ONCE it is built, Penang’s light rail transit (LRT) is expected to facilitate the arrival of more visitors to the state’s most iconic building, Komtar.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Komtar was Penang’s prime retail location but the building’s shops on the lower floors have since lost their commercial appeal over the years.
While there are many visitors during weekends and public holidays to certain floors, the second, third and fourth floors are largely deserted throughout the week.
A check by StarMetro showed that on the third and fourth floors where arcade games and various types of shops were located, the lots were shuttered.
Numerous ceiling panels were missing while many units displayed “For Sale” signs on their shutters.
The Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) and Komtar Walk are part of the Komtar rejuvenation project.(Left) Komtar is Penang’s tallest building and its acronym is a contraction of Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak. — Photos: CHAN BOON KAI, ZHAFARAN NASIB and LIM BENG TATT/The Star
The LRT project is expected to provide a massive increase in retail footfall for the area, said incumbent Komtar assemblyman Teh Lai Heng.
With Komtar being just a few metres from the planned location of the LRT station, people will surely be directed to Komtar and its surroundings, he said.
“This will restore Komtar to its heyday (as a shopping hub),” he said.
Komtar has nostalgic importance for Penang residents because it was where modern retailing in the state had its start, he added.
Detailed plans for the LRT were made after the Federal Government committed to provide funding for the project, which will be undertaken by Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp).
It was announced that there would also be a major enhancement in the project’s first phase.
Instead of just stretching from Bayan Lepas to Komtar, the LRT line will now go all the way to Tanjung Bungah, covering 29km with 27 stations.
The Urban Transformation Centre occupies 42,000sq ft over two floors.
Work packages are expected to be tendered by year-end and the project is expected to be completed in five years.
Restoring retail relevance
Property valuer Eugene Choong said the LRT plan was critical to restoring the building’s retail relevance.
He said all shopping complexes would go through a life cycle that was broadly defined in four stages: innovation, accelerated development, maturity and decline.
“Some shopping complexes may even have to be demolished and completely rebuilt.
“But it is not so easy with iconic landmarks. So everyone from architects to retailing experts and even consumers have to take part in the revival (process).”
Choong highlighted two challenges in this process: walkway quality and connectivity, and the internal architecture of Komtar.
“When you want people to use the LRT, you must also anticipate and prepare for where they are going to walk to after they get off the train.
Twenty-five years ago, the fourth floor of Komtar was usually packed with shoppers and youngsters but today it is virtually empty.
“Roads in the old part of the city are narrow. It is uncomfortable and even a little unsafe to walk around.
“If you look at George Town’s streets, the places where you see pedestrians are only in the best parts of the heritage enclave. And the pedestrians are tourists.”
He said that while the LRT would send the much-needed footfall to revive Komtar’s retail zone and the old shops around it, the area’s roads might have to be redesigned for the ease of pedestrians, which is typically done in dense urban-commercial precincts in developed countries.
As for Komtar’s internal architecture, Choong said it was a trend in the 1980s for retail outlets to be tucked away in secluded corridors, away from the main paths, and Komtar had many such corridors over several levels.
“Replace rolling shutters and walls with glass panels. Make everything visible from the main walkways.
“There is a lot to be done to revive Komtar,” he said.
In need of revival
There are still many retailers in the building who want the state government to revive this spot that has once been Penang’s top retail location.
Archived image depicting the initial stages of Komtar’s construction.(Below) The tower’s construction seen from Datuk Keramat Road.
Textile trader Aminul Haque Nazir Ahmad, 72, who has been operating at the second floor of Komtar for more than 25 years, said he had seen little change.
“(There are) no promotions or publicity programmes.
“There are so few shoppers and tourists here. We only have our long-time regular customers and the civil servants who are working in the building.” He said business had declined by more than 50% in the past 10 years.
He added that he managed to keep his business going because he owned the shop and thus only had to pay a monthly maintenance fee of RM300.
Unlike present-day shopping complexes, the individual retail lots were put up for sale after Komtar was built.
Aminul Haque said that with the Komtar Merchants Association dissolved six or seven years ago, individual traders were left to their own devices.
Another textile trader, Akmal Yazir Zainal Alaudin, 43, said he felt that Komtar could be revitalised like Central Market in Kuala Lumpur.
“We can promote this place as an arts and culture centre.”
He said he still had customers coming from out of state, especially during school holidays, adding that many things could be done to promote the place.
Akmal Yazir, who has been operating the shop since he was in his 20s, said the merchants did not mind paying higher maintenance fees as long as the place was upgraded.
Rebranding Komtar
Teh says Komtar has nostalgic importance for Penang residents.
Teh said he had asked PDC Setia Urus, the state’s management company in charge of the building, to engage consultants to study how to rebrand Komtar.
He said something could be done to upgrade the trading lots after the study or survey was done.
He added that he hoped the individual shop owners would participate in plans devised to revitalise the place.
While PDC Setia Urus had been regularly carrying out minor upgrades, Teh said it was hard to accomplish much with limited funds.
Choong says the LRT plan is critical to restoring Komtar’s retail relevance.
Completed in 1985, Komtar with its 65 storeys (now 68), was Malaysia’s first skyscraper.
Bangunan Tuanku Syed Putra in Downing Street was the seat of the state government in the 1960s before it moved to Komtar in 1986.
Since then, most of the building has been occupied by government agencies, from the seventh floor upwards.
The 232m-high building complex, which was the tallest in South-East Asia in the 1980s, once held the distinction of being Asia’s second tallest tower, second only to Sunshine 60 in Tokyo, Japan.
Aminul Haque says business has declined by more than 50% in the last 10 years.
It held the title of Malaysia’s tallest tower for three years.
Komtar remains Penang’s tallest building and its acronym is a contraction of Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak.
The landmark was named after Malaysia’s second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, who launched the piling works in 1974.
The mega project was conceptualised as a city within a city and it was the vision of then chief minister Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu to revitalise the urban centre of George Town.
In 2011, the Penang government sought public feedback on its plans to upgrade Komtar’s facade.
Subsequently, in 2012, the Penang Municipal Council (now the Penang Island City Council) and Think City Sdn Bhd conducted a survey and the results were sent to the Business Improvement District Scheme (BIDS), which had been formed to improve the overall look of Komtar and its surrounding areas.
According to the then BIDS chairman Datuk Rosli Jaafar, there were three main issues that needed attention – improving the connectivity between Komtar and surrounding buildings such as hotels, and improving safety, security and cleanliness.
Akmal Yazir says Komtar can be revitalised like Central Market in Kuala Lumpur.
In 2015, three levels were added at the top and they were collectively named The Top@Komtar.
This saw the addition of a theme park and observatory deck that became tourist attractions, as well as a dining establishment and club.
Last year, an extension of the BIDS – the George Town City Centre (GTCC) initiative – was launched to transform the once-dilapidated Komtar Walk.
The initiative was a collaboration between six business centres — 1st Avenue, Prangin Mall, Komtar, ICT Mall, Tech Dome Penang and The Top@Komtar.
The Komtar Walk site, launched in 2009, underwent a RM2.8mil upgrade as part of a plan to add value to the iconic Komtar building.
Early this year, six shoplots were opened at the site ahead of Chinese New Year.
In August 2020, Penang’s first Urban Transformation Centre was launched and it occupies 42,000sq ft on the second and third floors.
The RM20mil centre housing various government agencies, is seen as a catalyst to inject new life into the historic tower.
