MAY 22 — From time immemorial, the Malay fishermen of Penang have been evicted from their homes along the north-east and south-west shores, to make way for prestigious housing projects, with paltry compensations and enormous loss of livelihoods.
Residents of Tanjong Tokong and Tanjung Bungah are aware that this village was discovered by a community which suffered tremendous losses from the tsunami which hit Penang in 2004 and opened up this enclave themselves without any help from the state government. If this unique fishing enclave becomes yet another centre of sports tourism to cater to students of the Stonyhurst International school, what a shame this would bring to the state, when a self-sustaining local fishing community is yet again evicted for no rhyme and reason, except to pander to the needs of elite children.
Valuable knowledge can be obtained on sustainable coastal life-styles; boat construction; community-constructed half masonry-half wooden blended coastal architecture; seasonable varieties of different species of local sea fish; tidal movements; coastal pollution as so on. I had wondered if these teachers knew that Tanjung Bungah residents have for years taken the initiative to do beach-cleaning on our own. Nevertheless, it was reassuring to see the school engaging in a week-end coastal community project.
Note that famous scholars like Raymond Firth had produced classic works on “Malay Fishermen: Their Peasant Economy” which is cited to this day by economists and social scientists.
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