In defence of Kampung Baru

Professor Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
My View - The Sun Daily
August 15, 2018

 THE loss of Kampung Kerinchi and Abdullah Hukum to Bangsar South will always remain a "dark" moment for many who understand the history and emotions related to the former. This column touched on the topic a couple of years ago in what was termed as The curse of Abdullah Hukum (MyView, May 25, 2016). It seems that the curse is taking centre stage again when the call to reinstate the original name is beginning to gather momentum. More so post-GE14.

I recall listening to the member of Parliament representing the area citing an elderly resident from the previous kampung pleading to bring back the aura of the "old" days, weeping unceasingly. There is an obvious emotional attachment to the place that has now been reduced to mere blips in the LRT route.

Meanwhile Bangsar South towers over it as a symbol of triumphalism for "urbanisation" over the demised villages. Concurrently, it overwhelms the inherent pristine kampung values and "kindred spirit" that are gradually buried under the new and hollow designation – Bangsar South; thanks to a major development comprising condominiums, office blocks, shopping complex and even a transit hub squeezed in a relatively small area.

Eventually, no one will remember, or care who Haji Abdullah Hukum was, and the settlement he created as one of the earliest in Kuala Lumpur, with some 200-year-old history. Or how it later opened its doors to be a multiracial village, a rarity today. All these bring to mind the precarious fate of Kampung Baru located for more than a century in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

Hence, lest we learn and learn well from such "dark" moments and experiences, we are bound to repeat it.

On the surface, the lure to be "urbanised" is indeed a great one and often overshadows that of the kampung threatening its very existence. Over time, kampungs will fizzle out one by one, what with the prediction that by 2050 about 80% of the country will be urbanised. Meaning to say the threat to the kampung is not only real but mounting by the day if nothing is done.

The situation can not be more pressing than that faced by Kampung Baru, which has been pulsating to the rhythm of the capital since its inception. The prospect is indeed daunting with the Petronas Twin Towers dwarfing it as a symbol of triumphalism over the local heritage.

Even as it is, the development planned for Kampung Baru is already skewed such that it could easily mirror what Kampung Kerinchi and Abdullah Hukum went through.

Bearing in mind that Kampung Baru has at least 100 years of history that has almost fallen into oblivion, it goes to say that the locale is ripe to be another "Bangsar South". Only this time, much more tears will be shed, bringing with it an even larger implications.

Fortunately, not all is forgotten. Over the last two years, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia through its Mizan Research Centre, with generous support from Bank Rakyat, has undertaken rigorous in-depth research and consultations on the issue. It is said to be one of the most comprehensive and has come up with new directions and alternative solutions.

While admittedly it is a complex situation that was left "unresolved" for decades, it does not mean there is no solution.

There certainly is a level of enthusiasm to see Kampung Baru take its rightful place in the history of the country beyond just individual and familial needs and wants.

This is where "delicate" negotiations and deeper understanding must prevail within the larger context of communal co-existence. This will take place today at a special occasion focused on Kampung Baru. The aim is to revitalise the heritage of Kampung Baru as part of the future of Kuala Lumpur.

Kampung Baru was developed by the British in the 1890s and has managed to maintain its unique village-scape of traditional Malay community offering glimpses of the heritage found in the rural ambient with houses on wooden stilts flanked by banana, papaya and coconut trees. Also other fruit trees, enriching not just the natural environment but culturally and gastronomically as well.

Notable is the area surrounding what is dubbed as Rumah Limas, built in 1913, as a historical traditional model home, complete with stained glass windows, wood-panelled walls and stone pillars.

Notwithstanding this, what is most troubling is not just loss of the physical tangible settings, more so the loss of the balanced mindset and lifestyle framed by a set of ethical-cultural values that must be inculcated to nurture the generation of the future.

The values include how to respect nature and re-frame what development is all about when culprits have long gone leaving behind a legacy of problems, some of which will remain intractable.

This reason alone is sufficient to explain why many of the elders have allegedly been turning away proposals and developers underpinning the sentiment that they want to preserve their balanced and harmonious way of life that has been swallowed up in neighbouring areas.

After all in 1900, Kampung Baru had been gazetted as a Malay agricultural settlement to allow the locals to retain their kampung lifestyle within the city. Since then Kampung Baru has stood out as a living beacon redefining what development and modern-city living ought to be without endangering its neighbourhood or holding it to ransom. But for how much longer?