A Tribute to Kg Buah Pala - The Last Indian Heritage of Penang

A Tribute to Kg Buah Pala - The Last Indian Heritage of Penang

By Muralitharan Ramachandran - http://malaysianminorityindians.blogspot.com/

While many Malaysians were thrilled to cheer the so called Malaysia Day on 16th September 2010, here in the island well known as Pearl of the Orient, a group of Indian villagers were in tears to remember this date which reminds them of an awful memory. This day symbols their 1st year where their entire village which was also popularly known as The High Chaparral of Penang, demolished by a developer with the help of DAP steered State Government. Despite many pleas and cries by the Indian villagers to save their land which is a century old, this DAP lead state government merely refused to lend their ears.

This is an exclusive case where a traditional Indian parish was ROBBED by the Gerakan lead state government and handed it over to UMNO owned cooperative, who then sold it to a Chinese developer for a share of earnings. That was when DAP government entered the scene after the result of a political tsunami where Pakatan Rakyat achieved victory in 4 states on the 8th of March 2008 12th general election. This was actually an end result of a ‘snow ball’ thrown by Hindraf on 25th November 2007 where by the opposition alliance should never deny it.
(Before)

During election campaigns at this particular village, all top guns of the opposition party promised to retrieve the said land from the hands of the racism UMNO government and a pledge by these leaders to secure an individual land title for each and every family. These villagers were ecstatic by the promises of these top guns and proved their genuineness in the ballot box. The DAP took over officially the state government after the 8th of March 2008 polls with Lim Guan Eng leading the administration.

Instead of protecting the interest of these poor Indian villagers, this DAP lead state government took side of the developer by again giving them empty promises and false hopes. These poor Indian villagers who are generally live stock breeders where their land was the only survival ground and home to their families were left high and dry with their hopes and dreams. Lim Guan Eng as the administrator was more in favour of the developer than to villagers. Although after a few sequence of dialogues, discussion and pleas, nothing could be done to save the village. The village was finally demolished completely on the 16th of September 2009, the day every other Malaysian celebrating to signify the formation of Malaysia.

(present)

To date, the villagers are still waiting anxiously for their cries to be heard. This exactly proves the discrimination of the politically powerless Indians. This merciless betrayal by the Pakatan Rakyat will not be forgotten by Indians in this nation.

To Pakatan Rakyat…there is this physics theory to be remembered by the leaders; ‘For Every Action, There Will Be an Equal Reaction’.

See you all in the next polls.

Kg Buah Pala disintegrates under hammer blows

It was a sad, sad day for Kampung Buah Pala as a demolition team smashed the homes of villagers who had struggled to protect and preserve their 200-year-old settlement.

Photos by an eye-witness

1930: “My heart is completely broken today. Where were all the NGOs and political parties?” lamented a volunteer who had stood by the villagers. “Nobody was there … to see for themselves the pain the people went through. (I was) standing there and watching the demolition helplessly.”

“Even trees were not spared. A goat took refuge under a tractor. Dogs and cats were helpless with nowhere to go.”

1249: Kampung Buah Pala is rapidly disintegrating as the developer’s wrecking crew carries out symbolic demolition of nearly all houses. A porch is smashed here, a room there, a wall torn down over there, bringing down the roof…

No resistance is offered amidst emotional scenes as the villagers appear utterly demoralised during the developer’s fourth demolition effort backed by police. In the end, after all the promises to defend the village made by various politicians, the villagers are left to mourn alone as the developer tears down their precious homes.

A slice of history is being wiped out to make way for a luxury condominium project, ironically named “Oasis”. The real oasis was Kampung Buah Pala – an alternative way of life, more in harmony with nature, now lost as the concrete jungle encroaches relentlessly. All in the name of ‘development’.

Once again, a developer triumphs over ordinary residents – and a village that means so much to its inhabitants disappears.

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Related posts:

• Desperate Buah Pala villagers turn to Umno
• Kg Buah Pala: The controversial deal
• Kg Buah Pala land title prohibits development: Lawyer
• Kg Buah Pala just won’t leave us alone
• Federal Court to hear Buah Pala case on Friday

'Black September' for Kg Buah Pala

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:25

By Athi Shankar

GEORGE TOWN: Come Malaysia Day on Sept 16, former residents of Kampung Buah Pala will gather to mark a sombre event, the first anniversary of the demolition of their village.

Dubbed 'Black September', the ceremony would be held at an open space near the former village site.

Kampung Buah Pala Residents Association chairman M Sugumaran said Malaysia Day was chosen in order to refresh the memory of Malaysians about the demolition of the 200-year-old village.

“Thanks to the Pakatan Rakyat state government and Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, Penang Indians lost their final Indian heritage village last September. We aim to organise Black September as an annual event,” he said, adding that an application would be filed for a police permit.

“We hope the police will be considerate and kind enough to give us a permit,” he told FMT.

Sugumaran said he expected at least 100 people to turn up for the ceremony, where a prayer session would also be held.

Kampung Buah Pala was once known to locals, especially Indians, as the Tamil High Chaparral due to its high population of Indian cowherds and livestock as well as unique cultural features and festivities.

The village was flattened to make way for a posh condominium project - the Oasis - undertaken by landowner Penang Civil Servant Cooperative Society and developer Nusmetro Venture (P) Sdn Bhd.

Originally, some 33 families lived in the village when the Oasis project was hatched by the previous Barisan Nasional state administration some five years ago.

The 6.5 acres was sold to the cooperative for only RM3.21 million.

However, the Gerakan-led state government inserted a clause to compel the developers to settle the compensation issue with the villagers first before the land title could be transferred.

Court case pending

Nine families agreed to the original compensation package, which was either a flat unit in the Oasis or cash, and vacated the village.

But 24 others stayed put to fight for the land, which they claimed was given to their ancestors under trust by their colonial plantation master, the Brown Family.

When the village was demolished, the Pakatan government agreed to compensate the families with a double-storey house each, to be built on a 1.5 acre plot of land at the project site.

However, nine out of the 24 families did not get the house. The houses were instead given to villagers who had already left after agreeing with the original compensation package.

According to the official version, the nine families failed to ink the documents for the houses in time. However, Sugumaran and the rest pinned the blame on Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

“The DAP-led state government wanted to exact revenge on us for standing up for our rights,” he claimed.

The nine families have already initiated court action to seek an order to have a full trial over the Kampung Buah Pala land status.

They have argued that since the land was under a federal trust, the state government had no right to transfer the land to a private developer.

Moreover, there had been no documented evidence to show that the federal government had ever transferred the land title to under the Penang government, read the affidavit.