Heritage Matters (701Kb PDF format)
- Rebecca Duckett-Wilkinson takes you on an insider’s tour of George Town’s heritage,
where architecture, religion, food, festival and people are all intertwined

Going Places- MAS Inflight Magazine- September 2011
Little Gems- Boutique hotels in George Town

Expatriate Lifestyle Magazine
Build your own heritage home. Rebecca Duckett- Wilkinson
September 2011

Home & Decor Magazine, Malaysia
August 2011 New Heritage Styles
Vibrant Revival- Heritage homes

The Edge, Options, Creative Evolution
August 2010

Please go the link below:

http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/mobile/article.php?id=173276

New Straits Times - Saturday 13th February 2011- Life & Times
Living: Old world renewed
By Melissa Darlyne Chow

Please see the link below.

http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Living_Oldworldrenewed/Article/

In recognition of Penang's creative souls

By Marina Emmanuel
marinae@nstp.com.my
2010/09/13

AS PENANG continues to be synonymous with high-technology gizmos shipped to the rest of the world and its famous food draws gourmets and gourmands to its shores, its creative and innovative souls are often not highlighted enough.

Visitors to Malaysia's "Silicon Island", when told of the innovative entrepreneurs who live and do business on the island state, often wonder if there is something about living in an environment surrounded by water and backed by the hills, which promotes more creativity than other places.

While most of these entrepreneurs find themselves waking up to almost-daily blue skies and get to enjoy views of the water to and from work, the manner in which they operate their businesses is no different from their counterparts who may have to fight traffic, fumes and pollution en route to their places of work.

For Malaysian-born designer and artist Rebecca Duckett, home and gallery are located side by side in the Unesco heritage core zone of George Town.

Besides showing her own work and those of other locally-inspired artists at the 29 China Street gallery, Duckett and husband David Wilkinson are also supporters of heritage conservation in Penang. Duckett also operates homestays out of her own merchant-restored home in Penang along with two self contained apartments above the art gallery.

Over at Pangkor island in Perak, Wilkinson and Duckett have a private home and retreat, called Tiger Rock, which is located in a jungle and comprises eight rooms spread over two houses. "The home is now rented out to guests who are looking for an old-fashioned holiday as this is very much like the life David and I enjoyed during our childhood growing up on the plantations around Malaysia," said Duckett.

In addition to holiday accommodation business and being immersed in her tropical-inspired and multicultural textile designs and paintings in Penang, Duckett operates a luxury cruise and diving holiday business from home.

"Tiger Blue is our traditional timber Phinisi vessel which offers sea safaris in eastern Indonesia to islands like South Sulawesi, Komodo, Sumba, Flores and Banda," she said.

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Published August 21,2010 by Cheah Ui-Hoon ( Business Times Asia)

Heritage homestays
No 25 & No 29 China Street,
George Town, Penang
Tel: +604-2643-580
www.chinatiger.info

MANY would know Rebecca Duckett-Wilkinson by her T-shirt designs. Remember the white Tees with colourful prints of marine life and tropical plants in front, that were sold at Kuala Lumpur's Central Market in the 80s? Owen Rebecca was the brand, and the artist, Rebecca Duckett.

Duckett, her husband David Wilkinson and family moved to Penang about 10 years ago, where she recently channelled her artistic energies not only into running a cheerful art gallery space, but also into restoring a grand merchant's 19th century mansion and adjacent art deco building in the heart of George Town - both as a family home as well as heritage homestays.

The couple took two years to restore the mansion (which is about the size of three shophouse units) - that's how dilapidated it was. 'It was a wreck when we bought it,' she recalls. It dates back to the mid-1800s, and had been built by a Chinese merchant. 'Even though it had practically fallen in on itself and there was overgrown vegetation inside, it had a huge amount of charm and we immediately fell in love with the spaces it offered - two large inner courtyards, entrances at front and rear, and 10,000 sq feet of living space,' says Duckett.

No 25 is the family home, and two suites have been turned into guest rooms. 'It's best for visitors who've never been to George Town before, and need a more personalised introduction to the city,' she explains.

In the process of restoring the mansion, the owner of a 1950s building next door also asked them if they wanted to buy it over - as it had been turned into a swiftlet house. They did, and that's where the art gallery and Duckett's studio is housed, on the ground floor, while the two floors above it have been turned into studio suites.

The No 29 apartments are self-contained and ideal for a large family or a close group of friends to stay in, as a 'home base' if they wanted to explore Penang on their own.

While art can be found at the gallery and the studio, a stay in these restored buildings is an artistic experience in itself, with their period-sensitive restoration and eclectic mix of antique and new furnishings. The studio apartments are infused with bright colours and retro furniture, while the mansion has a well-lived in feel, decorated with an amazing trove of artefacts and antiques the family has collected over the years - old teak chests, antique furniture, colonial porcelain and so on.

The property is also located right in the heart of George Town with Little India just around the corner (which means good food and shopping for textiles, spices and Bollywood DVDs), and a historic clanhouse at every other road within a 15- minute walk.

Experiencing a stay at a heritage shophouse will also sensitise you to one of George Town's most pressing urban issues - the conversion of these pre-war houses into swiftlet farms for birds' nest collection. Duckett is in the forefront of the move to stop such conversions, given the simple reason that limestone-walled houses aren't the natural habitat of swiftlets, especially not when Asia has had several Bird Flu scares.

But that aside, one of the best times to stay in George Town is in July, when Penang holds a month-long celebration of its World Heritage status. In fact, guests have also pre-booked the studio apartments for Chinese New Year 2012, says Duckett. 'It's a good space for large family reunions and it's also convenient to have friends over.'

The best thing is, although Chinese hawkers might take a break during the new year, guests needn't worry about food - living right next to Little India.

The rates are RM500 per night at No 29 studio apartments and RM950 per night at the suites at No 25 during non-peak season.

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Rebecca is a council member of the Penang Heritage Trust and as a resident of George Town is seeing first hand the potential environmental being created by urban swiftlet(for bird's nest) farming. She wants the urban farms moved out to rural areas where they do not pose a health and safety threat to the local population, or threaten the UNESCO Word heritage status of George Town. These articles below came out in the Wall Street Journal, and the website Malaysiakini.

A Tale of Two Cities

By Robyn Eckhardt

Since its early days in the 1970s, Unesco's World Heritage committee has maintained a list of sites that it deems have "cultural and natural significance" to humanity.

Today, that roster of nearly 900 World Heritage sites includes structures (the Aachen Cathedral in Germany), parks (Yellowstone National Park in the U.S.) and even whole towns (think Italy's Venice).

But the designation comes with responsibility. If a site is not properly conserved, or is endangered by war or natural disaster, the committee may place it on a list of "sites in danger." That could lead to the designation's being taken away. In 2009, Unesco struck the Dresden Elbe Valley—singled out for its value as a "cultural landscape"—off its World Heritage list after a four-lane bridge was built across the site.

A look at two Asian cities offers a glimpse at the challenges faced once a location makes the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's list. One, the former royal city of Luang Prabang in Laos, was listed in 1995; the other, Malaysia's trading port George Town, won its spot in 2008. While the factors shaping the two cities' futures differ, they share a common experience: Even as a listing helps preserve architectural heritage—and draws tourism—it can change the character of the local communities that are an integral part of the site's cultural value.

Last July, a crowd gathered in the granite-paved central square of Khoo Kongsi, a majestic Chinese clan complex in Penang's George Town. The occasion was the one-year anniversary of the city's induction to Unesco's list of World Heritage sites. From his spot on the stage, Lim Guan Eng, the state of Penang's chief minister, capped off a day of festivities by urging those present to preserve, protect and promote "our unique heritage."......

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George Town heritage listing threatened by swiftlets
by Susan Loone | Jun 23, 10 3:26pm

George Town’s World Heritage Listing is at risk from the burgeoning swiftlet breeding industry, said Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) trustee Mohammad Anwar Fazal Mohammed.

Anwar, a former Asia-Pacific regional advisor on Urban Governance for the United Nations, said the industry had become “preposterous and intolerable”.

He said that the flourishing industry now poses very serious health, social and heritage problems.

“It is a flagrant dereliction of duty by the authorities to allow the situation to continue,” said Anwar, who is also vice-chairperson of environmental NGO, Sahabat Alam Malaysia.

“The proposed guidelines must be quickly made public and discussed by the stakeholders most affected, especially the local neighborhood and community,” he added.

Anwar said while it was true that swiftlet breeding is an immensely lucrative industry, it should be very strictly licensed and their location should be only in designated or approved areas .

“Just as we have Free Trade Zones, industrial areas and special areas for pig farms, the authorities could proactively designate areas ,and set up an agency that regulates and monitors this systematically,” he suggested.

Feds yet to provide guidelines

Two years ago on July 7, George Town was listed as a World Heritage site, and the state government had declared the same day as a state holiday effective this year.

The issue of swiftlets has risen as civil society ponders how the state would manage the problem, with tourists being invited to attend a month-long George Town Heritage Festival in July which plans to showcase about 80 arts and cultural events.

The problem has not gone unnoticed by the authorities as George Town World Heritage office assistant general manager Maimunah Mohd Sharif had reportedly stated that the swiftlet industry posed a conflict to the World Heritage listing, and should be relocated.

Penang Local Government Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow (right) had said that the moratorium on swiftlet farming should not be taken as a sign that the state government is allowing the activity in urban areas.

He said the moratorium has been extended three times as the state is still waiting for the national guidelines on the industry from the Agriculture Department and the Veterinary Services Department.

Chow, who is also Tanjung parliamentarian, added that the state recognises the swiftlet farming industry as a revenue earning trade but it should be done properly and is mulling over the idea of moving the industry out of urban areas such as George Town.

Extend moratorium, urges group

Meanwhile, PHT council member Rebecca Duckett has urged the state to extend the moratorium on swiftlet breeding so that operators cannot start any new farms in George Town.

The moratorium was set up to halt the proliferation of swiftlet houses in George Town, not as an open bill for them to proliferate freely, said Duckett.

“The breeders are openly setting up new farms all over George Town; by condoning and allowing this to happen the state Government and municipal councils accept that they are responsible for any negative impact on public health and environment,” she added.

Duckett requested that the state creates a heft annual tax to be paid by each individual urban swiftlet farm until they have moved from the urban areas of George Town on or before the deadline set by the state government.

“Laws are being enforced by the state government on developers, residents and landlords that are trying to revitalise George Town as a residential, cultural, heritage and tourist hub, yet swiftlet farms are being allowed to proliferate freely, beyond the realms of law,” she said.

“The state government must act with a balanced hand,” she stressed.