An island with fantasies

AS a kid, one of my favourite series on television was Fantasy Island. The little guy, Tattoo, would shout, “The plane, the plane!” as the aircraft carrying visitors comes in to land on the island.

After an adventure – usually a fantasy gone wrong – they would leave, their plane taking off with some chastened passengers.

Sometimes I think we have our own fantasy island – one where fantasies go wrong, too. We don’t just have planes but plans too. And the plans don’t take off. They don’t even get off the ground.

I am, of course, talking about Langkawi where, it is said, the curse of Mahsuri has been lifted. Langkawi, they say, is now a land of promise. Is it, really?

It seems more like a land of promises – unfulfilled ones at that.

So much has been promised but so little delivered. The latest to bite the dust is the RM40bil Langkasuka project.

This was to be the rival to Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah resort. While the Dubai islands are shaped like a palm tree, these artificial islands would form an eagle-shape, known as Langkasuka City.

A promise not kept: An artist’s impression of the eagle-shaped Langkasuka project.

The project, spanning around 809.7ha – bigger than Bandar Sunway in Petaling Jaya – included a hospital, housing development, recreational areas and a higher education facility.

The Langkasuka Golf and Country Club, a championship-calibre golf course with a 400,000 sq ft clubhouse, was to be part of it.

Also included in the plans were luxury villas, a mall with both indoor and outdoor retail and entertainment options, along with serviced apartments and a rainforest-themed hotel touching the Andaman Sea.

But it’s all at sea now. The Dubai-based developers have opted out. They want instead to “focus on better opportunities”, they said.

It isn’t the first mega project to go off the rails in Langkawi.

In March, the RM3.02bil Pantai Kok Resort development was called off too. It was supposed to be a 44.61-acre land development at Padang Matsirat, not far away from the Langkasuka project.

And who remembers the RM1.3bil “racing circuit resort” project in Bukit Malut?

It was touted as a resort that would include a full track circuit, a championship race circuit, auto dealerships, a vehicle warehousing facility, racing academy, sports hospital, housing projects and petrol stations.

There were also to be hotels, condominiums, villas and super villas with swimming pools.

It was a grand plan – a Monaco in Malaysia and truly a playground for the very rich – in a rather poor state.

It was one of Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor’s many grand plans. And another one that did not take off.

It was to be a gigantic hill clearance, and the only ones who would benefit are just around 1,600 luxury car owners on the island. It would basically be for the few Lamborghinis and fancy cars that have been bought duty-free on the island and cannot be taken out.

Was it worth spending billions for this small number?

For those who don’t know, Bukit Malut is a notorious area on the island, where thousands of outsiders – said to be from Myanmar and Thailand – are living, sometimes in squalid conditions. Locals claim most of the island’s crime stems from there.

They say Bukit Malut has been overrun by Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar. They cross into Thailand and then come by boat to Langkawi before seeking refuge at the hill settlement.

For now, the planned race course looks like a hill too steep to be climbed.

I hope it stays that way. I am sure there are more beneficial projects that can be implemented there.

Cleaning out the area, as far as the locals are concerned, is a good idea. But not for grand projects that finally do not see the light of day.

Let’s face it, there have been many failures on the island.

There was a plan for a cosmetics island in 2016 and that flopped. There was also a flower island that withered and died before it could bloom, and a Book Village that has since been shelved.

The chairman of the local Malaysia Nature Society chapter, Eric Sinniah, at least is happy about the axing of the Langkasuka project. He says that would mean saving 90% of the marine diversity of the island.

Marine life, he says, is too high a price to pay to bring in tourists. To him, the destination must not be destroyed for money.

The problem is, it is happening already. A lot of trees have been felled and parts of the jungle cleared even before projects are started.

The pristine mangrove forest on the island has also been damaged in the name of development. It took an outcry by NGOs to stop the felling of the trees in Tanjung Rhu, which is part of the Kilim Karst Geoforest Park.

The geopark is the first one in South-East Asia and is teeming with life – really ancient life. Its Machinchang formation is said to be 550 million years old and could well have been the birthplace of the peninsula and the entire region!

In contrast, Mt Everest and the Himalayas are only 50 million years old!

Imagine, it was formed 500 million years before the Himalayas. It also houses one of the world’s strangest mammals: the colugo or flying lemur.

“Langkawi has a rich biodiversity; its fauna and flora are incomparable. It’s probably one of the best places to visit. The politicians should just leave the island alone,” says Eric.

Or, at least, have sustainable projects that will bring in tourists who love nature.

Langkawi, he says, has plenty of land. There is no need for large reclamation work. After all, the island is almost the size of Penang Island and has some 100-odd smaller islands dotting the area. There is no need for another 99 artificial islands.

It would be so much nicer, and far more feasible, to allow small-scale developments on existing islands.

Tourists can go island-hopping to view the different attractions.

The billions would be better used to help nature thrive. After all, the tourists come for the wildlife, not the expensive condominiums.

If there are to be high-end projects, they could be modelled after Datai Langkawi, says Eric.

Datai Bay is where luxurious resort living meets lush green forests and beautiful beaches.

The island, he admits, needs development – the type that keeps the high-spending tourists coming.

Right now, though, tourist arrivals are falling. Many shops are shuttered, and many agents are pulling out.

Even the ferries have trouble arriving except during high tide. The jetty needs to be desilted or given a facelift and taken farther out to sea.

Many are shunning the island and heading north to Thailand instead.

Those who come – mostly locals – are not big spenders, and they cannot get the island’s economy moving. Profitability is low.

Sanusi, meanwhile, claims that the cancellation of the projects, or at least the Langkasuka project, has no effect on the state government as it has already collected money from the developers and any loss would all be borne by the private sector.

It doesn’t quite work that way. If the state does not care, investors are likely to lose confidence and stay away.

Sanusi also claims that there is a grand plot to foil private investment in the state by some groups with companies put under pressure to pull out. I think tales of jealousy should remain in mythology, like that envious woman who wrongly accused Mahsuri of infidelity.

Instead, the state – and even federal agencies – need to look at what they can do.

Eric says there is a need for proper planning with the involvement of the islanders and local NGOs who can help in conservation and sell nature as an attraction.

Otherwise, we may be left wondering if the curse by that beautiful princess is still there, roiling the waves of the Andaman Sea.