Hi all, I wanted to let you know that we now have 892 signatures on this petition. Thank you so much for your support!
Would you help me get more signatures by sharing this petition with ten other people on social media? Facebook groups, SMS chats, Twitter, email and WhatsApp all work great. If more of us sign, we can’t be ignored!
BULLETIN – Tuesday 30 July, 2024
From the President: Datin Rosemarie Wong Jabu
To: Distinguished Members of SHS and concerned public members
Re SHS’s Nurses Quarters Project
I am writing to share with you the initiative your Think Tank Committee (TTC) has taken to protect and utilise the heritage of the old Nurses Quarters (NQ) in Kuching.
Yesterday, following discussions I had with the Premier of Sarawak, I wrote to The Right Honourable Premier to table our Background & Discussion Paper. A copy was provided to Sarawak’s Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry & Performing Arts.
FYI, the purpose of our letter and Background & Discussion Paper (The Paper) is two-fold:
1. To draw to the attention of The Right Honourable Premier of Sarawak, efforts made by the SHS to protect the heritage of the former Nurses Quarters of Kuching, and
2. To seek the assistance of The Right Honourable Premier by him directing a postponement of the planned demolition of the Nurses Quarters, until such time as our mission to save a small element of the NQ has been fully considered by the responsible agencies in their logical quest to address flood mitigation in the area of the NQ and Kuching’s General Hospital.
SHS’s Paper respectfully included ideas for consideration for a potential repurposing of the front part of the NQ, repurposing that would not hinder, but instead would align with the planned flood mitigation project in the vicinity. The Paper included matters of purpose, context, recommendations for use, due diligence, petitioning initiatives and of course examples of calls-for-action by SHS ExCo and members.
May I call on members to now lobby their local Member of Parliament/YB/community leaders to support our call. Page 2 incorporates some logic for you to share with them. And I wish you well in this regard.
Finally, I’d like to thank my fellow TTC members, past president Mr. James Yong, Mr. Francis Frey and Mr. Colin MacGillivray for their valuable assistance in the production of The Paper; a first-class example of honorary lobbying activity by an NFP.
Sincerely
Datin Rosemarie Wong Jabu
President
Sarawak Heritage Society
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SOME LOGIC FYI
An important part of what gives a city character, and a sense of community is its history. One way of acknowledging this history is by preserving historic buildings and structures. Older buildings especially those built prior to World War II are often made of higher quality materials and built to last.
It makes economic sense to retain historic buildings and improve them to meet modern codes and requirements – for conservation, adaptive reuse and environmental sustainability. For example, The Marian Boutique Lodging House, i.e. converting the house built in 1885(subsequently a boarding house in 1933), now an income generating heritage lodging house for tourists and travellers; employing Sarawakians. A further example of opportunity is of course the purpose of the enclosed Paper, i.e. the significant but abandoned Nurses Quarters.
CORE RECOMMENDATIONS
Retain for Heritage: That ‘we’ keep only the front portion of the NQ, i.e. the component facing the road, and renovate the upper level.
Usage:
➢ Perhaps a gallery/micro museum to recognise the contribution to society by Sarawak’s nursing fraternity, and/or
➢ An office facility for NGOs such as SHS and a place of remembrance in line with her history as a quarters for nurses in the service of supporting the hospital, or
➢ A combination of accommodation for visiting tennis competitors and for the families of hospital patients in Kuching, plus a Micro gallery/ museum to recognise the contribution to society by Sarawak’s nursing fraternity.
Thanks again for supporting this cause.
SARAWAK HERITAGE SOCIETY (Reg. PPM-006-13-15022006)
67, Main Bazaar, 93000 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Tel: (+60)18 988 2343 (WhatsApp text messages)
Email: sarawakheritagesociety@gmail.com