Gov't cannot sell Carcosa Seri Negara, says Tourism Ministry

The century-old Carcosa Seri Negara that witnessed the drafting of the Federal Constitution cannot and will not be sold, assured Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac) secretary-general Isham Ishak.

"It is not allowed to be sold," he told a press conference after attending "World Tourism Conference 2019" at Kuala Lumpur today.

Instead, he said the ministry will redevelop and preserve the state-owned historic site as an iconic tourist attraction.

The two buildings - Carcosa and Seri Negara - cannot be simply demolished as they are heritage buildings protected under the National Heritage Act 2005, he said.

Motac, which took over Carcosa Seri Negara from the Water, Land and Natural Resources Ministry (Kats) in May, has engaged the Works Department to conduct a forensic analysis to check the safety of the buildings which sit in 33-acres of land.

He hoped the forensic study will be completed by year-end so the ministry can issue a request for proposals for the redevelopment of Carcosa Seri Negara. 

The government will not manage the operation of Carcosa Seri Negara, Isham added.

"We are open, I don't think the government want to be involved in operating the place. I think it is best we have some kind of collaboration with the private sector," he said.

In July, The Star reported that the colonial buildings were "slowly deteriorating and would only get worse the longer they are left idle and vacant".

The daily quoted a source as saying the interiors of the buildings were decaying as the walls are covered with mould and there were signs of water leakage beneath the floors of the mansion.

Located in the Lake Gardens of Kuala Lumpur, Carcosa was built in 1896 and it was the official residence of the first Resident-General to the Federated Malay States, Frank Swettenham.

Seri Negara was built in 1913, to house the guests of the resident-general.

The Constitution of Malaya was drafted at Carcosa Seri Negara between 1955 and 1957 and the Merdeka Agreement was signed by the nine rulers there in 1957.

In another development, Isham said the ministry only welcomed “genuine” Hong Kong applicants to join the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme. The programme was set up to attract wealthy foreigners to buy a house and reside in Malaysia.

"To date, I won't say there is a sudden influx. I haven't seen the records yet but we do welcome if there are participants from Hong Kong interested to come and stay in Malaysia.

"They are more than welcome but they must be genuine.. they must not be running away from something," said Isham.

He was responding to several reports which noted an increase of MM2H application from Hong Kong following the on-going protests in the island city.

"Of course we will do background checks to ensure they are not terrorists before being allowed into Malaysia," he said.

The cabinet had decided that the Home Ministry will conduct final screening via its connection with the Interpol, he said.

When asked to clarify if Malaysia welcome Hong Kong protestors to join the MM2H programme, Isham jokingly said: "If they have a card that proves they are anti- extradition protesters, we will not allow them to apply."

"I am confident the processing done by the Home Ministry is very good. We have our police who will do the screening and they have their own network as well," he said.

MM2H had reportedly attracted 251 applications from Hong Kong residents this year. Last year, a total of 193 approvals were issued to applicants from the island city.

Isham said MM2H attracted applications mainly from China, Europe, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. It was reported China accounted for 30 percent of the more than 42,000 applications approved from 2012 to 2018. - Mkini