langkawi magazine
Archives SECTION
The New Loneliness On Malaysian Beaches In Tsunami's Wake
Without help Anna Mary and her husband will be unable to open their Miami Beach restaurant that was destroyed by the tsunami on the Malaysian island of Penang on December 26.
The tsunami waves destroyed the kitchen of the timber building and swept the deckchairs, which Anna Mary rented out to tourists, out to sea.
"We can only sell drinks,'' she says humbly while sitting amid the general chaos of a kitchen wall torn away and an unfinished bar. A plastic bottle with some money in it reads: "Tsunami rebuild fund - 17th February 2005".
"I don't like asking for donations. It is better if guests offer something voluntarily," she says. But she will leave the bottle standing there which a German couple had placed there for them. The 2,500 ringgit (about 490 euros) from a state aid fund is by far not enough. There is no insurance to compensate for the loss.
Prior to the catastrophe a normal day brought in earnings of 500 ringgit (98 euros). Today it is about 100 (19,60 euros).
When the first small wave struck, Anna ran to her baby in the rear of the house. Large rocks in front of the house reduced the force of the waves. Her husband managed to cling to a tree. A few metres from the restaurant the water killed five people picnicking there.
Compared to neighbouring Indonesia and Thailand the casualties in Malaysia are relatively small. According to official figures 68 people died and 300 were injured. Six people are missing. The islands of Langkawi and Penang are situated south of the Thai holiday resorts of Phuket and closer to the epicentre of the quake but were protected from the tsunami by the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
The waves hit the beaches of Banda Aceh in Sumatra and in Thailand with full force with only diverted waves reaching Langkawi in Penang and some coastal areas of Malaysia. Two months after the disaster not much can be seen.
In Penang it was mainly the northwest that was affected. Apart from Miami Beach the beaches of Batu Ferringhi and Pantai Pasir Panjang were also hit.
Batu Ferringhi is regarded as the nucleus of modern Malaysian beach holidays. The first tourist hotels were built in the 1970s and tightly encircle the bay. Behind them are the night markets and restaurants with fast and slow foods including Malay, Chinese, Indian and Thai dishes. Hardly anyone can be seen taking a swim in the calm green water.
"Especially guests from Malaysia avoid the coastline," says Evelyn Che from the Ferringhi Beach Hotel. "They prefer the mountains, rather go shopping or into the casino".
Traditionally January and February are quiet months but the tsunami has had an additional effect. The hotels are only 30 per cent filled compared to the normal occupancy of around 50 per cent.
Lynne Choong, sales director of the City Bayview Hotel in the island capital of Georgetown, says Malaysia's main problem is not the damage caused by the tsunami but how it is being perceived by tourists. "Write something good so that the tourists come again," she tells this reporter.
Far more attractive than the densely built-up Batu Ferringhi is Pantai Cenang in Langkawi. The hotels are widely spaced. No building is higher than the tallest coconut tree. Sun-hungry tourists have at least 500 square metres of space to position their deckchairs.
The Pelangi Beach Resort, surrounded on two sides by the sea in Pantai Cenang, was one of the few hotels in the area to report flooding. The seawater rose by half a metre, saltening the lawn and flower beds. But the Malaysian-styled timber houses built 50 centimetres above the ground on concrete pillars were just high enough to avoid damage.
"We felt the quake at nine in the morning. But we were not prepared for the flood," says hotel manageress Khoriza Mohd Karim. Nobody was injured but the holiday resort that was fully booked over Christmas was empty after two days. Two months after the tsunami booking is still down by a third.
"We are disappointed because many operators advised their clients not to come to us because they fear complaints," according to Karim.
But here too there is much activity to return things to normal. Thanks to the numerous gardeners fresh plants are being planted and fresh lawn strips placed to create the illusion of a permanent spring.
Rescue swimmers, sirens on the beach and a communication system between the hotels on Langkawi and Penang create the visible impression of security. It is what the visitors need to return and what the bar and restaurant owners like Anna Mary now need.
Penang 21/03/2005
