Bukit Kepong, Johor received nationwide fame in the 80s when a Malay blockbuster with the same name was released to showcase Malay heroism against communist insurgency in Malaya. Initially, there was a plan for Bukit Kepong to have its own museum at its doorsteps but after years of waiting the plan is now deferred again due to wrong location and global economic woes.
According to NST, the people in charge have just discovered that the original chosen site was proned to floods hence the stop order but the wherabouts of the new site is still a big question mark.
The key players should however take this time to identify the right message in the overall theme for this dedicated museum. The museum must distance itself and not take the same myopic approach of the movie, which perpetuated Bukit Kepong as the final artrocity of local Chinese against Bumis.
For decades, the movie was the potent mouthpiece which was constantly used to drill into the minds of Malaysians that local Chinese were out to take the country by force. This notion often gained frightful momentum when chauvanist politicians needed to stir up national pride and send a message to be mindful of 'outsiders'.
Johor Assembly: Bukit Kepong Museum move pushed to 10MP - NST July 7, 2009 - by Sim Bak Heng
THE plan to relocate the Bukit Kepong Museum in the Ninth Malaysia Plan has to be pushed to the 10th Malaysia Plan period although allocation for the project has been approved.
State Rural Development, Art, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Asiah Ariff said a technical study carried out by the police at the original site showed that it was not suitable for the project as it was said to be flood-prone.
THE plan to relocate the Bukit Kepong Museum in the Ninth Malaysia Plan has to be pushed to the 10th Malaysia Plan period although allocation for the project has been approved.
State Rural Development, Art, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Asiah Ariff said a technical study carried out by the police at the original site showed that it was not suitable for the project as it was said to be flood-prone.
"Finding an alternative site could be time-consuming and we may not be able to complete the project by year-end."As such, we have no choice but to postpone the project to the 10th Malaysia Plan," she said when winding up the debate on the Sultan of Johor's address yesterday.
The Bukit Kepong Museum is not far from the site where a group of policemen defended their remote station in Bukit Kepong, Muar against a communist terrorist attack on Feb 23, 1950.
Fourteen policemen, four village guards, three auxiliary policemen, the wife of a policeman and three of her children were killed.
Asiah said the state government would assist the Home Ministry to identify an alternative site for the project.She said many factors had to be considered before commencing on a certain project."
It is not just the speed that counts. "If a project is deemed to be not feasible technically and anticipated to bring problems later, it is better to delay it." The decision to postpone the Bukit Kepong Museum project was made during the mid-term review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan.
