Who’d fend for the Chinese New Villages if not me? Kor Ming asks after backlash over heritage proposal
KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 — Housing and Local Development Minister Nga Kor Ming has today defended his proposal to recognise Chinese New Villages as heritage sites, saying it is his responsibility to champion settlers there.
Under fire over the matter especially by pro-Malay groups, Nga said the task lies with him as the villages are under his ministry’s purview.
“Since the Chinese New Villages are under the supervision of the Housing and Local Development Ministry, as the minister in charge of caring for the Chinese New Villages, if I don’t come forward to defend the fate of the people there, if not me, who else?
“If not now, when?” Nga told the Parliament in his winding-up speech on the debate of the King’s speech.
He was responding to PAS’ Maran MP Datuk Seri Ismail Abd Muttalib who had raised issues regarding Chinese New Villages several times in the last week since the Parliament sitting had commenced this year.
“Because of that, friends sitting over there, including Maran who was once a deputy minister, why do you always want to play up issues of racial sentiment?
“Tomorrow is the holy month of Ramadan, just accept it, be redha,” he said, using the Malay-Arabic word that means “being accepting and content”.
“Malays, Chinese and Indians should unite as one family, we are brothers and sisters, why for days and nights [you] are echoing the same song, when will this song stop playing?” Nga said referring to the controversial remarks surrounding the suggestion to recognise the Chinese New Villages as Unesco World Heritage Site.
In his speech, the minister said the nomination of the Chinese New Villages is an initiative of the International Council of Monuments and Sites, or Icomos, Malaysia.
Icomos Malaysia is a global non-governmental organisation that is associated with Unesco, that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage sites throughout the country, he said.
“For this purpose, Icomos has established a New Village working group in March 2021, at that time, friends on the other side were the government.
“The group consists of seven Icomos members and seven experts in various fields to study and assess the suitability of the Chinese New Villages to be nominated as a world heritage site.
“The ministry has always been open to all parties including the opposition and NGOs who wish to propose sites as a world heritage site that benefit the country and, in this connection, if there is an application from Icomos, the ministry will be professional, along with the National Heritage Department and Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture in deliberating, conducting a survey and studying the proposal first,” he said.
He however said that the suggestion that recognising Chinese New Villages as a world heritage site was akin to recognising communism was untrue and very malicious slander.
“Since when were the Chinese New Villages equated with communism? These Chinese New Villages were victims of the Communists, not that they were Communist supporters.
“That’s why they were forced to have their houses demolished and shifted, to a detention camp, since 1948. I lived in a Chinese New Village but I can speak Bahasa Melayu, I studied the history of Islam, what is the problem? Because of that I say, don’t make simplistic arguments,” he said.
In addition, Nga asked the Opposition MPs why did they not question the previous Barisan Nasional leaders who once Ministers of the housing and local government were namely Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting, Tan Sri Ong Ka Chuan and Tan Sri Kong Cho Ha.
“For decades, the Chinese New Villages were parked under the ministry, it used to be Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting, Tan Sri Ong Ka Chuan and Tan Sri Kong Cho Ha, why weren’t you angry then? Why when I went in it was as if I was made the punching bag?” he asked.
On the matter of bak kut teh — which recently was listed as a heritage food along with other cuisines such as nasi ambeng — Nga said briefly that the word “bak” which is of Hokkien origin, simply meant meat, and could be chicken meat, beef, and lamb.
“We also have a registered trademark called chi kut teh which is bak kut teh made with herbs but with chicken. It’s halal 100 per cent. What’s wrong if bak kut teh, in this multiracial country, is made heritage food?
“We don’t invite you to eat it, if you come, we will serve chi kut teh, because chi kut teh is halal, it’s an original food that comes from Klang,” Nga said, referring to Bersatu Machang MP Wan Ahmad Faysal Wan Ahmad Kamal.
