NGO: Gazette Tunku’s Penang residence as national heritage
GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Malay Association (Pemenang) has called on the government to gazette the former residence of Malaysia’s first prime minister, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, in Pulau Tikus here as a national heritage.
Pemenang president Tan Sri Mohd Yussof Latiff said this was to ensure the historical house would continue to be protected and preserved.
Yussof said Pemenang had written to Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri on the matter.
“We are requesting the National Heritage Department, through the commissioner of heritage, to gazette Tunku Abdul Rahman’s house as a national heritage.
“The house, a witness to many historical events in Tunku Abdul Rahman’s lifetime, is rich in history and should be protected at all cost. Pemenang has also written to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to support our cause,” he told the New Straits Times yesterday.
The house was put on the market recently for RM62 million.
The six-bedroom, double-storey detached residence with servants’ quarters has been listed for sale on property portals, including international listings.
The property sits on 0.6ha of freehold land fronting Jalan Park and Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, a road named after the former premier, who lived there until he died in 1990.
According to the listings, the house, with a built-up area of 9,867sq ft and a land size of 64,472sq ft, is a well-preserved heritage property.
Real estate experts had said if a deal had gone through at RM62 million, it would be the most expensive landed residential property sold in the local market today.
The current owner of the property is believed to be a private company (a non-developer) that bought it more than a decade ago.
Yussof said Tunku Abdul Rahman had vowed to make Penang his home when he retired in 1970 and had initially bought a singlestorey bungalow opposite Western Garden.
“Later, his close friend, Tan Kim Yeow, offered him a bungalow — No. 16, Jalan Ayer Rajah (now Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman), which he named ‘Takdir’ (fate).
“At that time, Parliament had given him a gratuity (of RM200,000) in recognition of his role as prime minister. He bought the bungalow with that gratuity.
“It was in this bungalow that many significant events took place. Tunku Abdul Rahman continued to welcome local and foreign dignitaries, including the retired Thai prime minister then, in this house.
“He also hosted a dinner here for the country’s second prime minister, the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein.
“It is also in this bungalow every year where we threw Tunku Abdul Rahman a birthday party, on every Feb 8. At the same time, we organised the Piala Bapa Malaysia.
“Many other meetings were held in this house until his health took a toll on him in 1988. I used to go there now and then.”
Yussof said the federal and state governments should also work together to see how they could turn the bungalow into the Tunku Abdul Rahman Gallery.