George Town marks UNESCO anniversary amid debate

Conservationists seek development rethink in Malaysian heritage city

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The "Wu Shu Girl" mural painting by Ernest Zacharevic decorates a building facade along tourist enclave Muntri Street. (Photo by Kit Yeng Chan)

MARCO FERRARESE, Contributing writer

GEORGE TOWN, Malaysia -- On any given weekend, a 15-meter-long queue of international tourists materializes at the upper corner of Armenian Street, an atmospheric road packed with tourist shops and cafes at the heart of George Town, capital of Malaysia's Penang State.

Selfie-stick-toting visitors wait patiently to snare shots next to George Town's most iconic piece of street art, "Two Kids on a Bicycle," a life-size mural showing two children riding a bicycle into the wall. Meanwhile, local motorists curse the artwork -- and the tourists -- for contributing to the traffic gridlock that mars the area.

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