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Thank God, a national heritage is saved?

AFTER HAVING FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT the centenary of Tengku Abdul Rahman's birth, the National Front (BN) government cannot do more to hide its embarrassment. There is a hurried tahlil, at which the Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Mahathir Mohamed, was conspiciously absent, the deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi could not contain himself to extol the virtues of a man BN and UMNO would rather not talk about. Even the Tengku Abdul Rahman Foundation forgot about it. Now, the Malaysian Government and all who should have been caned for forgetting Malaysia's Greatest Son cannot do enough. An arrogance comes with it. Decisions that it should not have made is now looked in the light of national heritages saved.

So, the earth-shattering news of preserving national heritages get a fillip when the deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, announces, with a trace of embarrassment, that the "historic" Merdeka Stadium and the nearby covered Stadium Negara, would be preserved as national heritages. What saved the two stadia is not for thought of the Tengku. When the two stadia was given to UEM in a building scam to build sports facilities for the Commonwealth Games, the Cabinet, including, if I remember correctly, one Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (strange, that the preserver and destroyer of national heritages should have the same name!), decided national heritages should not stand in the way of progress. The Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Mahathir Mohamed, could not hide his contempt at moves to preserve the stadius as, yes, national heritages. The cabinet then, with dollar signs in their eyes, could not care less for national heritages then.

How are the stadia to be preserved?. UEM-Renong, as that destroying conglomerate is named, had no qualms to destroy the "historic" national heritages. Indeed, it would have done so, if the economy and its own indebtness had not intervened. The Stadium Negara was prepared for demolition, when fate intervened and UEM-Renong ran out of funds. If it had not, the "historic" national heritages would have been demolished in double quick time. It planned to build on the site a five-star convention centre, a hotel, office towers and high rise residential properties. We should be thankful for small mercies. But if UEM-Renong had not run into trouble when it did, these are saved. But for how long? The Prime Minister, the deputy prime minister, the cabinet would not order UEM-Renong to cease and desist. So, it took the easy way out: It got Permodalan Nasional Bhd, to buy the stadiums. But, mark ye, PNB is now privatised. So, it would be a matter of time, when the economy turns for the better, the two stadia would be demolished. Make no mistake about that.

Even the MCA, which built an education system around his name, has pointedly ignored it. The Star, which it controls, all but ignored it. There is a reason why. When centenaries or important events are planned, work begins much earlier. Reporters are asked to write the articles to go with the special, advertisements sought to make the project worthwhile. Nothing of this the Star did. In other words, like the rest of the country, the MCA and the Star forgot all about it. And rushes to make amends to show it had thought of him all along. UMNO's denial of the Tengku is understandable. When he died, he was not a member of UMNO. But is not the Tengku greater than as president of UMNO? If the PAS president, Dr Burhanuddin al Helmi is honoured with a road in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, and that would not have been possible if UMNO had objected to it, why could not UMNO honour its greatever ever leader?

Dato' Seri Abdullah noted in his paeans of praise for the Tengku's vision that the Tengku also directed the construction of other projects -- Masjid Negara, Parliament House, Sultan Abdul Aziz Airport or as it was known then, Subang International Airport. He adds, with no trace of irony or embarrassment, the project to redevelop the stadia failed to get off the ground in recent years. "PNB feels the stadia need to be preserved and it is capable of doing it. Moreover, the buildings are regarded as national heritage." If they are, why is a private company, which would not preserve it if the price is right, asked to preserve a national heritage?

If you want to see how the BN government preserves the Tengku's vision, just drive to the Subang International Airport. The government spent more than RM100 million to spruce it up, built a new control tower, then crushed it to rubble to make for the National Exhibition and Exposition Centre, the only one in the world where delegates can come in their planes and land by the the centre. It was unworkable from the start, the land seen for what it can bring, with no thought to preserving it. And more important, a son of the Prime Minister was pulling at the britches to sink further into unrepayable debt. What the relatives, courtiers, siblings, cronies of the Prime Minister and, increasingly, the deputy prime minister, they get.

The transport ministry press-ganged the small airlines flying out of Subang to move to KLIA. Why was this shift ordered when KLIA, in the minister's own words, is bursting at the seams? Why was the refit done just before the shift? Why was the decision taken to convert it into a convention centre? Could Dato' Seri Abdullah explain, in keeping with his desire to honour the Tengku's memory and why after the expensive refit, it is now reduced to rubble? Is it to honour the memory of Tengku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's Greatest Son? Or is this just an official means to throw scraps or helpings off the table to keep the natives quiet? National heritages are saved, more often not, because those who, we are told now, honour national heritages, ran out of money to wreck them and replace them with convention centres and five star hotels.

When that great figure who now honours the Tengku now for his belief in racial harmony and his struggle to maintain it remembered the 27th death anniversary of the Tengku's successor but not the centenary of the Tengku himself, and reminded of it only when the DAP chairman, Mr Lim Kit Siang, mentioned it, it is proof yet of how this instant attempt at praising the Tengku, often by the same people who never dropped their guard to destroy him, leaves a bad taste in the mouth. It would get more bitter when the economy turns around, and the national heritage stadia would be considered ideal candidates for the wrecking machines. It would happen in our life time, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi three months younger than I, and time yet for him to eat his words, and for me to accept the inevitable.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my