And green it will stay

Penang Botanic Gardens Department director Mohd Azwa Shah Ahmad has assured the public that, under his watch, the site will see no haphazard development that might mar its natural heritage.

“There will be no indiscriminate decisions and definitely no major projects,” he promised. The relevant authorities will vet first any proposed changes.

A report is currently being prepared on the proposed Special Area Plan, a development and management master plan based on sustainable values to be presented to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for approval.

A study is also underway on a proposal to set up a special body to manage the Gardens. Mohd Azwa said it would resolve a long-standing problem with inefficient staffing. 

Meanwhile he is focusing on upgrading the bromeliad, cactus, fern and orchid houses currently closed to the public. “We need to upgrade and either station guards there or install CCTV cameras to prevent thefts. Visitors strolling in and walking away with the plants were a problem.”

“The new one-hectare Historic Economic Crop Garden featuring coffee, rubber, cocoa, palm oil and coconut trees will also open very soon.”

Improving signage, adding informative labels to the plants and trees, landscaping abandoned areas, and getting a guide for the tram, are on his checklist as well.

The Gardens receive 500 visitors daily and up to 3,000 during the holiday season, Mohd Azwa said. “Previously most of the visitors were joggers, but now we see many tour buses coming.” He said charging a small fee for special attractions should be considered, although joggers and those who come here for recreational purposes cannot be asked to pay.

“But before we can do that, we must make sure that the attractions inside the Gardens are worth paying for,” he said, noting that the herbarium collection has exceeded 5,000 species.

Asked what makes the Gardens special, he replied without hesitation: the 12-metre-high waterfall that supplies water to the area’s residents.

“The towering pokok pukul lima at the entrance is the Gardens’ trademark. It is more than 130 years old, so be sure to snap a picture of this heritage tree when you visit. The native pokok asam kuang, commonly found in villages, is interesting too.”

There is debate over whether the Gardens is actually older than the Singapore Botanic Gardens, which is more than 150 years old, says botanist Leong Yueh Kwong.

This is because Malaysia’s first botanical gardens were established in 1796, in Penang. The current site dates to 1884, when Singapore Botanic Gardens superintendent Cheang Kok Choy was appointed its first Malaysian curator in 1956, according to “A Guide to the Penang Botanic Gardens”.

“This year we celebrate the Gardens’ 130th anniversary, but other gardens had existed in Penang much earlier,” says Dr Leong. “Unfortunately there is no proper record of the earlier gardens and whether they were by definition ‘botanic gardens’.”

The original function of a British Botanic Gardens was to introduce economic crops, he explains. The curator of the Kew Gardens collected plants like rubber from Brazil and coffee from Sri Lanka for this purpose. The function of the Gardens here changed too as the world did. Horticulture and recreation overtook economic goals for the British and biodiversity was recognised.

In the 1980s Dr Leong chaired a committee tasked with planning the development and administration of the Gardens. The committee presented a master plan that included linking the site to the nearby Youth Park. It was never implemented because of land issues and the lack of funds.

Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010), the Gardens was upgraded and expanded from 29 to 239 hectares with a seven-million-ringgitt allocation from the federal government. The controversial project met with protest over poor planning and execution.

Leong says the Gardens used to be open around the clock, but it was decided in the 1980s to close it overnight – because workers were routinely picking up scores of used condoms.

Having visited around 80 botanic gardens the world over, Leong remains enamoured by the Penang site. “The beautiful seasonal blooms like the Cassia javanica and tribes of monkeys that adopt a ‘time-sharing’ system when it comes to occupying spots are things I remember vividly. 

“The territorial monkey problem got so bad that it was alleged that the authorities trapped and released them in neighbouring Kedah, which of course, protested. Denying the allegation, Penang then asked, ‘How do you know these are monkeys from Penang?’ to which the reply was, ‘Only Penang monkeys are not afraid of people!’

“Where else can you find a jungle half-an-hour away from the city centre?” Leong muses. Indeed, protected as a water-catchment area, the Gardens nurtured the royal palms, angsana trees, rain trees and rubber trees that famously lined the streets of George Town – some of which still stand to this day.