Abstract
This chapter examines the evolving discourses in the preservation movement of the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement (SBLS) that emerged in 2007 as a resistance against its demolition. With destigmatisation of leprosy as a core objective, the movement interprets colonial governance in positive terms and presents oral history accounts of former leprosy sufferers as testimonies of triumph and resilience. The resultant dual triumphalist heritage narrative tells not only about the settlement’s past but also about the nature of the movement. In addition to problematising the movement’s heritage preservation discourse, this chapter also examines the roles played by various actors in the movement and the historical and contemporary contexts that shaped and continue to shape both the community’s and the movement’s strategies.
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Notes
- 1.
The term “Valley of Hope” was coined by a 1955 documentary produced by the Malayan Film Unit about the SBLS. It was also the title of the documentary.
- 2.
“Patients” and “residents” will be used interchangeably throughout this chapter.
- 3.
For detailed accounts of how Europeans used leprosy to pathologise the colonial “racial Other” they encountered in the colonies from the nineteenth century, see Leung, A. K. 2009. Leprosy in China: A History. New York: Columbia University Press; and Mawani, R. 2003. ‘The Island of the Unclean’: Race, Colonialism and ‘Chinese Leprosy’ in British Columbia, 1891–1924. Law, Social Justice and Global Development Journal (LGD) 1: 1–21.
- 4.
The report of the mapping can be found in the Dewan Perhimpunan Cina Kuala Lumpur dan Selangor (February 2007). A Field Report on the Cemetery in Sungai Buloh’s National Leprosy Control Center. Berita DPCKLS, February 2007, pp. 136–156.
- 5.
“Residents of the East Section of Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement Petition Against Land Acquisition”, China Press, 1 September 2006, pp. C2; “Valley of Hope Seeks Preservation”, Nanyang Siang Pau, 3 September 2006, pp. G10.
- 6.
Lim Yong Long’s statement is available at https://www.malaysiakini.com/rentakini/72118 [accessed: 2 February 2019].
- 7.
The “Garden City” is a method of urban planning, characterised by self-supporting communities surrounded by greenbelts, containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and agriculture. The method was promoted by British elites in England during the late nineteenth century. The design for SBLS was clearly influenced by the notion of the English Garden City, even though there is no archival record to suggest that SBLS set up by the colonial government in the early twentieth century was based on the idea of the Garden City.
- 8.
The Losheng Sanatorium was built in Xinzhuang District in 1929 during the Japanese Occupation. In 2002, Taipei Mass Rapid Transit demolished seventy per cent of the sanatorium to make way for the construction of Xinzhuang MRT Depot. The demolition sparked a strong wave of confrontational resistance and a preservation movement throughout the 2000s and had inspired SBLS activists.
- 9.
“Save Valley of Hope Solidarity Group Protests Against Demolition of SBLS”, Kwong Wah Yit Poh, 28 May 2016; “Preserving Leprosy Settlement History”, The Star, 4 October 2016.
- 10.
- 11.
The fundraising campaign is available at: https://www.valleyofhope.my/the-sungai-buloh-settlement-council/ [accessed: 2 February 2019].
- 12.
The vision of SBLS as a heritage as advanced by CSC is available at https://www.mystartr.com/projects/valleyofhopestorymuseum [accessed: 2 February 2019].
- 13.
For more detailed accounts of inter-empire competition in the field of public health and medical science, read Planta, M. M. 2016. Hansen’s Disease and International Public Health in the Philippines. In Hidden Lives, Concealed Narratives: A History of Leprosy in the Philippines, ed. M. S. Diokno, 193–221. Manila: National Historical Commission of the Philippines; Bashford, A. 2004. Imperial Hygiene: A Critical History of Colonialism, Nationalism and Public Health. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
- 14.
See the correspondence between Frank Oldrieve, secretary of the British Empire Leprosy Relief Association and several medical officers in the Straits Settlement and Federated Malay States in 1924, as recorded in Arkib Negara’s file, accession no.: 1957/0233954.
- 15.
Interviewed by the author on 5 March 2019.
- 16.
The entry on the SBLS in the official website of the Heritage Department of Ministry of Tourism, Art and Culture. Accessed 2 March 2019. http://www.heritage.gov.my/index.php/ms/konservasi/konservasi-tapak-warisan/pusat-kawalan-kusta-negara
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Por, HH. (2020). Dual Triumphalist Heritage Narrative and the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement. In: Gabriel, S. (eds) Making Heritage in Malaysia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1494-4_4
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