About 2,000 youth and the public are expected to join a jogathon around the Sungai Besi Kwangtung burial site next week in an event to remind the public of the threat of removal and relocation that the cemeteries still face.

Organised by 14 Chinese-based non-governmental organisations including Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (SCAH), the 5km jogathon scheduled for April 14 aims to raise awareness of the cultural, traditional and religious aspects of the site.

SCAH youth section executive committee member Tan Yoke Suan said the event is an annual affair and will include various activities such as an exhibition, essay-writing contest and a book fair.

We are still uncertain of the governments plans as we have seen the Kuala Lumpur master blueprint and find that the burial site has not been gazetted yet.

This means that the site is still available for development purposes if the authorities state so, Tan told malaysiakini .

Among the event co-organisers are Selangor Hokkien Youth, Ching Woo Sports Club and Kwangsi Cemetery Association.

The burial site, which houses the tombs of several historical figures like Kuala Lumpurs founder Yap Ah Loy, last received prominent coverage in the Chinese-language press when the government appointed a private company in 1998 to remove and relocate the graves.

The existing graves were to have been evacuated by Pribena Construction Sdn Bhd to Semenyih, 30km from Kuala Lumpur.

Public outrage

Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Kerk Choo Ting, one of the signatories for the Hokkien Association which inked the project deal with Pribena, was criticised by Chinese lobby groups for agreeing to offer the land for commercial development.

Kerk, the Gerakan deputy president, was urged to explain whether it was possible that a major township had been planned for the burial land, considered to be one of KLs prime sites.

In the same year, Economic Planning Unit director-general Ali Abu Hassan Sulaiman implied that the proposed relocation of the graves and the development of the burial land were part of a privatisation project.

Following public outrage over the revelation, the cabinet decided to abort the project.

However, as pointed out by SCAHs Tan, the status of the cemeteries remain in doubt until they are gazetted as a heritage site.

The historic burial site has been jointly managed by the Chinese associations as well as Singhalese Buddhists, Hindu and Sikhs for about a century.