses (remember Tanjong Tokong)
ReplyDeleteThe tranquility will be lost, badly planned developements everywhere, pollution overload, traffic overload, and the greedy developers all gone to live somewhere else, You wont recognize it soon, so enjoy it while you can.
I was also born in BP but immediately after my SPM I took a train and set foot to Kuala Lumpur. My mother knew of the hardships if I continued to live in the hills. So she pack off to Kuala Lumpur to join my other siblings for a better future. Armed with no certificates, my sister quickly registered me for a receptionist course and after that I was well sought after with a bit of my sexy look. Just joking lah.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, after living in Kuala Lumpur more that 3 decades I suddenly have a desire to visit my kampong house more often nowadays. I come from a very big family outfit, 13 of us. Thank goodness we have a big wooden house with many rooms and we have big woks to cook our meals with firewood. Still very primitive huh but the taste is very different from gas.
Anyway, we have a piece of hilly land and we intend to sell it. Do you know of any buyer who will be interested? Please email me lyf_182@yahoo.com
I can't help seeing too much developement in BP as I think this is damaging the country sides transquility. The pace of life maybe slow but think about the place in its' own unique natural ways. I would hate to see too much developement resulting deforestation, demolition of old but unique buildings. All the buildings give BP an unmistakable character including those nice kampung houses on stilts. Its a real shame to BP if this is all lost and that's the reason for my visiting BP every weekend to relax, and have a nice cuppa by the coffee shop and a bowl of laksa.
ReplyDeleteSelamat Hari raya aidil adha ;)
ReplyDeleteAlthough Balik Pulau was develop but the crime in drugs still increase, so please try to solve this problem.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great article, and a great topic to explore. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete