Yalinie Mathan
Sarawak wants Old Kuching declared a heritage site, in the way George Town was in Penang. State Tourism Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah announced the push on 21 September during ICOMOS General Assembly.
The focus is the old shophouse streets beside the Sarawak River. The state has not yet gazetted the whole district, unlike George Town, which won World Heritage status.
Here is what the push covers, why the state is acting now and what must happen next.
What Sarawak wants to protect
The push covers buildings along Main Bazaar, Gambier Street, Carpenter Street and India Street. Locals know them together as the old town.
Karim said some historic buildings in the area are already declared heritage buildings. The whole district, however, is not.
The streets are old. Main Bazaar and Gambier Street already existed when James Brooke arrived in Kuching in 1839, the minister reported in September.
A fire in 1884 later burned many shophouses on the bazaar. Rajah Charles Brooke then ordered the rebuilt shops to use brick.
Masjid India will also be declared a heritage building. Indian-Muslim traders built the 190-year-old mosque.
Karim said many people had asked what the government would do with it. The question arose after a new floating mosque went up on the Sarawak River nearby.
Why Sarawak is acting now
Karim said rising development and higher property values threaten historic buildings. “Otherwise they will be demolished,” he said.
The government will look into preserving old buildings with historical value, he said.
He spoke at the launch of a heritage programme. His ministry, a local smart-heritage group and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak organised it.
It was one of several events before a global heritage meeting in the city.
The assembly opened on 18 October at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching. It ran from 17 to 24 October and drew more than 1,800 delegates from 110 countries.
The conference theme was “Living Heritage: Respect, Enhance, Accept, Partnership”. That ties heritage to the people who live with it.
On 22 October, delegates adopted the Kuching Declaration, which sets out ten commitments. It calls for more say for Indigenous Peoples and local communities in heritage work.
Penang knows the stakes. A recent Chew Jetty fire revived fears for Penang’s wooden heritage.
What happens next
Karim said the state must first list the old buildings in and near the district. Only then can it gazette them.
He also said new laws will be needed to protect historic sites and buildings for future generations.
The aim is simple. Sarawak wants the old shophouses and mosque to stay for the next generation.
Owners will matter too. Karim said in 2020 that the state would not gazette private property without consulting the owners. “It would not be fair,” he said.
He then put the old shophouses in the bazaar area at around 200. That count may have changed.
The reports we found gave no timeline for gazetting. For now, Old Kuching remains a district with protected buildings, but no protection as a whole.
Elsewhere, Budget 2027 funds three sites with Unesco recognition potential. Sarawak’s push shows how many places are weighing heritage against development.
Admin
C. Khor
Maran Perianen
Add comment