PHS Nl May-Jun07-4.3Ecopy.Indd
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May - June 2007 Volume 4, Issue 3 Heritage News A bi-monthly newsletter of the Perak Heritage Society. For Members only. Greetings! By the National Heritage Act 2005 (NHA), our heritage is made up of the tangible such as area, monument and building and the intangible, which includes language, music, folksongs, poetry, the performing arts, martial arts, oral traditions and others. As stakeholders in our shared heritage, the community is often ignored because of the rights of the owners. How much would the government do for the community? Who are the NHA supposed to protect and what will be protected? For enlightenment, we have adapted selected para- graphs from the brochure ‘Caring for your Community’s Heritage’, is- sued by the Heritage Council of Western Australia, April 2000. Read on. We all have a personal view of heritage places and things that are special to us and our families. The same quality of attachment applies to places valued by your local community, your region, your state and your country. Australia and Malaysia have common values, and heritage has a common voice for all, especially the community, a stakeholder in heritage. A house in Kampong Kuchai. Heritage includes those places and events which define and sustain the See page 3 & 4. Malaysian character and provide a living and accessible record of the nation’s Photo : Chong Fong Loon cultural history. It comprises places, objects, events, cultural practices, stories, records and intangible values which reflect Malaysia’s bio-physical diversity and PHS Committee its cultural diversity - indigenous and non-indigenous. President: Law Siak Hong V-P: Mohd Taib Mohamed The definition of built heritage encompasses public, private and community Hon Sec: Lee Su Win buildings, bridges, streetscapes, man-made landscapes, relics, World War II Hon Treas: Lim Pui San military installations, industrial and mine sites, cemeteries, statues, jetties and Members : Charlie Choong gardens, to name a few. Natural heritage is a category on its own. It includes all Khaw Siok Choon the features in our environment: hills, valleys, rivers, mangrove swamps, jun- Lim Bor Seng gles, lakes and seas. The community’s concern for heritage has sprung from a desire to protect Editorial Committee places and structures which they regard as important and which they want to Lau Sook Mei conserve and pass on to future generations; for example, places which are: Law Siak Hong Mohd Taib Mohamed evidence of important aspects of the past; Peter Vong aesthetically pleasing; Charlie Choong important to the social life of the community; or DTP: J Ad graphics particularly rare and interesting. Heritage matters because it helps people understand what kind of community they live in, what it was, and what it hopes to be. It defines what is distinctive Views and opinions ex- about the local area and its people. It establishes identity and makes one sub- pressed by contributors urb or town different from another. do not necessarily reflect those of the Editorial Heritage is a valuable community and economic asset. Part of that value is Committee. Verification realized in its appeal to tourists, who are increasingly looking for cultural tour- of facts and statistics are ism (heritage) experiences. Some places vigorously promote their heritage the responsibility of the assets to attract visitors, while other places feature visits to a few distinguished respective writers. heritage sites as part of the general visitor experience, or publish self-guided heritage walks. Coming Event Page 2 of 8 Heri.trail: Taiping: Perak’s heritage town Of all the towns in Malaysia, Taiping is the one with the strongest heritage feel. We will call on our counterpart in Taiping to learn about their concerns Throw them at us! and walk the streets of Taiping. PHS WISH LIST Date Sunday, 22 July FOR OUR OFFICE: Duration 8 am to 6 pm Air-conditioners Meet at Ipoh Railway Station by 7.50 am ~ 1.5hp window unit Office desk Cost Members and children under-18 RM20, Book shelves Non-members RM40; Filing cabinets lunch at your own expense. Laptop computer Booking Hong: 05.254 2742, by Friday 20 July. Scanner Printer LCD projector Heri.global.local MINING HERITAGE: A LESSON FROM ABROAD In July 2006, UNESCO World Heritage Status was awarded to the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape. Ten distinct areas are included in the Mining Landscape which features the remains of deep mining activities from 1700 to 1914. Just reward for the effort of more than 70 organizations co-operated to present the bid to the World Heritage Committee. A spokesperson for the West Devon Council commented, ‘The status puts us on the World map as a place of international significance. Along with bringing a sense of pride to the community, the economic benefits will be huge. Evidence from other World Heritage Sites proves that the status brings in more money which in turn will lead to more jobs as well as protecting existing jobs, too. It has already been estimated that the new status will bring in an extra 60,000 visitors to Cornwall and West Devon every year.’ Cornwall, England has a long history in tin-mining. It was the world’s major source of tin long before the tin rushes in Perak in the 19th century. For more info, go to http://www.cornwalltouristboard.co.uk. As the world’s top producer of tin from late 19th century through most of the 20th century, Perak’s Kinta Valley is a world historic industrial site. A potentially exciting tourist experience awaits the adventurous. But what do we have to show for the legacy of tin-mining? Lying in poor condition 30 km away from Ipoh, the dredge TT5 in Chenderong, Tanjong Tualang is a matter of grave concern. But, it is set to become a tourist attraction, according to a report in the Star. Steven Ng, who used to manage Kellie’s Castle, a well-established tourist spot, has gone to the Press about his plans for TT5. We wish him well. Open-cast mining is a major operation involving a large area. The open-cast tin-mine at Balakong, Sungei Besi, just outside KL has been successfully converted into the Mines Wonderland, a mega development. But what could you do with the SEK mine in Kampar, 42 km away from the provincial city of Ipoh? It was our largest open-cast tin-mine until it closed-down recently. What about other mining towns? The Sungei Lembing mining museum has not fully exploited the industrial history of the world’s deepest lode mine. Ignored and treated as unimportant, its industrial buildings have bee vandalized and stripped. However, the community living here remains enthusiastic for the historic hometown. Page 3 of 8 Focus KAMPONG KUCHAI AT DUSK By Law Siak Hong As a ‘late-comer’, Ipoh had become the second largest town (to Gopeng) in the Kinta District by 1889. The following year, to go south to Gopeng, bullock carts would cross the Sungai Kinta using its first wooden bridge, the Hugh Low Bridge. During the term of E W Birch, Resident of Perak (1905-1910), Ipoh expanded from Old Town to New Town. By the east bank of the Kinta and to the south of New Town is Kampong Kuchai. Neglected for decades, periodic fire is a bane to the place. Another old workshop was burnt down recently. So, with a sense of adventure, PHS member, Chong Fong Loon and I took a stroll through Kampong Kuchai in the fuzzy-muzzy dusk. The house of Abdul Wahab bin Datoh Domba of Sungai Raia, dated 1903. We took the main access beside the post office at Jalan C M Yusuf. Window detail (below) The road was badly broken up and full of pot holes. Among wild vegetation and shady large trees, we found a clearing and parked. We were not prepared for the blood-thirsty mosquitoes but we found the fire- damaged workshop and other fascinating pre-World War Two buildings. There were two rows of single-storey workshops, one with jack roof (for ventilation), sited perpendicularly to each other, two blocks of old (to- bacco) factory buildings with tiled roof (the older one in ruin), and several handsome Malay houses dotting the area in partial use, although quite dilapidated. Their address was a number with the prefix ‘K’, for Kampong Kuchai. We approached the operators, workers and caretakers for local knowledge but their accounts were of more recent times. Kampong Kuchai, after the war, became the ‘centre for vehicular workshops’: welders, lorry-carriage-builders, metal lathes, panel beaters and spray-painters, and more recently, an iron and aluminium works and a battery shop. Some ramshackle sheds were being occupied by Indian families and ‘invisible’ Chinese. The business signage was telling; from their style, material and condition, we could estimate their productive period. Surrounded by development of impressive houses and shop-houses, Kampong Kuchai is trimmed and cut off. It has become an inner-city ‘industrial backwater’, languishing as the last large ‘green’ spot in New Town. Why is this prime land not re-developed? Is it due only to unresolved private ownership? Would the developer conserve these old buildings and exploit the heritage of the place as an asset to the re-development? If not, it would be a waste, for the rows of old workshops are structurally sound. They and the Malay houses can be adapted for re-use. In ringgit and sense, re-development involving urban conservation would win the hearts and minds of citizens and visitors. Kampong Kuchai has seen better days. Would it get a new life? This run-down ‘urban village’ is in the hands of fate.