This article begins with the celebration of George Town’s enrolment (along with Melaka, both in the Strait of Malacca) on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It then sketches the process by which the Chinese clan jetties, built on stilts over the sea and, until now, at the margins of urban development, have been integrated into the core zone of the preserved perimeter of George Town, in Penang, Malaysia. The article assesses this change in relation to issues of the recent heritage policy enshrined in a multicultural context and examines the various actors’ strategies to achieve their aims in a competitive context.