150-Year-Old Historical Mansion Demolished

By Chuah Bee Kim


Johor Baru's 150-year-old dilapidated mansion belonging to philantropist and contractor Wong Ah Fook which was still in tact several days ago

Johor Baru's 150-year-old mansion belonging to philantropist and contractor Wong Ah Fook which was demolished late Wednesday (April 30)

The eight-room mansion was once owned by philanthropist and contractor Wong Ah Fook whose name has been immortalised after a road here was named after him.

A check by the New Straits Times revealed the land where the historical mansion once stood is now reduced to a rubble of concrete.

When the news broke that the Wong Ah Fook mansion may soon be history, Stulang assemblyman Andrew Chen Kah Eng reportedly handed a memorandum to the state government to urge them to preserve the old mansion.

Community leaders of the Johor Baru Tiong Hua Association rallied together to prepare a formal appeal to Johor Menteri Besar's office.

Besides the old mansion, there were also two Taoist temples and squatter settlers in the area.

It was learnt that the squatters were given some money to vacate the premises last month and the temple committee had been paying a monthly rental of RM140 for the past 14 years.

Wong had built some of the most recognisable heritage buildings in Johor, including Istana Besar, Balai Zaharah, the residence of the state's first mentri besar Datuk Jaafar Mohamed at Bukit Senyum and the Johor Baru prison in the Jalan Ayer Molek.

Wong, who was born in 1837, died in 1918 at the age of 81.

Over the years, two Taoist temples and squatter settlers had been occupying the place.

Johor Baru City Council corporate communications and public relations director Abdul Aziz Ithnin said the local council will conduct a probe into the issue.

1 comment:

AnonymousMay 1, 2014 at 6:16 PM
If they really want to preserve the site as historical site why only bring it up now when someone has bought it for development?
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