The only surviving Siamese community in Penang, which faces eviction by a private developer held a candle light vigil to "save their almost 200-year-old village from development of a proposed hotel" in Pulau Tikus.

 

According to DAP Pulau Tikus assemblyperson Yap Soo Huey, there were slide presentations, music, dancing and lots of merriment at the event last night.

 

The villagers managed to collect about 150 signatures for a petition to be sent to the Penang Burmese Trustees and their partners, the developer Five Star Heritage Sdn Bhd.

 

The villagers have received court writs summoning them to court at the end of the month to face their fate.

 

But they have decided to try and salvage their homes by collecting as many signatures as they can from the public.

 

"Ensure role and significance of historical Burmese settlement, granted ex-gratia In Trust in 1845, is respected and continue to exist in Pulau Tikus, Penang," says the petition, which can be found online and was circulated to those who attended the vigil.

 

Gerakan leader H'ng Khoon Leng was among the signatories of the petition as he believed all political parties should work to save it.

 

Meanwhile, describing Pulau Tikus as a "cultural heritage", the petition said that a proposed hotel development threatens to wipe out the historical and cultural identity of a heritage land that became home to the Siamese and Burmese community about 200 years ago.

 

Six generations

Among those who face eviction is Wan Dee Aroonratana, a Thai menora grandmaster recognised by the Penang Heritage Trust as a "living heritage".

 

Like Wan Dee, a cultural expert on local Siamese customs, the villagers and their families have lived in the area for six generations.

 

Other well known personalities who resided in Pulau Tikus include exiled Thai dignitaries and royal families, where well known Siamese temples were build in the area, said the petition.

 

The land was part of a larger plot bequeathed to the trustees elected and appointed by the Siamese and Burmese communities by the East India Company on behalf of Queen Victoria on May 30, 1845, the petition added.

 

Since then the land had been split twice following court proceedings which saw the Siamese trustees managing a larger plot which houses the Reclining Buddha Temple or Wat Chayamangkalaram, the petition said.

 

The petition added that the Burmese trustees were left with two smaller parcels of land, which houses the Burmese trust property and the Siamese village community.

 

According to the petition available online, in April 2011, the Penang Burmese Trustees entered a joint venture with Airmas Development Sdn Bhd to incorporate Five Star Heritage Sdn Bhd with the aim of building a budget hotel.

CM: No go ahead

 

The petition added that the developer applied to the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) for permission to "demolish" existing seven shophouses, 10 wooden homes to build a five storey hotel with 97 rooms and three units of shops and offices.

 

However, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng ( right ) said that the local council has not given any permission or work order to the developer to work on the land.

 

"Wanton demolition of traditional shops and houses will destroy a heritage enclave that holds together ancestral traditions, language and faith of a community," the petition said.

 

"It would be a great loss and a shame to the nation if the Siamese minority that existed for two centuries in Pulau Tikus is forced to disperse and their culture wiped out from this land," the petition added.

Photos by Yap Soo Huey

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