GEORGE TOWN – A state executive councillor in Penang wants the city councils to adopt stricter penalties to deter anyone from demolishing historic artefacts and monuments. This is especially critical as the state needs to maintain its reputation, especially in view of the Unesco World Heritage Site status conferred on George Town.
Yeoh Soon Hin, who oversees the tourism, culture, arts and creative economy portfolios, said that he will speak to Penang Island City Council president Datuk Yew Tung Seang about introducing tougher by-laws against culprits.
“Whoever they are – whether they are developers or contractors, whether it may be intentional or inadvertent – they must be punished for their negligence or ignorance,” he said at a press conference here today.
He said the state must raise public awareness on the need for conservation and preservation in Penang, which has one of the oldest port-based towns in the region.
He was responding to the outcry among heritage activist circles here over the levelling of the ancestral tomb containing the remains of Foo Teng Nyong, reportedly the third wife of 19th century figure Chung Keng Quee, a Kapitan Cina and founder of Taiping.
The tomb, which is over 133 years old, was recently found with its remains exhumed.
The perpetrators have not been identified, but a debate is raging over whether contractors in such cases can destroy entire tombs to make way for building projects while relocating the remains.
It has been argued that the tomb need not have been destroyed in the process, and the construction party could have developed the land without damaging the historical structure.
George Town World Heritage Incorporated general manager Ang Ming Chee told The Vibes that the matter remains under investigation.
However, history researcher Jeffrey Seow, who is also a descendent of the Foo-Chung lineage, said that the remains of Foo were apparently exhumed.
The tomb is located off Jalan Bulan Terang in Fettes Park, within the vicinity of Mount Erskine, which is home to thousands of ancient grave sites. – The Vibes, August 31, 2022
