Moving into the future

Suffolk House

It was an historic moment for Badan Warisan Malaysia when, at approximately 1p.m. on Saturday 4 July 2009, our President, YABhg Tun Ahmad Sarji bin Abdul Hamid signed a lease agreement for the management of Suffolk House with YAB Mr Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang, witnessed by about 40 people including the State Secretary YBhg Datuk Zainal Rahim Seman members of the State Ex-Co, the Penang Heritage Trust and Friends of the Botanical Gardens, as well as members of the press and media.

This is an unprecedented step for us and a major financial commitment for our consultancy and management company, Badan Warisan Heritage Services Sdn Bhd. We will be looking for the support of our members and friends of heritage to help promote the site when it is open towards the end of this year. We are scheduled to take possession of the building in August and expect that it will take around three months to fit it out for use as a cultural heritage, tourism and arts venue.

In his speech preceding the signing ceremony, Tun Ahmad Sarji said that through this initiative the future of Suffolk House can be secured and that it should serve as a model for future restoration initiatives in Penang. He also expressed the hope that the Government of Penang will be open to greater public participation because the protection of our heritage is a shared responsibility. He congratulated PHT and HSBC on their dedication and persistence in achieving this award-winning restoration, and acknowledged the major role which our Deputy President, Ar Laurence Loh, played as the conservation architect.

Suffolk House is the only surviving major Anglo-Indian mansion outside India. Built in the early 1800s on the pepper estate owned by Captain Francis Light, founder of the British Settlement of Penang, it was home to the early governors of Penang. It underwent many alterations before falling into disrepair and for almost 40 years it continued to degenerate until the year 2000 when funds from the State Government were allocated for the restoration of the roof. Starting in 2004, through major fundraising efforts by HSBC and PHT with further funds coming from the State, the restoration works were finally completed in 2007.

We will keep members informed as this project develops.

Kuala Lumpur Draft Local Plan 2020

On 13 May 2009, as part of the process of public participation in the Local Plan, we were invited to a formal hearing at Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) to present our views on the Draft Local Plan 2020. We earlier scrutinized the Draft Local Plan and submitted our comments in mid 2008.

Essentially, our key comments are as follows:

There is a need for a comprehensive inventory of the heritage buildings in the city of Kuala Lumpur. The scope of the inventory should be in accordance with international conservation practice and there ought to be wide stakeholder consultation in the compiling of the inventory including a need to review former inventories and existing building databases. In addition, cultural mapping should also be carried out to better understand the architectural, historical and social values of the heritage areas.

There is a need to expand areas designated as heritage and buffer zones. We also need to have clearer definitions for the classification of buildings and the categorization of heritage areas.

We recommended expanding the list of heritage buildings to include many of the significant historical, religious and institutional buildings which had not been identified for example the Chan See Shu Yuen Clan Association and Temple at the end of Petaling Street, the old ornamental fountain at the corner of the Padang, the old RRI Headquarters on Jalan Ampang, Federal Hotel, the Coliseum Theatre, Hotel and Café, and several examples of the fast disappearing government quarters, including our own headquarters at No 2 Jalan Stonor.

We recommended the establishment of a Design Review Panel to ensure that new developments or redevelopments in heritage areas maintain an overall heritage character, not facadism but to encourage the re-use of shophouses while retaining authenticity and integrity of the area, and any infill development should be encouraged to maintain the rhythms and scale of the heritage ensemble. We also advocated for strict control on building materials.

Other comments included re-examining the plot ratio and development intensity for areas which had been designated as heritage zones and the need to retain the overall height and massing of the streetscape especially where the majority of old shophouses still retained their original scale.

While the members of the hearing panel were in support of our comments, we will have to wait for the Local Plan to be published before we find out if our recommendations have been incorporated into it.