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Monday, July 6, 2015

Brickfields ashram to be gazetted as heritage asset

the Vivekananda Ashram in Brickfields will be gazetted as a heritage asset in Kuala Lumpur. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, July 6, 2015.the Vivekananda Ashram in Brickfields will be gazetted as a heritage asset in Kuala Lumpur. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, July 6, 2015.Those fighting to save the 110-year-old Vivekananda Ashram in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, can now heave a sigh of relief as the Heritage Commission has initiated action to gazette it as a heritage asset of the city.
Heritage commissioner Dr Zainah Ibrahim told the StarMetro that the department had notified the ashram trustees on the government’s intention to gazette the building on June 24 last month as per Section 31 of the National Heritage Act 2005.
“Having made our decision after hearing both parties and notifying the trustees of our intention (to designate site as heritage), as well as informing them of the dos and don’ts, we are now proceeding to our next step which is to publish our intention in the Gazette and a local newspaper,” Zainah told the StarMetro in a text message.
The ashram trustees would have 30 days to appeal after the notice has been published.
“After that, we will proceed to file a notice with the Land Office to designate the site as heritage,” the report quoted Zainah as saying.
Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur mayor Tan Sri Ahmad Phesal Talib confirmed that City Hall had been notified of the decision and he had already advised the Planning Department to do the needful.
The Malaysian Insider had reported last month that the National Heritage Commission had met with the stakeholders, including the trustees and the Save Vivekananda Ashram Brickfields Action Committee, to discuss the proposal to gazette the 110-year-old ashram as a national heritage site.
The government had earlier planned to gazette the 110-year-old building as a heritage site but the proposal was twice rejected by the ashram’s board of trustees.
The board of trustees has previously submitted a proposal to sell and redevelop the land into a 23-storey apartment tower.
However due to objection from various parties and individuals from all over Malaysia, City Hall put a temporary halt to the project.
In January, the government notified Vivekananda Ashram that it planned to designate the land as heritage site as per section 27(2) of the National Heritage Act 2005.
Brickfields Asia College co-founder Raja Singham, who has been instrumental in efforts to save the site, had been reported as saying that the effort should not stop at just saving the place.
“It will be pointless to have the place locked up just like it has been over the last 10 years.”
He said it was time the ashram returns to its glory days when it first started about 100 years ago.
“It was an education centre then, just as Swami Vivekananda wanted. Historical records show the place was a centre for mathematics and it was also a community gathering point.”
He said that even in the early 1990s, various dance and vocal classes, yoga lessons and other spiritual activities were held there.
The ashram management had cited financial problems as the reason for its redevelopment, prompting Raja to offer financial help.
- TMI

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