“It made me more determined to change things,” said the man who, as Chief Minister of Penang (left), is leading a quiet revival of the Malaysian island as a place to live and visit.

As an opposition politician in a country dominated by a strong ruling party, Lim spent two terms in prison – the first in October 1987 when at 26 years old, he was among over 100 people detained under the country’s Internal Security Act; he spent the next 18 months in detention.

He saw the inside of a jail again in 1994, charged this time under the Sedition Act after he criticized the authorities’ handling of allegations of statutory rape by a senior official.

“To exercise equanimity in travails – it’s easier said than done. One thing I’ve learnt – four words, this too shall pass, whether you’re in the depths of despair or the height of success, this too shall pass. So always be nice to people, you never know who you’ll meet again,” said Lim who became Chief Minister when his opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) swept into power in the watershed 2008 General Elections.

Asked if he considered this moment to be a height of success, he said, “I have achieved what I set out to do – I don’t have any higher ambitions than this. I want Penang to become even more successful, attractive and appealing – cleaner, greener, safer.”

In the last four years, the politician, who hails from Malacca, has set out to prove that change is good. He’s reduced the state debt, he’s made Penang attractive for investors – it became the number one state in terms of investment in 2010 and 2011 – and the state contributes 30% of Malaysia’s FDI (foreign direct investment); and ECA International ranked Penang as the most liveable city in Malaysia in 2011 and 2012.

A former accountant – “I never wanted to be a politician, I just wanted to make lots of money, which is why I studied accountancy” – Lim is a numbers man.

In tourism, he wants to increase the state’s arrivals from six million to 10 million in five years time and he wants to create events, build an exhibition centre, get more airlines to fly in – Penang now gets direct flights from Singapore, Indonesia (five points), Thailand (Bangkok, Phuket and Samui), Hong Kong, Taipei and Guangzhou – and make it attractive for entrepreneurs and investors to create new products and services for tourists.

“If you create a good and clean business environment, things happen naturally,” he said.

Beyond the numbers, there are other changes which are as important to residents as tourists. Penang is cleaner  – it’s almost like someone’s dipped the entire island in a giant laundromat – and greener. Its parks have been spruced up. Roads have been widened and traffic woes alleviated, although not completely. Wet markets have been cleaned up, bringing life back to neighbourhoods.

The biggest change though is intangible – a new government has brought in fresh hope and a renewed sense of optimism in the island’s future – and that over-arching feeling is why Penang feels different today. 

And so the island, which had been in a “graceful state of decline” (Lim’s words) as a destination, is seeing a renaissance. If you’re Chinese and believe in “feng shui”, you’d say Penang is entering the “ong” (prosperity) cycle with all the elements aligned for success.

The urban intensity of life in Asia is creating a need for more people to escape more frequently – a new generation of Singaporeans for example are rediscovering Penang; low cost airlines are facilitating frequent breaks; World Heritage City status conferred on Georgetown in 2008 led to a revival of interest in its history and today, the inner city with all its boutique hotels, cafes, temples and historic buildings is the main draw for travellers.

Add to that the new layer of social media which has allowed places like Penang and treasures within Georgetown to be discovered without having to splash out on mainstream advertising – Penang Global Tourism has a mere RM3 million marketing budget this year and social media and mobile are two areas it’s been active in to attract a younger set of travellers.

The beach positioning is no longer as prominent. Now the idea is to sell Penang as a unique experience – food, heritage, beach, hills, people – all in one small neat package.

Ask Lim what makes Penang unique and he said, “There’s a mystical charm about it – you come here and you relax automatically – and if you allow it to, it will win you over. Many visitors like it so much that they come to live here under the MM2H (My Second Home) programme.”

Of course there are concerns – concerns that Penang will chase numbers and neglect sustainability issues, build big edifices and create too many mainstream events and try and compete with other destinations who have more money and resources and thus lose its uniqueness as a niche, boutique experience.

In the inner city, guesthouses (left) are popping up everywhere, offering room and wifi for under RM30 a night, competing with higher end boutique hotels such as Muntri Mews with rates starting at RM350.  Some of the smaller guesthouses pack in a lot of guests and the inner city’s infrastructure, from sewerage to roads, is antiquated and limited.

“They have to stop thinking about numbers and think about sustainability,” said Christopher Ong (below), developer of Muntri Mews, Noordin Mews and soon-to-open 7 Terraces. “Get a higher spend per tourist. This place is over-crowded,” he said, gesturing to Muntri Street.

Many “hotels” are not licensed. “If they didn’t make it too hard, people would apply for a hotel licence,” said Ong. “There’s a lot of red tape. The demands of heritage guidelines and hotels are very conflicting – for example, fire-proofing and wooden floors, or backdoor exit when some streets here don’t have back lanes. 

“There needs to be separate legislation for heritage hotels in the zone. They must understand that we are not a monument – like Angkor Wat or the Pyramids – but a living city and they can’t expect us to be fossilized at a certain period. The charm of Georgetown is that it is a living, breathing city.”

Ooi Geok Ling, CEO of Penang Global Tourism, says such concerns are legitimate and “our role is to be aware of them and feed them to regulators, it’s not in our jurisdiction.

“But we do everything to encourage responsible tourism. For example, we encourage walking tours and not bus tours. Certainly, we want to keep Penang unique and there are lots of good things happening organically and naturally and helping the renaissance of Penang.”

Lim is determined that Penang finds its own way, and not imitate destinations like Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand which he said have done well in marketing themselves.

“We have to find our own niche and tell our story to the world. The key is to be yourself. To do that requires a lot of strength and character.”

Asked how being an underdog has prepared him for life, he laughed, “I am still an underdog. It teaches you not to be afraid to fail – some people are afraid to fail, that’s why they don’t try new things. I’d rather fail trying than fail to try.”