Bid to preserve leprosy site

2007/11/18
By : Jennifer Gomez

Lee Chor SengLee runs a nursery at the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement with the help of two workers.

SUNGAI BULOH: The remaining 48ha of the leprosy settlement here should be maintained as a national heritage.

The Save Valley of Hope Solidarity Group , a non-governmental organisation, intends to raise public awareness on the significance of the place to ensure its conservation.

"For example, this is truly a melting pot of the various races who lived together and were self-supporting. It's a live classroom for us to teach our young about solidarity and not rely on handouts," said Teoh Chee Keong, the organising committee co-ordinator of an upcoming carnival themed "I Love Valley of Hope".

The carnival, which among others wants to show the public that it is safe to be around former leprosy patients, will be held on Dec 8 and 9 at the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement.

Programmes include photo and floral exhibitions, a documentary screening on the history of the settlement, a youth camp and a drawing competition for children.
The settlement has been the centre of attention ever since debate sparked in early September about the validity of the demolition of the eastern portion of the leprosarium to make way for Universiti Teknologi Mara's new medical and dental faculties.

Teoh said the leprosy settlement could be turned into a tourist attraction, showcasing its well-executed urban planning system and architectural appeal.

"We have had foreign students from Taiwan who came here to conduct architectural workshops.

"Many are not aware that in the 1920s, when an urban plan for Kuala Lumpur could not be implemented after a trial period of four years, this leprosy settlement became the first location to have a successful urban plan.

"As such, there is a lot to be learnt from this historical site."

Teoh said the settlement also had the potential to become a prominent horticulture hub.

Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement Council acting president Lee Chor Seng, 70, said that flowers and plants cultivated in the settlement by former patients were distributed throughout the country and in Singapore and Indonesia.

However, business had slowed down over the last two months following news of the demolition of the settlement's buildings.

"We have seen a 30 per cent drop in visitors. Many think that we have closed shop, but we are still here. This is our main source of income."

The leprosy centre had 2,800 patients in 1956 but the number has dwindled to just 300 residents now, half of whom are living there due to old age.

The youngest resident at the settlement is 60 years old while the oldest is 88.

For details on the carnival, contact 012-7355025 (Chua) or 019-3503563 (Choong).

News:(TheStar)What is leprosy?

Saturday November 10, 2007

source: thestar.com.my

The Egyptian papyri, Hebrew Bible and Hindu Vedas all refer to leprosy as one of the oldest diseases known to mankind.

Contrary to popular belief, the disease does not cause body parts to fall off. However, leprosy does attack the nervous system, particularly those of the hands, feet and face where they feel no pain. Sufferers are hence more likely to injure themselves without realising it, resulting in missing limbs and facial features, and being called “hideous” or “the living dead”.

Leprosy sufferers first received treatment from seeds of the Hydnocarpus fruit which were planted in abundance at the settlement. Some still exist there today.

In the 1940s, Dapsone was discovered to control the disease, but due to the high incidents of relapse, patients underwent treatment for as long as 20 years to ensure there was no relapse.

In 1950, a research unit was set up at the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement, putting it firmly on the world map as a leprosy research centre.

In 1959, there were 2,396 patients at the settlement. Today, there are 341 patients. In 1969, forced admission for permanent stay at a leprosarium was abolished. From then on, new patients were treated at clinics nearest their homes.

In the 1980s, Multi Drug Therapy (MTD) was discovered, consisting of three drugs – Dapsone, Rifampicin and Clofazimine – which provided the most effective treatment for leprosy.

Since 1985, the global prevalence of leprosy has been reduced by more than 90 per cent, says Dr Milton Lum, a trustee of the Commonwealth Medical Trust.

He adds that leprosy had been eradicated in 116 out of 122 countries where it was previously endemic. Malaysia is not an endemic country. In 2005, the prevalence rate for leprosy in Malaysia was 0.32 per 10,000 people, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The same year, 263 new cases were reported in the country, giving a new case detection rate of 1.1 per 100,000 people.

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Triumph over hardship

News:(TheStar)Triumph over hardship

Saturday November 10, 2007

source: thestar.com.my

In 1949, at the age of 15, Ratan Singh was taken from his classroom at St Michael’s in Ipoh, Perak and thrown into a police lock-up at the local hospital.

His crime? Leprosy.

“All I know is that I went to school one morning and never went home again. I heard that my family disowned me when they were informed I had leprosy.

“Soon after this, I made the journey alone to the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement with just RM5 in my pocket. I refused to take the dreaded green train which transported sufferers back then, because people scurried away or pointed at us and said cruel things,” recalled Ratan.

Ratan died early this year aged 72.

Patients of the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement.

I spoke to him during a visit to the settlement where he was a committee member of the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement Council. He said there were 2,500 inmates when he first arrived in 1949. Today, there are only 341 left. The settlement itself is being torn down to make way for a UiTM medical faculty.

Some want to ensure that its memory is preserved, if the structures cannot be.

Joyce Wong Chau Yin, 36 and Phang Siew Sia, 38, grew up in the settlement as children of leprosy patients. Life was blissful there, say the two, who have written a book on the place called Valley of Hope.

It chronicles life within the settlement in 1930 when leprosy infections peaked, until its eradication in Malaysia today.

“My parents had fully recovered by the time I was born in 1971. I grew up with 20 families like us in this green paradise, away from discrimination,” Joyce Wong remembers.

“Yet, our parents instilled in us the need to keep leprosy a secret in the family. We went to school outside the settlement, and didn’t even tell our schoolmates where we lived,” says Wong.

According to her, they did not at first understand the stigma attached to the disease but encounters with the outside world soon made the fears very real.

In their book, Wong narrates an incident in which a horrified classmate said her father had told her of a leprosy hospital in Sungai Buloh, where ugly, deformed people were locked up and never allowed to leave.

It should come as no surprise then that many children of leprosy hide the fact from colleagues, friends and even spouse and children. Wong and Phang wrote their book in order to better understand their past.

“We thank God for Joshua Raghavar’s book, Leprosy in Malaysia – Past, Present and Future, because it gave us a headstart on where to look and whom to contact,” Wong reveals.

“We discovered that the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement was a ‘gift of hope’ to a people who had lost the will to live. This is why we named our book, Valley of Hope. The stigma was so bad that even our parents never told us all that they had experienced until we coerced them into talking for the sake of the book,” says Wong.

Back then, leprosy patients were deprived of everything, including an education. But some of their children, like Pang, have earned a Masters degree while Wong is an accountant.

“We feel a duty to tell the story of the visionaries who gave birth to the settlement – the kind staff, our parents and the patients themselves whose dreams were stolen from them, but who found the will to find new ones in this Valley of Hope,” says Wong.

Pang and Wong’s book tells of many instances of kindness by uninfected people who helped influence the lives of leprosy patients. Saw Cheng, a patient who has been living at the settlement since she was 16, recollects how she was once bedridden and at death’s door when a nurse kindly attended to her.

Authors of Valley of Hope Wong Chau Yin (far right) and Phang Siew Sia (far left).

“This nurse would carry us to the bathroom and gently clean us everyday. She wouldn’t let the other staff do it for fear they would be rough with us. I can’t remember her name, but she made us feel we were not being left in the bed to rot,” says Saw Cheng, who recovered and is still living in the settlement.

The late Ratan, too, recalled how Gurkha soldiers once shared their meals with him and kept him from going hungry when he made his journey to the settlement.

Before the 1960s, the book says, no one dared to step into the settlement. In fact, buses would stop 4km down the road, and visitors had to walk the rest of the way.

“Benches for visitors and inmates were segregated by marking them green and red. Visitors were sprayed with disinfectant as they left, making each visit a terrible experience. Soon families and friends stopped coming,” says Saw Cheng.

Joyce and Phang never experienced any of these things, though, because by the time they were old enough to understand the stigma, it was the 1980s, and they could move freely in and out of the settlement.

Researching their book helped uncover many secrets about their past, such as how they were kept at a place called Babies Home for six months after birth, while their parents decided what to do with them.

“Our parents recovered and could keep their babies. But others had to give them up for adoption, send them to foster homes or had them adopted by British officials who took them back to Britain after Independence,” reveals Wong.

Some of these children have returned to the settlement from Britain and other parts of the world to learn about their past.

Wong and Phang hope their book, and the pictures in it, will give these people some answers. Most importantly they want all the children of leprosy to know that theirs is not a past to be ashamed of, but a proud story of a people who triumphed over extreme hardship.

Before his death, Ratan visited his hometown for the first time since he was snatched from school all those years ago.

“My father had since passed on, and I never reconciled with my family.

“I remember meeting one classmate who is now a doctor. He said to me: ‘We were in the same class, Ratan. You were doing very well academically. The only reason I’m a doctor and you’re not is just a sad twist of fate’,” said Ratan, who spoke 11 languages fluently at the time of his death.

Valley of Hope is published by the MCA Subang Division. To purchase a copy, write to wklee43000@yahoo.com or joyce_fp4@yahoo.com, or call 012-3290301 (Joyce Wong).

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News:(TheStar)Reduced to rubble

Focus Saturday November 10, 2007 source: thestar.com.my Reduced to rubble The Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement has lost the fight to achieve national heritage status. But even as its walls come down, its legacy of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity lives on. Stories by SHOBA MANO Had it not been unceremoniously torn down, the majestic 78-year-old Bok House would still be standing right now at Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. Alas, it is now gone and the Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim brushed the whole episode off by saying: “It was just a house belonging to a rich man.” Encroached upon: Demolished homes. Today, the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement in Selangor, just 25km from the city and a place of great historical significance, is also being demolished. If these two are not worthy of being called “national heritage”, what is? Badan Warisan Malaysia president, Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid had nominated Bok House as a national heritage as provided for under Section 68 of the National Heritage Act 2005, in a letter to Dr Rais on April 12, 2006 – eight months before it was demolished on Dec 15. It did the building no good. In a press statement issued in the aftermath of the partial demolition of the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement on Sept 20 to make way for UiTM’s medical faculty, a shocked Ahmad Sarji said: “Badan Warisan had written to and spoken with the Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister on the historical importance of the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement at the national as well as international levels. “The history of leprosy is an extremely valuable legacy to humanity . . . the role and significance (of the settlement) is found in all references to the history of leprosy in the world.” Sadly, the settlement’s 77-year-old legacy has come to an end, and Malaysians have lost yet another heritage site that could have easily drawn tourists. All that’s left of it now are memories stored in a book called Valley of Hope, by Joyce Wong Chau Yin and Phang Siew Sia, published last May. Both had grown up in the settlement as the children of leprosy patients. It is the first book on life in the settlement after Joshua Raghavar’s more academic and authoritative account in his 1983 book, Leprosy in Malaysia – Past, Present and Future. Joshua’s book records that in the early 1900s, leprosy camps were surrounded by 5m-high steel and barbwire fences, with guards posted around them. People suffering from leprosy were arrested as they went about their business. The late Ratan Singh and wife Rose. They would find themselves shoved with poles and staves to the police station by officers too terrified to touch them. The authorities would then disinfect their houses, vehicles and implements. Later, they would be incarcerated in the camps. “Children and adults, the tramps and the educated, those in advanced stages of leprosy and the newly diagnosed, were all dumped together in overcrowded camps without any provision for work or recreation. “The only objective was to separate patients from the rest of society,” said Joshua, whose dream of working as a journalist was dashed when he contracted leprosy at 39, and was sent to the settlement in 1950. There, Joshua re-trained as a teacher and taught at its only school until his death last year. Ironically, he achieved his peak as a journalist within the walls of the settlement, thanks to his book, which is today hailed as a world authority on how leprosy affected Malaysia – medically, historically and socially. Before the settlement was established in 1930 on a 230ha lush paradise in the Bukit Langgong Valley, six leprosy camps were set up from 1860, with Pulau Serimbun, an island off the coast of Malacca, being the first. Selling plants has grown into a money spinner for the inmates. The settlement was the brainchild of Senior State Health Officer, Dr E. A. O. Travers, who was appalled by the inhumane conditions at the camps. This prompted him to create a settlement free of high walls and barbed wires. “The cool weather, simple but well-equipped chalets for dwelling, and little plots of land where inmates grew plants and vegetables, allowed the leprosy patients some semblance of a dignified life. “It also gave them the will to turn adversities into opportunities. The inmates filled every available job since people wouldn’t come into the settlement to work,” says Wong. The colonial government trained the unskilled, and soon a community developed as a school, prison, church, temple, mosque, barber shop, kopitiam outlets, sundry shops, bicycle repair shop and social and drama clubs were established. When it became too tedious to sterilise money that passed from the settlement to the outside world, the authorities came up with a special currency called the Kingfisher (because the bird graced the notes). Wong’s parents are among the 341 people still living in the settlement. They worry that no provision has been made for their welfare since the only home they have known all their adult lives is being demolished. “In their youth, many had hoped to be cured and return home. But after living in the settlement for decades, they feel safe there and realise they are home. Now, with this demolition, they are being victimised all over again,” says Wong. Lim Yong Long, 33, an architectural researcher at Taylor’s College, is a strong proponent for the preservation of the settlement, and has even appealed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) to save it. “This settlement has gone beyond being a national heritage. It is truly a world heritage as it is a model of a complete and comprehensive township that had emerged from a leper colony. Old currency of the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement called the Kingfisher. “It is also the largest and most elaborately planned leprosarium in the entire British Empire and was modelled on the concept of a lush haven rather than a prison. Other countries emulated this. “Even the medical breakthroughs discovered by doctors at the settlement contributed to finding a cure for leprosy. This benefited the whole world,” Lim stresses. Lim was among the group that was awarded the Measured Drawings Grant under Badan Warisan Malaysia’s Mubin Sheppard Memorial Prize this May. But the demolition has put a stop to his architectural drawings. “Many countries have preserved their leprosarium. Brazil alone has preserved 13 of them through its Ministry of Health. The one in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, US, has been gazetted a National Historical Park. “The Carville Leprosarium in Louisiana, US, is now the Carville Historic District and Losheng Sanatorium in Taiwan has been preserved too, so why not Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement?” he asks. Like the Badan Warisan Malaysia, Lim, Wong, Phang and other Malaysians are still reeling from shock and dismay that the country has yet again lost another invaluable legacy. Related Stories: Triumph over hardship What is leprosy?

(News)NST-Spotlight: Home sweet... gone?

2007/09/08

Ali Long, 63, gazing forlornly at the eastern part of his 'home' which has been demolished. He hopes the settlement will be spared "for memory's sake".

The 77-year-old Sungai Buloh leper settlement was once hailed as the most scenic and impressive leprosarium in the world. Now bulldozers are crashing through this unique garden city in the name of development. TAN CHOE CHOE checks out the place.

Chui Ying, 70 (left), and her husband Kong Cheen, 75, are doubtful if their home can be saved from development.

This 1969 picture shows a patient-turned-farmer working on a plot of land that he'd been allotted.

THE scene is right out of a watercolour painting. The sky is overcast; the landscape dotted by farmers growing flowers, grass and potted plants; coconut trees swaying in the breeze with ripe fruits beckon at every corner.

But on closer look, one can see scores of abandoned cottages, some roofless, some partially collapsed, and some with trees growing right through them.

Strangely, the farmers, although friendly, are not leprosy patients but mostly Indonesian workers.

This is the much talked about Sungai Buloh leper settlement, once noted as the most beautiful and modern leprosarium in the world because of the surrounding lush forests.
It was built by the British colonial administration in 1929 as a self-contained settlement for leprosy patients uprooted from society and condemned to live in isolation under the Leper Enactment.

Badan Warisan executive director Elizabeth Cardosa wrote in her New Sunday Times column in July that the settlement "represents a part of our medical and social heritage, which sadly most of us know nothing about".

Author Joyce Wong Chau Yin, whose book ‘Valley of Hope’ details the history of the settlement and its inmates, described it as "a very important part of the history of leprosy in this country as well as the world".

The leprosarium originally covered an area of 230ha, but was reduced to 120ha to make way for the new Sungai Buloh Hospital, a nursing college and a new highway.

The area will be further reduced because 16ha on the eastern side of the settlement has been alienated by the Health Ministry for Universiti Teknologi Mara to build its medical faculty.

The construction of the faculty is estimated to displace between 40 to 50 residents of the settlement, most of whom are elderly former leper patients.

The authorities are still mulling over whether to gazette the area as a heritage site, giving hope to the inmates that their home won’t be taken away from them.

But in a move that was described as a "blow to heritage" last Sunday, UiTM had gone ahead and torn down some walls and removed tiles from the roof of the old prison — making some of the inmates nervous about their future.

"It’s the only home we know and we’re all mostly elderly people now. Why can’t they let us live out our lives in some semblance of dignity and peace?" asks former patient Kong Cheen, 75.

Kong Cheen has lived in the settlement since he was 25 years old. He met his wife Chui Ying, another leprosy patient, when she was admitted in 1961.

"They said we will be given houses on the western side, but what about our farming plots here?

"We will lose our main source of income if we move and they destroy our farm," says Chui Ying.

The couple admits that they are too old to work their farm plots themselves. Instead, they lease it to an outsider who employs foreign workers to work the plots for them.

"We get a few hundred ringgit in return to supplement the monthly allowance of RM136.80 from the government. It’s not much but it’s a lot to retirees like us," says Kong Cheen.

Another villager, Sin Kok Han, 72, says he has lived in the settlement for over 55 years.

"I don’t want to leave. This place bears testimony to the story of my life and my wife’s. How would you feel if I ask you to leave your place of birth? That is how we will feel if they evict us," says Sin.

Echoing his sentiments is Ali Long, 63, a leper patient who has lost both his hands and legs.

"It will be a loss (sayang) if they give this place up to development. This place has witnessed much... so many stories... so many memories," says Ali.

Those still living in the settlement are mostly elderly people in their 60s and 70s or very young children.

Many youths have since moved out and assimilated with society at large in the ‘outside world’.

One youth who remained after his father — a former leper patient who has passed on — is Lourdes Surenderen, 29, and he welcomes development because he feels that the settlement is being exploited by outsiders.

He says many immigrants have settled in the area, occupying some of the abandoned cottages, "getting free electricity, water, and shelter".

"They are causing us social problems. There have been increasing cases of theft and vandalism since they came here," he claims.

Malaysian Leprosy Relief Association (Malra) secretary-general Datuk E.J. Lawrence believes it’s time the settlement was developed, but for different reasons.

Lawrence, who helped found Malra in 1959, says the association was set up to help former leprosy patients rehabilitate and live independently.

"The interest of the outside world in this settlement shows Malra has succeeded in eroding the stigmatism that has long been associated with people afflicted with leprosy.

"It shows that people are no longer afraid to come here and mingle with the patients and this should be viewed positively," he says.

Leprosy was once considered an infectious disease that could not be cured — "but it’s no longer true", says Lawrence.

By 1969, powerful drugs had been discovered that could halt, in a matter of days, early cases of the debilitating disease and prevent the hideous deformities that are often its legacy.

Leprosarium facts

• Officially opened in 1930, it was hailed as the most modern and impressive leprosarium in the British Commonwealth because of its scenic setting and modern buildings and facilities.

• It was second largest only to the Culion Island Settlement in the Philippines that was established in 1910, with a population of about 6,000.

• Divided by a hill in the centre, the west section is for the sick and disabled who required care; the east is a village for cured patients to live independently, each working their allotted plot of land to grow fruits, vegetables and raise livestock.

• Every kind of imaginable facility was provided — a school, churches, mosques, Indian and Chinese temples, grocery shops, workshops, etc.

• The settlement was managed by the lepers themselves, working as clerks, police, hardeners, watchmen, dispensers, dressers and nurses.

• Between the 1930s and 1980s, it was a major centre of treatment and research in the world, especially for trials of alternative drugs

• At the height of the illness in the 1950s, it housed some 3,000 patients.

• About 300 patients still live there today, although most have been cured and are free to leave.

---

Gazetting a piece of history

IN the limelight after it was abruptly ordered to halt demolition works at the leprosarium last Sunday, UiTM is asking for answers from the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry on why no efforts had been made to gazette the settlement even though it has existed since the 1900s.

The question arises: How exactly do the authorities go about gazetting a heritage site?

Under the National Heritage Act 2005, the Heritage Commissioner is responsible for the National Heritage Register and the National Heritage Department (Jabatan Warisan Negara) is the administrating department for this.

The commissioner, Datuk Prof Zuraina Majid, has the power to identify areas that are to be gazetted, including the buffer zone around the area, if necessary.

Anyone who thinks a site is of heritage value can nominate the site to the commissioner, by sending an application letter with information on the historical background of the site, its built and usage.

The application should also include photographs of the building, building plans and site plan with the location of the buildings clearly indicated.

"Once we have identified the area, we will visit the site and examine its heritage value and authenticity of history," says Jabatan Warisan Negara head of enforcement Khalid Syed Ali.

This is done after a notice is given to the owner of the site, seven days in advance, of the visit.

Once the significance of a site is verified and the commissioner thinks it suitable to be gazetted, the commissioner will send a notice of her intention to the owner of the site — 60 days before making the designation.

"A notice of intention will also be forwarded to the Land Office," says Khalid.

If the commissioner thinks it necessary for the purpose of conservation and preservation, she will issue an interim protection order to the owner, with the concurrence of the state authority.

Then she will publish the intention to gazette in local newspapers after getting consent from the state .

"We are open to objections from the public for 30 days after the gazette is published, as stipulated under Section 28 of the Act," says Khalid.

If there’s no objection, the commissioner will issue gazette notice to the owner and the local town and city planner, and publish the designation in the Gazette and local newspapers.

If there are objections, the commissioner will set a date, time and venue to listen to the objection and then decide whether to go ahead with the designation or not.

Badan Warisan executive director Elizabeth Cardosa says a site can be gazetted as Grade 1, 2 or 3, which corresponds to the interest, uniqueness, level of authenticity and architectural significance of the site.

Grade 1 is the highest and is synonymous to the term National Heritage, while 3 is the lowest.

"Grade 1 and 2 sites are likely to qualify for conservation grants, but not Grade 3. There are guidelines on what owners or custodians can and cannot do with their sites once gazetted," she adds.

For example, for Grade 1 sites, the external face and internal layouts of the buildings must be retained along with all architectural elements and materials, "but appropriate adaptive re-use is permitted".

In the case of the leper settlement, researcher Lim Yong Long had submitted a nomination form to the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage on July 10 for it to be gazetted as a National Heritage site.

And Badan Warisan’s views on the settlement are clear in a Press statement issued on Tuesday where its president, Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, said: "Badan Warisan has written to, and spoken with, the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, on the historical importance of the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement at national as well as international levels.

"… The history of leprosy is an extremely valuable legacy to humanity … the role and significance (of the settlement) is found in all references to the history of leprosy of the world …"

"It was so successful that it became a model on which other leprosy centres around the world were based."

Pertubuhan Arkitek Malaysia heritage and conservation committee chairman Mohd Zulhemlee An agrees with Badan Warisan.

"We should conserve the leprosy centre, not because it’s a heritage building but because it’s an independent and sustainable community that is of historical value to us ... since the 1920s.

"The buildings may just be simple cottages to many people, but they were built with colonial features and adapted to tropical climes. They are of architectural significance," he says.

Source: NSTonline

News: (NST)Three ministries to resolve leprosy settlement issue

2007/09/06

KUALA LUMPUR: Three ministries are to discuss together a solution to the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement issue.

The three ministries involved are the higher education, health, and culture, arts and heritage.

Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said yesterday the secretaries-general of the ministries would meet to thrash out the issue tomorrow.

They will discuss the possibility of at least preserving the mosque, church and the prison precinct at the site.

"A solution will be presented to the cabinet next week."
Rais told the New Straits Times: "We don’t want to hinder the development of Universiti Teknologi Mara in building the medical faculty.

"However, we have due respect for the wishes of families as well as the Health Ministry to preserve structures that have historical importance."

"We can’t preserve everything as we want to develop the place as well."

In the meantime, he said, the cabinet agreed yesterday that no statements should be made about the issue until the meeting is held.

Last Sunday, UiTM, which had started demolishing some of the buildings on the site, was served a stop-work order by National Heritage Commissioner Datuk Prof Dr Zuraina Majid.

By then, however, four of the abandoned chalets had been torn down and the roofing on several other buildings removed.

UiTM had said that something "fishy" was going on as it had gone by the book in demolishing the buildings, which it said had no heritage value.

Source: NSTonline

News: (NST)Health Ministry in the dark over work

2007/09/04

THE Health Ministry is in the dark over why demolition work had started at the Sungai Buloh Leprasarium.

Its parliamentary secretary Datuk Lee Kah Choon was surprised by the contractor’s actions as he had been directed to stop demolition work two weeks ago.

"The buildings have historical value and we are going to preserve part of the buildings. I do not know why the demolition works continued. I need to clarify this with my ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Dr Nasir Ashraf."

He said Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek had proposed that part of the buildings be turned into a heritage site. Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim had agreed.

Lee said the issue was not about the patients as the ministry could relocate them to better facilities.
"I don’t think the patients are the problem. The issue is preserving part of the buildings."

Meanwhile, Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat said the area had yet to be earmarked as a heritage site.

He said Universiti Teknologi Mara had been given the green light by the Finance Ministry to build a hospital there.

"I have no knowledge on the status of negotiations between the various ministries."

Source: NSTonline

News: (NST) Varsity: Demolition done by the book

By : Heidi Foo

Demolition work at the Sungai Buloh Leprosarium came to a halt yesterday.

KUALA LUMPUR: The demolition of buildings at the historic Sungai Buloh Leprosarium was halted yesterday. But the question is whether it came too late.

At least four chalets were completely torn down and two-thirds of the wall surrounding the abandoned prison within the leprosarium were destroyed.

The roofing on several buildings in the area had also been removed.

The order to stop the demolition was given to Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) by Heritage Commissioner Datuk Prof Dr Zuraina Majid on Sunday.

About 16ha of the leprosarium land had been alienated to UiTM by the Health Ministry for the construction of its medical faculty two years ago.
The New Straits Times yesterday quoted researcher Lim Yong Long as saying the site had significant historical value because it used a garden-city concept to create a modern community.

It also reported that demolition work had started.

Yesterday, UiTM vice-chancellor Datuk Seri Prof Dr Ibrahim Abu Shah rose to the defence of its action, saying the demolition was done "by the book".

He also said the buildings that were torn down had no historical or heritage value.

Ibrahim said: "According to the law, it is not necessary for us to follow the stop-work order as the commissioner should have given us a 60-day notice.

"They themselves are not complying with the law. The reason we are complying is because we have due respect for both the law and the commissioner," he said yesterday.

He provided documents to show they had acted accordingly.

Ibrahim said the ministry agreed to offer UiTM 16ha of land to build a medical faculty in April two years ago.

"In May last year, the director-general of land and mines gave UiTM approval to enter the area and proceed with destroying the buildings."

However, he said, the department later received a letter from the Health Ministry with instructions to freeze the offer of the land awarded to UiTM.

"We were informed that the decision was made so that the Health Ministry could proceed with its own development on another 47ha of land within the leprosarium area.

"The whole idea was to develop the area."

Ibrahim also said the freeze was later lifted, as stated in a letter signed by Selangor Health Director Datin Dr Ang Kim Teng addressed to Gombak Public Works Department. UiTM then proceeded to demolish the buildings.

"As we were doing this, we received instruction from the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry not to destroy the prison and chalets."

He added that it was agreed that the surau and chapel in the area be maintained and that the 40 residents who would be affected by the development would receive compensation and be housed in 36 chalets nearby.

"I hope the relevant parties will take a look at these buildings. They have been abandoned for a long time."

He urged the government to also consider the first batch of medical students who will be graduating next June.

"One of the requirements to get accreditation is that the programme has facilities.

"The quality and recognition of our medical graduates will be at stake if the delay continues.

Earlier, Deputy Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Wong Kam Hoong, who visited the site, said his ministry had issued an order to UiTM to cease work in the area.

He said according to the National Heritage Act, the ministry had the authority to issue an order of up to 90 days with regard to an area in dispute.

"Meanwhile, the ministry will use this period to get to the bottom of the issue and decide whether the site should be demolished or remain untouched."

Source: NSTonline

News: (NST)Blow to heritage: Tearing down hopes of saving leper settlement

By : Heidi Foo

Tiles have been removed from the roof of the old prison which now stands bare. The external walls surrounding the old prison quarters have already been demolished.

SUNGAI BULOH: Historical buildings at the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement are being torn down even before a decision to develop the area has been reached.

Datuk Prof Dr Zuraina Majid says site has historical value

A perimeter wall at the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement has been demolished, while roof tiles on some buildings have been removed.

The demolition exercise began three days ago, although negotiations between several ministries, Universiti Teknologi Mara and other parties to preserve the settlement were still going on.

National Heritage Commissioner Datuk Professor Dr Zuraina Majid rushed to the site yesterday on getting information that buildings were being demolished and tried to prevent workers from continuing.

"They should not begin demolition while negotiations are going on. All related parties are seeking a balance between heritage preservation and the need for development.

"We want an amicable solution. Our main concern is preserving the site, which is of historical value," she said.
Among the ministries involved in the negotiations are the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry, the Health Ministry, the Tourism Ministry and the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

Non-governmental organisations and concerned individuals are supporting efforts to preserve the site, which was a leprosarium for more than 70 years. The key buildings were built in the early 1900s.

Centre for Modern Architecture Studies in Southeast Asia researcher Lim Yong Long, who had studied the settlement, said the site had significant historical value because it used a garden city concept to create a modern community.

"The concept boasts extensive multiculturalism from the different cultures and races, to the places of worship evident till today."

Leprosy settlement committee member Lee Chor Seng said 45 lepers on the east section would face eviction if the demolition continues.

"In this community, there are 306 patients between the ages of 60 and 80 who have lived here all their lives. Many are too old to move around and depend on the sales of their plants for income," said the 70-year-old resident.

Lee hopes the government would intervene and save the site not only for historical reasons but to consider the plight of the people who live in some of these buildings.

It is learnt that the 16ha east section of the settlement would be redeveloped for a Universiti Teknologi Mara hospital. The east section is believed to be the oldest and most historically precious site.

About 10 workers were seen removing the tiles from the roof of a former prison and two chalets, which were once inhabited by lepers. The external walls surrounding the old prison quarters have already been demolished.

The site was the pioneer leper settlement that used a self sustainability concept and also a reputable research centre for leprosy. It used to be the second largest such settlement in the world.

Source: NSTonline

Editorial: (NST) Conserving a community

WHEN less than two months ago Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek acknowledged the historical value of the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement and announced that the cabinet had agreed to the formation of a working committee — which included representatives from the Higher Education and Culture, Arts and Heritage ministries — to look into the matter of turning it into a heritage site and a tourist attraction, it seemed assurance enough that there would be a stay of execution on the plans to develop a medical campus.

It was, therefore, more than a little shocking that the walls of some buildings had been torn down and tiles had been removed from the roof of the old prison. With so many parties involved, it could just be a matter of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. In which case, while the damage has been done and what has been destroyed has been irrevocably lost, it is not too late to save the rest. There is no reason why the confusion cannot be speedily straightened out, as appears to be the case now that the order has been made to stop the levelling.

But this does not appear to be just a problem of a demolition that has jumped the administrative gun. Sadly, this is not an isolated case. More often than not, heritage conservation has consisted of valiant rearguard actions against the destruction of the built historical landscape rather than the long-term commitment to protect the legacy of the past. Like the stigma that still seems to stick to leprosy, this appears to be another case that reflects an aversion to heritage preservation.

Just as bad are the mutations and modifications in the name of conservation which compromise the authenticity of heritage buildings and sites and devalue their historical, social and cultural significance. Bearing in mind that the 77-year-old settlement is still home to a self-sufficient society of patients from diverse backgrounds, races and religions who have been living there since they were young, growing flowers, fruits and vegetables, and developing strong bonds of friendship and community with each other, it becomes even more imperative that it continues to become a living testimony to its social as well as its medical heritage. And this should include preserving the nurseries which are very much a part of the settlement’s identity. It is vital to maintain the spirit and substance of the community and its way of life even as plans are made to redevelop the settlement.

Source: NSTonline

News: (TheStar)Cabinet to discuss demolition of buildings in Sungai Buloh

Tuesday September 4, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: The Cabinet will discuss the demolition of buildings in the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Centre on Wednesday to seek the best solution, said Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.

He said the Health Ministry and his ministry had agreed that Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) should not be rushing into abolishing all the buildings at the Leprosarium.

"On the technical part, it is too late for us to save the buildings that have been pulled down. However, the Heritage Commissioner has been asked to do an assessment on what has been demolished and what we can still save," he said.

He said the lesson from the episode was that certain quarters should not act hastily in demolishing old buildings, with historical elements, as it would cause the country to lose part of its history.

However, he said the negotiations between Health, Culture, Arts and Heritage and Higher Education Ministries were necessary as the country should also not allowed itself to lose out in development just because it wanted to keep a heritage site.

The Heritage Commissioner issued a stop work order on Monday to stop further demolition of the building until a decision is made as to whether to preserve it as a heritage site.

The order was to protect the site pending discussion between the three ministries.

The leprosy centre opened in 1930 and was once the Commonwealth’s largest and most modern facility for the research and treatment of the disease with up to 3,000 patients.

It is learnt that 16ha of the east section of the settlement would be redeveloped for a UiTM hospital.

Source: www.thestar.com.my

Elizabeth Cardosa: There's hope for the valley of hope

By : Elizabeth Cardosa

The original Sungai Buloh leper asylum.

IF any of my friends in the Klang Valley want to buy plants, they are likely to drive to Sungai Buloh, about 25km from Kuala Lumpur.

Young and vibrant. The leprosarium's cadet corps get into line in 1969.

Many of the commercial nurseries which thrive there are within the Sungai Buloh Leprosarium, which can trace its history back to the mid 1920s.

From the earliest times, those suffering from leprosy (Hansen’s disease) were ostracised by society and forced to live in inhumane conditions.

Lepers were segregated in compounds with fences surrounded by barbed wire, as if they were criminals.

In the 1940 Straits Times Annual, Harry Miller’s article titled "Lepers at Sungai Buloh … A Model Settlement in Malaya" informs us that of the 3,000,000 lepers in the world then, 2,000 lived at the Sungai Buloh settlement. The inhabitants were a mixture of races:
"Chinese, most of the races of India, Malays, Javanese, Thais, Eurasians and a sprinkling of other nationalities.

"They form a big family of men, women and children with different languages, religions and customs isolated by law, bound by the common fetter of leprosy, yet living in complete harmony."

Back in 1922, Dr Ernst Travers (after whom Jalan Travers is named) took charge of the leper asylum in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur.

What he found was 400 men, women and children living in appalling conditions, with no clothing, blankets or food.

He offered them compassion, treatment, clean bedding and clothes — turning around a wretched situation, wracked with daily riots and disturbances, into one of hope.

It was his advocacy that was to see the lepers transferred from the asylum in Kuala Lumpur to a new settlement at Sungai Buloh.

When the settlement was officially opened in 1930, it was the largest and most modern leprosarium in the British Commonwealth, said to be the "most impressive because of its scenic setting and its modern buildings and facilities" (www.leprosyhistory.org).

The Sungai Buloh Leprosarium was also a noted centre for research.

From as early as the 1930s, drug trials and development of alternative drugs and other scientific investigations were carried out until the early 1980s.

Among these were investigations, from the 1940s through the 1960s, into the first successful multi-drug treatment and the development of a new regime for leprosy which has cured millions of patients.

And this model of a self-contained settlement had a profound influence on the design of other leper settlements in other parts of the world.

Anthony Joshua-Raghavar in Leprosy in Malaysia. Past, Present and Future (1983) calls the Sungai Buloh Settlement a model of modern human settlement planning.

Clear zones for housing, social facilities and medical facilities, with modern sewerage, safe water supply, and buildings which were functional and modest, were constructed.

In response to the tropical climate, deep overhanging roofs and good ventilation provided more comfort for the lepers, who were very sensitive to bright light and high temperatures.

Two sections were divided by a hill with forested slopes and the reservoir.

The west, for sick and disabled patients who required care, and the east which was the "kampung" for those who were healthy and could live independently, working the allotments which they were given to grow fruit trees and vegetables, and raise animals.

There were also communal facilities — a school, churches, mosques, Indian and Chinese temples, grocery shops, workshops, etc.

Originally covering an area of 230ha, it was reduced to 120ha when the new Sungai Buloh Hospital was built, together with the nursing college and new highway access.

In 1940, the settlement had several social clubs, one for women to play both outdoor and indoor games, one for Indians and another for Chinese and even an English speaking club.

A drama club, a book club, educational facilities, and food and sundry shops were found here, and there were even special currency notes to eliminate the possibility of infection spreading outside of the settlement.

The settlement was managed by the lepers themselves, working as clerks, police, gardeners, watchmen, dispensers, dressers and nurses.

It was a self-supporting and empowered community whose inhabitants could live with self-respect and dignity.

Today, one still passes through a small gateway to enter this township of gardens and nurseries. Homes are neatly laid out along narrow streets meandering through the area, but only a few hundred inhabitants still remain.

In the book, Valley of Hope (2006), Joyce Wong Chau Yin and co-author Phang Siew Sia record the story of the settlement and its residents. Wong’s parents were patients there and she was born there and grew up nearby.

In an interview, Wong says: "Sungai Buloh is a one-of-a-kind place, probably in the whole world. Very seldom can we find such a well-organised, self-sufficient community.

"It is a repository of stories of patients who have struggled to live through both the physical and psychological sufferings caused by leprosy.

"As such, it is a very important part of the history of leprosy in this country as well as the world."

The Sungai Buloh Leprosarium represents a part of our medical and social heritage which, sadly, most of us know nothing about.

In May this year, Badan Warisan Malaysia awarded a Mubin Sheppard Memorial Prize Measured Drawings Grant to a group of students from Taylor’s College to document a selected number of buildings in the Sungai Buloh Leprosarium.

During their research, supervising lecturer Lim Yong Long (to whom I am indebted for much of the research for this article) learnt that the eastern section of the settlement is to be demolished soon and the area is to be redeveloped into new facilities for the Universiti Teknologi Mara Medical Faculty.

On July 10 this year, Lim submitted a nomination form for the settlement to be included in the National Heritage Register.

His passionate appeal appears to have caught the sympathetic ear of the Minister of Health who is reported to have said that his ministry had decided to preserve some parts of the centre because of its historical significance and there were plans to "turn part of the centre’s heritage buildings into a heritage site ... (and) a tourist attraction" (NST, July 21).

With this stay of execution, I hope that a cultural heritage impact assessment is carried out on the whole site to help make informed decisions on what is best in this redevelopment plan; that the stakeholders, most especially the inhabitants and their carers, are consulted and their views taken cognisence of.

Could, for example, the original dwellings be preserved and converted into accommodation, the wards turned into care centres for the surrounding communities, the existing religious facilities maintained and used by the local population?

For this to be a viable and vibrant tourist attraction, the historical, scientific, social and cultural significance of this model centre for treatment and research in leprosy must retain its authenticity and its heritage values.

It is reassuring to know that this settlement will continue to be a living testimony of the story of leprosy in Malaysia.

The writer is executive director of Badan Warisan Malaysia. She can be contacted at heritage@badanwarisan.org.my.

Source: www.nst.com.my

News: (TheStar)Four chalets already torn down despite Cabinet directive

By ROYCE CHEAH

PETALING JAYA: The Sungai Buloh Leprosy Centre is under siege with four chalets already demolished and the roof tiles of the former prison building being removed to make way for a UiTM campus building.

This is despite the Cabinet directive that discussions between all parties must continue to preserve the site while allowing some development.

The contractor hired by UiTM demolished two chalets last Saturday before Selangor Health director Dr Ang Kim Teng went to the site to order them to stop.

According to Lim Yong Long – an advocate for the preservation of the centre – the contractor had broken his promise to Dr Ang that they would wait for a Cabinet decision on Wednesday.

Heritage gone: Demolition work being done at the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Centre yesterday.

Yesterday morning, the contractor demolished two more chalets and were removing roof tiles from the former prison that used to house convicted lepers, said Lim.

This time, Heritage Commissioner Datuk Zurainah Majid was alerted.

Lim said that a heated discussion ensued, with the contractor asking Zurainah for orders in “black and white” to stop work.

“Part of the settlement has been earmarked for heritage purposes. It is this very part that the contractor is demolishing to make way for a UiTM medical hospital,” said Zurainah.

“The Cabinet has instructed that all parties continue discussions, so I do not know why they have gone ahead,” she said, adding that the contractor told her they were under orders from UiTM to continue.

Zurainah said discussions with the committee in charge of the preservation of the settlement would continue today.

It was reported two weeks ago that eviction notices were served on some nursery operators at the centre after they had stopped an attempted demolition of the former prison building on Aug 13.

In July, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek had said that part of the leprosy centre would be turned into a heritage site and tourist attraction.

Source: www.thestar.com.my

Comment: Colony is worth preserving

SPEAKING UP

I READ “Living legacy” (StarTwo, Aug 21) with great interest. I am aware that the debate on preserving the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement started in July, but your article was an eye-opener on the true significance of the place.

I strongly believe that the whole colony is worth preserving, and the communities that live there and their culture need to be kept as authentic as possible, in order to maintain the true meaning and spirit of this settlement, for future generations to appreciate.

If the present generation is not fully aware of the existence of such an important site, just imagine what historical “emptiness” we would be passing on to our young if places like this settlement were to come to an abrupt end.

It would be a great loss to let the structures just deteriorate with time, or worse, be demolished on the lame excuse of building some structures that could be easily accommodated on other sites.

Preserving heritage sites must surely be as important as the management of modern infrastructures. Therefore, I hope that the government will put more emphasis on keeping invaluable sites intact, even as it makes plans to build new projects.

Moreover, careful planning must be made before turning any historical place into a tourist attraction. Otherwise, the essence of its heritage may become “commercialised”, not to mention the threat of environmental degradation due to overpopulation or uncontrolled human activity.

Like the effects of global warming, such losses can never be redeemed with tourism revenue, or any other revenue! – Doris, Johor

Source: www.thestar.com.my

News:(The Star)Comment: Living in leprosy nurseries

I READ with great distress the article about the eviction notices being served on some of the nursery operators at the leprosy centre in Sungai Buloh (Nurseries to make way for UiTM campus – The Star, Aug 17).

The nurseries at the Sg Buloh leprosy centre are a favourite haunt of plant lovers, gardening enthusiasts and horticulturists. These nurseries have existed for a long time and have contributed to the development of the local horticulture industry.

Many of these nurseries were run by residents of the leprosy centre. This makes it even more special because rather than just suffer in silence, they worked hard to make a decent living and to gain a sense of dignity.

This to me is a true embodiment of Malaysia Boleh. It is ironic that this eviction notice is being served just as we are gearing up for the 50th Merdeka celebration.

In an enlightened society, the Sg Buloh nurseries would have been given the necessary support to become a major horticultural centre for Malaysia.

UiTM has many branch campuses and even if it needs more space, why of all places does it have to pick this little green haven in Sg Buloh?

Even if the nurseries have to go, the brave pioneers of our horticulture industry should be given a decent place to operate.

SURIN SUKSUWAN, Lausanne, Switzerland.

source: www.thestar.com.my

Comment:(TheStar) Preserve Sg Buloh leprosarium

I READ with dismay that yet another place of heritage value has to give way to development.

I am talking about the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Centre.

If so much sentiments and consideration can be given to Universiti Malaya as a heritage site being one of the oldest institutes of higher learning, I see no reason not to give the same reverence to Sungai Buloh. It has equal importance in its rich history as a previous asylum for the leprous community and also for its contribution to medical research for leprosy and its treatment.

Let's not be too hasty to erase bit by bit the living proof of our rich history and heritage.

What is removed and destroyed will be lost forever.

There will always be land to build institutions but there will never be the same Sungai Buloh if we allow development that will mar its natural settings.

Dr TGM, Ampang, Selangor.

Source: www.thestar.com.my

News:(TheStar) Nurseries to make way for UiTM campus

Story and photo by ELAN PERUMAL elan@thestar.com.my source: www.thestar.com.my EVICTION notices have been served on some of the nursery operators at the Leprosy Centre in Sungai Buloh. It is learnt that more than 50 houses will be demolished soon to make way for the construction of the UiTM campus building in the area. The occupants of the Leprosy Centre claim that about 10ha has been allocated to the institution by the Federal Government. Several signboards have also been placed in the area stating that the present occupants were illegal encroachers of the government land. Green sight: One of the nurseries that is expected to make way for development. According to notices issued by the Federal Land and Irrigation Department Director General, the occupants of Lot 2165 have to vacate the land within 30 days. The notices are not dated. The notices undersigned by Mohamed Kamil Mohamed of the Federal Enforcement and Asset Section on behalf of the Director General of Federal Land and Irrigation were given out to individuals considered illegal occupants or trespassers of the Federal government land. Sungai Buloh Leprosy Centre secretary Leong Chee Kuang said the notices were only served to the three nursery operators after they had stopped an attempted demolition of the former prison building at the centre on Monday. He said they were shocked that such things were being done to an area that was created by the Government after the land was gazetted as Reservation of Land for Public Purposes under the Land Code in 1926. “We were told that the land had been degazetted and don’t know when this was done and why it is being done this way. “The centre is historical. Leprosy patients and those who have recovered from the disorder and their families are staying in houses and nurseries that were provided for them by the Government,’’ he added Chief executive officer of the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Teng Ah Chai said they were taking up the matter with the government authorities and the demolition exercise on the houses had been stopped until a meeting was held between the occupants and the government. “We feel for the patients, former patients and their families who have been staying and cultivating the land here for so many years and hope they will be fairly treated,’’ he said One of the three nursery operators, Lai Yoon Kgen, 35, who inherited the nursery from his parents said he was shocked over the term encroacher used to describe him. “I am disappointed as we have been paying rental to the Leprosy Council for the use of this land,’’ said Lai, adding that his Green Garden nursery covered about 0.4ha of land and that it was impossible for him to move out within the 30 days.

News:(The Star)Lim Yong Long: Preserve whole colony

I REFER to the letter ‘Preservation of Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement’ (The Star, July 10) to the Health Ministry and the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry.

The letter was to further clarify the importance of preserving the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement and to express my disappointment over the lack of response from the afore-mentioned ministries.

I only learnt about the formation of a working committee to study the partial preservation of the colony through the media on July 20.

On Aug 10, the local leprosy community informed me that they had to be resettled in other settlements to make way for the “as-planned” project.

Based on various reliable sources and documentation, I strongly emphasise that this particular settlement signifies the country’s most vital contribution and achievements in the history of medicine.

As such, the government should seriously consider the preservation of the whole settlement and environment. Partial preservation to give way to an “as-planned” project would be incapable of achieving the root objectives of conservation and reflect a shallow decision by the government.

The establishment of the settlement allowed leprosy patients to be treated and housed in a secluded area that was turned into a ‘garden city’.

Besides that, the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Research Unit also helped put Malaysia on the world map as a renowned leprosy research centre that contributed to the modern history of medicine.

The settlement is a common heritage of humanity, and hence, should be recognised as such and fully preserved for the benefit of present and future generations.

LIM YONG LONG,

Petaling Jaya.

Archives: www.thestar.com.my