22 AUGUST 2019 / TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM
DISCOVERY
But an intellectual kid has popped up on this gentrified
block, bringing a much needed cultural spruce-up to the
area. Hikayat—from the Arabic-influenced word that
means “storytelling with wisdom” in Malay—redefines
George Town’s cultural landscape with a mix of books,
events, workshops and world cinema screenings.
Hikayat is a labor of love from Gareth Richards and
Bettina Chua Abdullah, two well-respected personalities
in local literary circles. “My original intention was to
open a second bookshop,” says Richards, the British-
Malaysian editor, writer and co-curator of the prestigious
George Town Literary Festival. In 2014, he opened
Gerakbudaya Bookshop (meaning “move culture”) in
George Town. Last year, Richards teamed up with Chua
Abdullah, the first Malaysian to become a CNBC Asia
international news presenter, and founder and director of
the Fay Khoo Award for Food and Drink Writing. The idea
was to create a “space beyond books”—something more
innovative, vital and creative than the rest of Penang’s
cultural offerings.
“I wasn’t interested in doing just another bookshop,”
explains Chua Abdullah, who “wanted a place for anyone,
not just readers and book lovers, to enjoy different
expressions of creativity, literature and arts.” In just half
a year, Hikayat has been packed to the gills with a range of
eclectic events to make it Penang’s hottest cultural den.
It’s a dy na m ic, cozy a nd ir resistibly chic space. On t he
ground floor, the large, yellow-hued bookshop hasA Penang Feast
In George Town, there’s a meal of a different sort
at Hikayat, a sleek one-stop-shop for literature,
creativity and Penang’s latest, most artsy
accommodation. BY MARCO FERRARESE.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY KIT YENG CHAN
BEACH STREET, THE LONG thoroughfare connecting
George Town with the old British garrison of Fort
Cornwallis, has become Penang’s most gentrified area in
the past few years. Lined with colonial shophouses
upholstered into industrial-chic bistros, the route sees a
daily carousel of visitors ambling aimlessly between
Penang’s most famous pieces of street art and the way-
too-many hipster cafés.