73-year-old school makes way for airport expansion

GEORGE TOWN: For 70 years, SJK (C) Chung Shan has stood right next to the Penang International Airport (PIA), against the backdrop of airplanes landing and taking off.

All that is about to come to an end.

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The school will soon be relocated to a new site to make the way for the airport expansion project.

The school is expected to be relocated to a new site in Jalan Bukit Ayun in Bayan Lepas, about 2km away.

The school was built in 1951 on a piece of land donated by the late millionaire Yeap Chor Ee while the building was built by the late Aw Boon Haw, a philanthropist, who founded the famous Tiger Balm company.

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“We have not received any letter from the government on this recently. However, we did get a letter touching on the school’s relocation back in 2020 before the pandemic,” the school’s Board of Governor’s chairman Tan Lai Theng said yesterday.

He said the school board had met with Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) together with representatives from the Transport Ministry to discuss the matter.

Following that meeting, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow granted them a plot of land measuring about 3.5 acres (about 1.4ha) in Jalan Bukit Ayun for the relocation. The school’s board has since agreed to the relocation.

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“It is about time for the school to move to a new site as the present one is not very conducive. The proposed new site is bigger and can accommodate 1,000 students,” he said.

Currently, the school has a total of 450 pupils from Year One to Year Six, with 37 teachers and support staff.

The airport staff quarters near the airport car park will also have to make way for the expansion.

Most of the staff have been moved to affordable homes in nearby Teluk Kumbar.

Many units of the staff quarters in Jalan Garuda were vacant and abandoned when The Star visited the site yesterday.

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A 56-year-old worker said he had been informed of the need to relocate but there was no mention of the date.

“I am also not sure where the new quarters will be,” he said.

Another ground staff, who wanted to be known only as Shamil, 50, said he had been living there for the past 10 years.

“So far, I have not been informed of the relocation plan,” the Kedahan said.

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP), meanwhile, was apprehensive about the expansion.

Its president Mohideen Abdul Kader said that while the influx of visitors would be a boon for Penang, he was worried about overtourism which would contribute to an increase in water usage, air pollution, litter and waste in tourist destinations.

“I am also worried about the traffic congestion. The traffic now is already bad, and the government should come up with a plan to ease this problem.

“I hope the prices of food will not go up too.

“Enforcement should be carried out regularly, and signboards should be put up at all the food complexes to warn hawkers against overcharging,” he said.