50 Suriati Ghazali Figure 1. Teluk Bahang, fishing village, hotel <strong>and</strong> beach resorts, towns <strong>and</strong> industrial areas in Penang Isl<strong>and</strong>, <strong>Malaysia</strong> MALAYSIAN DEVELOPMENT AND ITS IMPACT ON TRADITIONAL FISHING VILLAGES Economic transformation in <strong>Malaysia</strong> has resulted in changes in the employment structure <strong>of</strong> the country. <strong>Malaysia</strong> was an agricultural-based country which in 1970, 50.8% <strong>of</strong> its population <strong>Malaysia</strong>n <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>of</strong> Environmental Management 12(1) (2011): 47-58
<strong>Malaysia</strong>n <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>of</strong> Environmental Management 12(1) (2011): 47-58 Suriati Ghazali 51 was employed in the agricultural, fisheries, hunting <strong>and</strong> forestry industries (<strong>Malaysia</strong> 1973). In the late 1960s, under the New Economic Policy, the <strong>Malaysia</strong>n government projected that manufacturing would be the leading growth sector in 1990. After 1990, under the ‘Vision 2020’ initiative, the government continued to promote manufacturing as the main contributor to economic growth, followed by the service sector. These policies implied a net shift in employment out <strong>of</strong> agriculture. As a result, in 2000, only 14.4% <strong>of</strong> the population left to gain employment in agriculture, hunting <strong>and</strong> forestry <strong>and</strong> 1.3% were employed in fisheries. Manufacturing, on the other h<strong>and</strong>, employed 22.5% <strong>of</strong> the population. Other sectors, such as sales, commerce <strong>and</strong> services which, when combined, accounted for 47% <strong>of</strong> the employed population (<strong>Malaysia</strong> 2005). In Penang, the State Government has actively developed <strong>and</strong> promoted industrial areas, new towns, <strong>and</strong> urban renewal development. This has affected agricultural areas as well as fishing villages. A number <strong>of</strong> traditional villages have been acquired for the purpose <strong>of</strong> industrial, housing, urban, <strong>and</strong> hotel <strong>and</strong> resort development. (Ghazali 1999, 2000). The loss <strong>of</strong> the natural environment is <strong>of</strong> great concern <strong>and</strong> led to the gazettement <strong>of</strong> Penang National Park in 2003. The gazettement prevents the l<strong>and</strong> from being cleared or developed for other means <strong>of</strong> economic activity. Penang National Park covers an area <strong>of</strong> 9.9 square miles <strong>and</strong> it is the smallest national park in <strong>Malaysia</strong>. This park contains a collection <strong>of</strong> habitats not found in other parks in <strong>Malaysia</strong> – meromictic lake, wetl<strong>and</strong>s, mangroves, mudflats, coral reefs <strong>and</strong> turtle nesting beaches (Chan 2009; Ministry <strong>of</strong> Tourism <strong>Malaysia</strong> 2009). The north <strong>of</strong> the isl<strong>and</strong> - Tanjung Tokong, Tanjung Bungah, Batu Feringgi <strong>and</strong> Teluk Bahang (Figure 1) is renowned for its scenic beauty <strong>and</strong> white s<strong>and</strong>y beaches <strong>and</strong> therefore is an attractive prospect for coastal tourism. Coastal tourism in Penang started as early as the 1950s, however it was slow to grow. In the 1960s <strong>and</strong> the 1970s there was a dramatic increase in coastal tourism in Penang (Wong 1998), which was due to the increase in the number <strong>of</strong> foreign tourists to <strong>Malaysia</strong> especially from the West, <strong>and</strong> the increase <strong>of</strong> infrastructural support provided by the public sector <strong>and</strong> the active participation <strong>of</strong> the private sector. From the 1980s onwards, the typical resort in Penang has consisted in apartment-like blocks located near the beach, well-equipped with recreational amenities <strong>and</strong> facilities; <strong>of</strong>ten including a swimming pool, <strong>and</strong> ‘exclusive’ resorts with distinctive architecture (Tan 1995). Increasingly, resorts have <strong>of</strong>fered a wider range <strong>of</strong> facilities <strong>and</strong> recreational activities. Since the 1990s industry forecasts for the development <strong>of</strong> coastal tourism in Southeast Asia has been optimistic (Wong 1998), <strong>and</strong> in 2009, 23.6 million tourists arrived in <strong>Malaysia</strong> <strong>and</strong> Penang received 1.347 million <strong>of</strong> them, <strong>of</strong> which 44% were international tourists (Tourism <strong>Malaysia</strong> 2011; Penang State Government 2010a). The development <strong>of</strong> hotels <strong>and</strong> resorts in Penang has displaced some traditional fishing communities. A few Malay villages are still in existence in the coastal area (Horton et al. 2008) <strong>and</strong> are trapped between the resorts <strong>and</strong> spaces <strong>of</strong> urban development. The displacement <strong>of</strong> traditional communities poses a threat to natural <strong>and</strong> cultural heritage, as well as to long term environmental sustainability, which may be undermined by industrial development (Ooi & Shaw 2009; Ghazali et al. 2010). Moreover, hundreds <strong>of</strong> traditional fishing communities are suffering from dwindling incomes as high-power trawler boats scoop up the best part <strong>of</strong> the catch (Khor 1987). On the other h<strong>and</strong>, environmental degradation, hazards <strong>and</strong> uncertainties have affected the fishing families in Teluk Bahang, <strong>and</strong> their economic dependence on fishery resources has led them to becoming poor. For example, the disaster caused by tsunami following the earthquake in Acheh on 26 December 2004 has affected 7500 fishermen on the west coastal areas <strong>of</strong> <strong>Malaysia</strong>, including those <strong>of</strong> Teluk Bahang (FAO 2006). The loss <strong>and</strong> damage <strong>of</strong> their boats, houses, <strong>and</strong> fishing equipment, has reduced them to poorer position compared to pre-tsunami period. Environmental hazards as such have led to strategies <strong>and</strong> programmes being introduced in order to help the fishing communities. These include motivation programme for the fishing
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