MALAYSIANS KINI | Jimmy Sidhu speaks with great pride when met outside his nearly 100-year-old house.

His face swells with pride as he recounts its history off the top of his head. It is as if he has told the story a hundred times before.

The house was one of the first in Malaysia to have electricity, he says.

History lovers will remember that Rawang, Selangor, then Ulu Selangor, was the first town in the country to have electricity in order to power local mining activities.

Built during the British colonial era, the house was first occupied by a British accountant working for Berjuntai Tin Dredging, a nearby tin ore mining company.

Sidhu's grandfather was a retired policeman who had taken care of security for the mining company.

Due to his good service, the house was sold to him in 1960 for 3,500 dollars, based on the currency at the time.

The building, with its Sino-Malay-Palladian design, was originally a two-storey house with two master bedrooms on the first floor. An extension has since been made on one side of the house, where an office for a palm oil transport company owned by Jimmy and his brother is now located.

The house has a dark red roof comprised of rusted corrugated iron panels. Yellow wooden panes with peeling paint make up the walls of its upper storey. There are no nearby homes, save for two shop lots nearby and a number of schools about a kilometre away.

A fruit tree grows in the backyard.

House saw 20 marriages

Nine members of Jimmy’s family, and his brother’s, reside here. They are the fifth generation of Sidhus to live in the house.

“20 marriages took place in this house, and 32 kids were born here.

"Memories of this house are abundant... And I find it frighteningly scary that these memories will soon be bulldozed to the ground," he laments.

The house in Rawang, Selangor, will be demolished on September 20, after a futile court battle.

Sidhu claims the plot on which the house sits is separate from a nearby quarry, but that the house title had gone missing.

Without the necessary documentation to prove the ownership of the house title, a mining company which now controls the lease first granted to Berjuntai Tin Dredging in 1920 is asking Sidhu's family to move out for quarrying activities.

Sidhu's family had faced eviction notices since 2005 but the action this time appears imminent.

He questions the necessity of demolishing his residence, given that only eight years remain on the mining company’s lease.

"I find it saddening, that (the company) that will only be here for eight more years is demolishing a house that is almost 100 years old.

"How can we in Rawang stand back as 100 years of history gets erased?" he asks.

Sidhu is in talks with the Selangor Heritage Department to see if the house warrants heritage status, which will grant the building protection and supersedes all other development or mining activities.

They have also sought fresh alienation from the state government, in the absence of the old title.

Earlier this year, the family appealed to Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali to review the land application.

“If the menteri besar intervenes, I am confident this can help us greatly.

“Although my family and I are law-abiding citizens and will vacate the home come Sept 20, we will do all we can," Sidhu says.

MALAYSIANS KINI is a series on Malaysians you should know.

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