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BWM Talk Series: Community Engagement Programmes in the Conservation of Heritage Buildings in Sarawak, Malaysia by Professor Dr. A Ghafar Bin Ahmad.
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Badan Warisan Malaysia is pleased to kick start our events this year with our BWM Talk Series on the topic, “Community Engagement Programmes in the Conservation of Heritage Buildings in Sarawak, Malaysia” by Professor Dr. A Ghafar Bin Ahmad.
Date: 20 January 2024
Time: 4.00PM
Venue: Virtual via Zoom Webinar
Click HERE to register!
About The Talk
Sarawak has more than 15 forts built during the Brooke administration over the period of 100 years. Under the (then) Antiquities Ordinance 1958 and the Sarawak Cultural Heritage Ordinance 1993, these heritage forts have been gazetted and conserved by the Sarawak Museum Department in lieu of heritage values for future generations. Under the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (2016-2020), the Government of Malaysia through the Sarawak State Government and related government agencies including Sarawak Museum Department and Sarawak Public Works Department has allocated an amount of RM25 million to restore five colonial forts in Sarawak including Fort Emma (located in Kanowit), Fort Hose (Marudi), Fort Lili (Betong), Fort Brooke (Julau) and Fort Sylvia (Kapit). Accordingly, under the provisional sum of the project contract, Fort Emma received an allocation of RM45,000, Fort Hose RM35,000 and Fort Lili RM20,000 to conduct community engagement programmes with the local folks including ritual ceremonies, workshops, dialogues, site visits, public awareness and publicity.
Community engagement programme is a vital component in any heritage building conservation project because it allows the local communities to garner a deeper understanding of the significance of their cultural heritage; to encourage and facilitate community insights, views and feedbacks about the current project; and to nurture trust and foster relationships among the various stakeholders. This talk focuses on the community engagement programmes conducted during the conservation projects of three selected heritage forts of Fort Emma, Fort Lili and Fort Hose in Sarawak.
About The Speaker
Dr. A Ghafar Ahmad is a professor at the School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy (Building Conservation) from the University of Sheffield, UK, Master of Architecture (Urban Design) from Kent State University, Ohio, USA; and Bachelor of Science (Architecture) from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA. He is a registered conservator under the Department of National Heritage (JWN); and an Honorary Curator (Building Conservation) for the Sarawak Museum Department. He is also a member of the National Heritage Council, ICOMOS Malaysia, National Heritage Council, and Chairman of the Architectural Heritage and Landscape Committee (under JWN). He was the International Correspondent from Malaysia for Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU), Nara, Japan (2008-2022) and Penang Technical Review Panel (2010-2022).
Asia in Those Days by Thomas Brandt
ABOUT THE TALK
This talk by Thomas Brandt will give us an insight into the social life of Europeans from the 16th to the 19th centuries in the Asian region. Brandt spent six years researching the subject and published a book of the same name. The talk, based on this book, will be illustrated with photographs and other historical documents including lithographs and quotations taken from travel reports and contemporaneous writing.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Brandt is the General Manager of the Malaysian German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He has a deep interest in the history of Asia, having lived in South-East Asia for over 20 years. He has also published another book,”China in Those Days”, where he has drawn upon his extensive collection of old postcards from the region
Betel Boxes- Symbol of Wealth, Status & Social Standing
The habit of betel chewing is believed to have started way back into the Neolithic Age, and for a long time, it was thought to be native to India because of several literary references including a Pali text dating from 504 BC describing this practice. Recent linguistic studies and archaeological finds, however, point to another origin, i.e., southeast Asia.
This conclusion is based on the discovery of traces of the piper betel seeds found in various caves in Thailand and Indonesia dating back to 5,000- 7,000 BC and the discovery of a male skeleton with betel-stained teeth in the Duyong caves in the Philippines dating back to 2680 BC. This habit (betel chewing) spread to cover a large area which included mainland southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Micronesia and a custom which was enjoyed by both men and women.
Over the years several accounts of the habit have been written by countless travellers and writers including references to betel and areca in Chinese accounts which date back to the 7th century. They believed that the betel and areca had many medicinal qualities most popular being that of a mouth freshener and it was said that its popularity in China only declined with the introduction of opium in the 19th century. In the “The Travels of Ibn Buttute” in the 13th century he described how he was welcomed by a plate of betel leaves and areca nuts on arrival at the palace of the Sultan of Mogadishu, clearly indicating its association with hospitality.
The foreigners were fascinated and at the same time repelled by the black teeth and the red saliva describing the habit as vile and disgusting, but the habitual users considered these very same things as beautiful. Chewing betel which is a mild narcotic evokes a mild euphoria and a general feeling of well-being. The British anthropologist, Tom Harrison claimed that a few minutes of betel chewing after an hour of hard climbing in Sarawak sent waves of energy through his body.
There are three main ingredients necessary for betel chewing, the betel leaf (from the piper betel vine), lime (from limestone or crushed incinerated sea shells) and the areca nut. One starts with the betel leaf to which the lime is smeared, and a few slivers of areca nut added. The leaf is neatly folded into a small parcel which is called a quid or a “chew” and then popped into the mouth between the gum and the cheek. The Malays add gambir as a fourth ingredient which is said to enhance the flow of saliva, but its primary export value was for tanning leather. Tobacco and spices can also be added depending on taste and custom.
A receptacle was therefore required to house and transport the different ingredients mentioned above, and the Betel Box was born. This can be in the form of boxes, trays, baskets, and bags, fashioned out of silver, gold, brass, bronze, lacquer, wood, ceramic, glass, textile, etc. The shapes and sizes vary to reflect preference gradually becoming a status symbol to indicate the wealth and social standing of its owners.
The grandest usually made of gold were reserved for royalty, and this then became part of the royal regalia in countries such as Burma, Thailand and the Malay sultanates. Over time the popularity of betel chewing waned, and when Malaya became independent from the British in 1957, the betel box was excluded from the royal regalia because it was considered old-fashioned. What has remained is its association with respect and hospitality in Malay custom and tradition and the Betel Box, therefore, plays an important role especially in Malay weddings
From what was described as an “unlovely practice” by Sir George Scott we have fortunately been left with a very rich inheritance of beautiful Betel Boxes and the various wonderful paraphernalia which were necessary for betel chewing. These include the betel cutters, tobacco boxes, spittoons and mortars which the elderly and toothless needed to pound the ingredients.
This post is written by Puan Zuraidah Ghani, long-time member of Badan Warisan Malaysia and avid collector of Betel Boxes, otherwise known as Tepak Sirih in Malay.
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