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.
On the way back, we stumblend upon another penang-based school-mate friend who decided to bring her entire family too to meet up with us at the beach, although arrived some two hours late.
