Historian sees red over theft of signboard at Kampar battle site

 

Shaharom Ahmad (right) and Perak Heritage Association secretary Nor Hisham Zulkiflee dressed up as allied soldiers at the signboard during the 80th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Kampar on Dec 29. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Malayan Historical Group (MHG) chairman Shaharom Ahmad is fuming over the theft, apparently by scrap metal thieves, of a signboard at the site of a battle between Commonwealth troops and the Japanese army to defend British-ruled Malaya during World War II.

Just four days ago, armed forces veterans and historians joined dignitaries at the site to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kampar in Green Ridge.

This morning, Shaharom said members of the association noticed the signboard, installed along Jalan Ipoh-Kampar and which had information on the Battle of Kampar, was missing.

“Tomorrow is the second anniversary of the signboard being installed. Not even two years, and it (the signboard) has gone missing,” Bernama quoted the amateur military historian as saying.

“I am disappointed because a small part of the community prefers the monetary value of scrap metal to the intrinsic value of this informative signboard.

“It is not easy to put up this signboard at your own cost. The thieves do not care about the effect of the theft of the signboard, which served to educate the community in preserving the historical value of the site,” he said.

According to Shaharom, the association now had to think of another way to replace the signboard with materials that would not attract thieves.

The 6.5ha battle site was to be gazetted as a heritage and tourism site, as was recommended by the Indian government.

India’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, B Nagabhushana Reddy, was reported to have said last month, that the idea of gazetting the historical war site was a wish expressed by the Indian prime minister during his visit to Malaysia in 2015 to honour the sacrifice of British and Indian soldiers during World War II in Kampar.

Green Ridge was the site of a fierce battle between 1,500 British troops, including Indian, Sikh and Gurkha soldiers, and 4,000 Japanese troops for four days and four nights from Dec 30, 1941 to Jan 2, 1942.

The battle saw 150 British soldiers as well as 500 Japanese soldiers killed and buried in one place in the same area. Hence, the significance of the signboard in remembrance of the heroic deeds of allied troops in wartime Malaya. - FMT