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Govt not doing enough to preserve war-related venues, say veterans

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Former UN peacekeeping mission member Tan Siew Soo fears that unless gazetted, such places would be taken over by developers.

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Free Malaysia Today
Mohd Arshad Raji (left) with his comrades at the Honouring our Veterans event at Taman Tugu Human Library in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

KUALA LUMPUR:
Armed forces veterans have expressed their disappointment with the government’s lack of efforts to recognise and preserve historical places related to war.

Tan Siew Soo, who was involved in an United Nations peacekeeping mission to Congo in 1962, said the government “is not good” at preserving historical places compared to other countries.

“We must value historical places,” he told FMT. “”If we don’t preserve or gazette such places, we will lose them to parties like developers, and nobody will know the history of that place.”

Tan cited an example of an army camp on Jalan Tun Razak where Lembaga Tabung Haji and Permodalan Nasional Berhad are now.

“We were stationed there in the late 1950s after taking over the camp from the British army. There was also another camp called North camp near the now Titiwangsa LRT station,” he said.

Free Malaysia Today
Paul Kiong sharing his experience at the event.

Another veteran, Mohd Arshad Raji, echoed Tan’s sentiments.

“If you look at the British forces, they don’t destroy old camps. Why must we destroy our old camps? It’s part of our history, and now that is lost,” said the president of the NGO Patriot.

“We can’t just simply sell land which are historical assets. The leaders today are not conscious of history. They only care about political gains and money. They should learn from the British about how they preserve historical sites.”

Special Branch veteran Paul Kiong told FMT he would go to Gopeng, Perak, every year to recount the time when he went undercover as a communist between 1976 and 1986 and helped capture at least 43 communists, including their leaders, during the insurgency.

“There is this place where I used to meet the communists and it’s now a cemetery. It used to be a small cemetery, but it has expanded with time,” he said.

“I just go there every year to reminisce about the old days when I was mentally prepared to die for the country.

“But I feel very sad because the government doesn’t know that this was the place, and the National Archives have not bothered to come and check out this place for record purposes.”

Kiong was awarded the Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa in 1983 and received the Keberanian Handal Perak medal in 1988 for his bravery and contributions to the country.

The trio were among the veterans from the army and police who gathered at the Taman Tugu Human Library in Kuala Lumpur yesterday to talk about their experience serving the nation in an event called Honouring Our Veterans.

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