MALAYSIA | Sunday, 23 November 2014 | Views [697] | View Smaller Image
Rainy night at Mr. Soon's rented family home and workplace. His family generations have been staying here for the past 120 years. Life here however is coming to an end for Mr. Soon and his family by December 2014. With the once famous British colonial trading settlement - George Town rapidly turning into tourist town after the conferment of UNESCO title in 2008, he is not spared from merciless home eviction due to capitalism. Even being listed in the intangible heritage trade inventory, Mr. Soon today is facing the threat of not having a place to run his old trade, as the rental price tag has skyrocketed to an unrealistic figure, that poses so much threat to his already endangered trade - the bamboo and rattan weaver trade. He is contemplating to stop his old trade, not because of the lack of business volume, but basically involuntary movement (without any protection and relocation effort from UNESCO official monitoring agency) and high rental for alternative place. The gentrification of tourism has caused ripple effect of lacking of workplace for traditional trade and residence for the living heritage. Food for thought. We hope this series of documentary photos give us room to think, how could we make the photos meaningful and to help the community at large.
Tags: trade, home, eviction, unesco, gentrification, documentary, storm, rain, heritage, house
