Comments on: Kinta Valley’s Fading Heritage http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/2010/09/01/kinta-valley%e2%80%99s-fading-heritage/ Ipoh's Community Newspaper Tue, 22 May 2012 01:48:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Papan Jones http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/2010/09/01/kinta-valley%e2%80%99s-fading-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-10318 Papan Jones Tue, 01 Mar 2011 06:58:52 +0000 http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/?p=5972#comment-10318 The demise of the tin-mining industry retarded the development of Ipoh. It was a good thing. But too many our Ipoh's old buildings have been neglected for too long. The cultural landscape of the Kinta Valley is the heritage we want to preserve and pass on to the future generations. With Ipoh its focal city, complimented by small towns each with its unique history and heritage, the rich cultural landscape is a tourism winner. Ipoh's physical environment reflects the wealth from tin-mining. Without its neat rows of shophouses and their period style, Ipoh would be a cultural desert, as some have already opined. Every building tells a story. But owners are the ultimate stakeholders, and the law respects only ownerships. It is up to the individual owners to re-develop the site of their properties. Only enlightened owners would know what to do, or they might seek out heritage consultants for preferred practices, town planners for best options, and architects for aesthetic contributions. The conservation of Ipoh needs all stakeholders working towards the one thing: preserving the heritage of the city for the future generations. We need MBI to promoe conservation and encourage adaptation in any re-development. MBI must consider the our streetscape and not sacrifice aged buildings to greedy high-rises. Artificially increasing land value will guarantee rapid demolitions. Incentives and tax rebates are helpful to all owners. Swift farming is farming and it cannot be allowed in our urban places. Why can't existing law apply to them? Will MBI, and the State government stand up to the profiteerig swift farmers who disregard public health and undermine the city's heritage on our streets? The demise of the tin-mining industry retarded the development of Ipoh. It was a good thing. But too many our Ipoh’s old buildings have been neglected for too long.

The cultural landscape of the Kinta Valley is the heritage we want to preserve and pass on to the future generations. With Ipoh its focal city, complimented by small towns each with its unique history and heritage, the rich cultural landscape is a tourism winner. Ipoh’s physical environment reflects the wealth from tin-mining. Without its neat rows of shophouses and their period style, Ipoh would be a cultural desert, as some have already opined.

Every building tells a story. But owners are the ultimate stakeholders, and the law respects only ownerships. It is up to the individual owners to re-develop the site of their properties. Only enlightened owners would know what to do, or they might seek out heritage consultants for preferred practices, town planners for best options, and architects for aesthetic contributions.

The conservation of Ipoh needs all stakeholders working towards the one thing: preserving the heritage of the city for the future generations.
We need MBI to promoe conservation and encourage adaptation in any re-development. MBI must consider the our streetscape and not sacrifice aged buildings to greedy high-rises. Artificially increasing land value will guarantee rapid demolitions. Incentives and tax rebates are helpful to all owners.

Swift farming is farming and it cannot be allowed in our urban places. Why can’t existing law apply to them? Will MBI, and the State government stand up to the profiteerig swift farmers who disregard public health and undermine the city’s heritage on our streets?

]]> By: S.Sundralingam http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/2010/09/01/kinta-valley%e2%80%99s-fading-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-4335 S.Sundralingam Fri, 10 Sep 2010 06:28:54 +0000 http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/?p=5972#comment-4335 VIEWS and complains of the residents are sometimes taken lightly by certain authorities. Unless like the recent case of illegal open burning which caught the attention of The Regent to inspect personally. Then the outcome is, from the Mayor to the workers every one moves simultaneously to perfectly overcome the problems. Similarly, as a Perakean I have The Regent, World Heritage Listing, the Tourism Portfolio in my mind. There is a lot of talks about UNESCO's Listing. Surely Ipoh which has a rich legacy of historical buildings with outstanding craftsmanship and architecture quality stands a good chance to be in the listing. Since realizing the importance of conserving heritage buildings for posterity and to boost heritage tourism, I suggest that the Tourism Portfolio set up a special Heritage Entity. Ipoh's distinctive history out of a diverse strands of narratives and reinforce the city's unique plurality of peoples, social institutions and cultural influences, can led to its own unique heritage enclave listing. As such the proposed Special Heritage Entity should include :- the Chief Minister, all Excos of Perak State, local council, UPEN Director, National Heritage Department, the Mayor, outstanding architects, Uitem and Utar's architectural lecturers, Perak Heritage Society, Perak Tourism Board and the Director of Culture, Art and Heritage Perak. I am sure if all these concerned people and sit an map a positive move for IPOH, the UNESCO listing could become a reality. VIEWS and complains of the residents are sometimes taken lightly by certain authorities. Unless like the recent case of illegal open burning which caught the attention of The Regent to inspect personally. Then the outcome is, from the Mayor to the workers every one moves simultaneously to perfectly overcome the problems.

Similarly, as a Perakean I have The Regent, World Heritage Listing, the Tourism Portfolio in my mind. There is a lot of talks about UNESCO’s Listing. Surely Ipoh which has a rich legacy of historical buildings with outstanding craftsmanship and architecture quality stands a good chance to be in the listing. Since realizing the importance of conserving heritage buildings for posterity and to boost heritage tourism, I suggest that the Tourism Portfolio set up a special Heritage Entity.

Ipoh’s distinctive history out of a diverse strands of narratives and reinforce the city’s unique plurality of peoples, social institutions and cultural influences, can led to its own unique heritage enclave listing. As such the proposed Special Heritage Entity should include :-
the Chief Minister, all Excos of Perak State, local council, UPEN Director, National Heritage Department, the Mayor, outstanding architects, Uitem and Utar’s architectural lecturers, Perak Heritage Society, Perak Tourism Board and the Director of Culture, Art and Heritage Perak.

I am sure if all these concerned people and sit an map a positive move for IPOH, the UNESCO listing could become a reality.

]]> By: Judy Foong http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/2010/09/01/kinta-valley%e2%80%99s-fading-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-4305 Judy Foong Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:21:36 +0000 http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/?p=5972#comment-4305 when we talk about preserving heritage in ipoh, we must not go overboard with it. the demolisions of a few unimportant pre-war buildings are sometimes necessary for redevelopment. almost all the buildings in both old town and new town sectors are pre-war buildings - what do you expect of a century-old city that tin built. all we need is to identify those important heritage buildings and gazette them against demolision. putting restrictions on all pre-war buildings will result in the city centre becoming just "birds' hotels". we can already hear the chirping of the swiftlets clearly now. when we talk about preserving heritage in ipoh, we must not go overboard with it. the demolisions of a few unimportant pre-war buildings are sometimes necessary for redevelopment.
almost all the buildings in both old town and new town sectors are pre-war buildings – what do you expect of a century-old city that tin built.
all we need is to identify those important heritage buildings and gazette them against demolision. putting restrictions on all pre-war buildings will result in the city centre becoming just “birds’ hotels”. we can already hear the chirping of the swiftlets clearly now.

]]> By: Papan Jones http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/2010/09/01/kinta-valley%e2%80%99s-fading-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-4220 Papan Jones Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:34:38 +0000 http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/?p=5972#comment-4220 Even after declaring the intention to apply for listing in UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ipoh and the Kinta Valley were still sleepy from a long decline since the crash of tin price in 1985. The context and focus (the branding) is our world industrial heritage of tin-mining. The mining history is well documented, but its heritage is not understood. Ipoh has to be global to attract visitors and tourists. This is the thrust for development of Ipoh. Ipoh has experienced brain-drain but mature brains can be attracted back. What needs to be done is upgrading our city, give it a unique character (it cannot be another city like KL or Singapore) based on its unique history and heritage. Reticulated, neat rows of pre-war shophouses in Ipoh is unique in Malaysia. There is hardly any Straits Ecletic style because Ipoh is not a Peranakan town. It went early into International Style modernism. The outstanding feature of Ipoh's streets is the architecture of International Style, as practised by BM Iversen, the Danish architect of Ipoh. Until we learn about the true cultural heritage of Ipoh, and that includes anything we made and built, all talks and actions will be futile, disco-ordinated and eventually, destructive. I echo: once gone, it's gone forever. Even after declaring the intention to apply for listing in UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ipoh and the Kinta Valley were still sleepy from a long decline since the crash of tin price in 1985.

The context and focus (the branding) is our world industrial heritage of tin-mining. The mining history is well documented, but its heritage is not understood. Ipoh has to be global to attract visitors and tourists. This is the thrust for development of Ipoh.

Ipoh has experienced brain-drain but mature brains can be attracted back. What needs to be done is upgrading our city, give it a unique character (it cannot be another city like KL or Singapore) based on its unique history and heritage.

Reticulated, neat rows of pre-war shophouses in Ipoh is unique in Malaysia. There is hardly any Straits Ecletic style because Ipoh is not a Peranakan town. It went early into International Style modernism. The outstanding feature of Ipoh’s streets is the architecture of International Style, as practised by BM Iversen, the Danish architect of Ipoh.

Until we learn about the true cultural heritage of Ipoh, and that includes anything we made and built, all talks and actions will be futile, disco-ordinated and eventually, destructive.

I echo: once gone, it’s gone forever.

]]> By: S.Sundralingam http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/2010/09/01/kinta-valley%e2%80%99s-fading-heritage/comment-page-1/#comment-4218 S.Sundralingam Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:32:39 +0000 http://ipohecho.com.my/v2/?p=5972#comment-4218 As Ipohites, we should be proud of our historical buildings, monuments, parks, gardens and designed landscapes. But that's not the case for IPOH. Too many of them are suffering from neglect, decay and pressure from development. That's why rampant demolitions of heritage structures are slowly, but surely taking place. The problem with some of our local council Acts, people and planners are they choose to be ignorant concerning heritage values. They must realize that the streets and buildings of IPOH are part of the historic character of IPOH. Each town tells the story of its unique development, and gives us a sense of place, continuity and cultural identity. The streets mentioned in the above article which have buildings almost original conditions, should be turned into a mini heritage enclave. Penang and Singapore have their own Straits Eclectic Style Shop houses maintained as original, why can't IPOH then? As Ipohites, we should be proud of our historical buildings, monuments, parks, gardens and designed landscapes. But that’s not the case for IPOH. Too many of them are suffering from neglect, decay and pressure from development. That’s why rampant demolitions of heritage structures are slowly, but surely taking place.

The problem with some of our local council Acts, people and planners are they choose to be ignorant concerning heritage values. They must realize that the streets and buildings of IPOH are part of the historic character of IPOH. Each town tells the story of its unique development, and gives us a sense of place, continuity and cultural identity.

The streets mentioned in the above article which have buildings almost original conditions, should be turned into a mini heritage enclave. Penang and Singapore have their own Straits Eclectic Style Shop houses maintained as original, why can’t IPOH then?

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