While the proposal for Chinese new villages to be recognised as Unesco world heritage sites has been hotly debated, a Selangor state executive councillor said the state government has no such plans for any of its traditional villages at the moment.
Malay Mail reported Selangor Rural Development, Unity, and Consumers committee chairperson Rizam Ismail as saying that the state government is open to suggestions if any villages are deemed worthy to apply for the recognition.
“So far, the government has no plans to gazette any traditional village as a heritage site and obtain Unesco recognition.
“However, in the future, the state government is open to requests and suggestions and will scrutinise them before seeking feedback from the relevant departments and agencies if any of the traditional villages are seen as worthy and appropriate to apply for the recognition,” he said as quoted by the portal.
Rizam (above) said this during the question-and-answer session at the Selangor state legislative assembly sitting today.
Previously, the media reported Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming as saying that plans were being drawn up to nominate Chinese new villages in Selangor as a Unesco World Heritage Site to recognise the cultural and historical significance of the settlements.
This led to criticism from several political leaders such as Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal and Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh who even offered to school Nga on Malayan history.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) seeks to encourage the identification, protection, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.
Malaysia’s entries on the World Heritage List are the Gunung Mulu National Park, the Kinabalu Park, Malacca and George Town historic cities, and the archaeological heritage of the Lenggong Valley.
Meanwhile, in a supplementary question at the state assembly, Selangor opposition leader Azmin Ali asked Rizam to clarify Nga’s suggestion as he believed such an idea was against national interest and unity, and was rejected by Rizam’s party, Umno.
Rizam, who is also the Sungai Tawar assemblyperson, tried to play down the issue, saying the suggestion by Nga was just a proposal and had yet to be implemented.
‘Harapan’s usual poor communication’
Despite Nga saying that he welcomed proposals from any quarters to nominate any Malay kampung or other locations to be potentially recognised by Unesco, it did not stop the brickbats.
Gerakan president Dominic Lau described the issue as another “usual mistake” of poor communication by Pakatan Harapan-led governments.
Lau chided Nga and said the proposal should be complemented with a thorough explanation and respect the views of all stakeholders, particularly the Malays and Chinese.
However, Institute of Malay World and Civilisation (Atma) lecturer Faisal Tehrani backed Nga’s suggestion and said that recognising selected Chinese new villages will preserve the history of the areas for generations.
Faisal told Malaysiakini that after 80 years, the villages need to be recognised as part of Chinese Malaysian history and that the move is not threatening the right of bumiputera. - Mkini
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