Full 46.1 - Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia

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THE MALAYSIAN SURVEYOR | Vol.46 | No.1 | 2011 (d) Annual Cost for Maintenance Works In Figure 5 below, four out of six buildings indicate that the annual expenditure of maintenance work is above RM500, 000 (USD165,125) followed by Building C and Building G with annual expenditure between RM100,000 - RM200,000 (USD33,025 - USD66,050) and between RM300,000 - RM400,000 (USD99,075 - USD132,100). It is understood that maintenance cost constitute to a huge amount of the total building cost. The various net lettable area per sqm are seen to be the influential factor in the determination of maintenance cost the buildings. Figure 5: Annual Expenditure for Maintenance Work (e) Factors that Play the Key Role Towards the Importance of Maintaining Heritage Building All of the respondents have the same opinion on the main factors towards maintaining heritage buildings, which is to maintain the cultural identity. Conservation and maintenance of old buildings is on a current agenda relating to the built environment in Malaysia. These buildings have important implications with the nation’s chronological development (Kayan & Zuraini, 2003). Furthermore, historical buildings are valuable because they are important to the economy in terms of tourism and leisure. Therefore, the urge for adequate maintenance and preservation of historical buildings is essential not only for cultural development but also for economic demands. RM in thousand 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Building A Building B Building C Building D Building E&F Building G (f) Building Defects are Mostly Caused by Humans Due to Vandalism Figure 6 below shows half of the total respondents agree that building defects are usually caused by humans. This is followed by 33% of the respondents who disagree with the statement and only 17% of the total respondents who neither disagree nor agree with the statement. Figure 6: Respondents Feedback on Building Defects Caused Vandalism …historical buildings are valuable because they are important to the economy in terms of tourism and leisure. …the urge for adequate maintenance and preservation of historical buildings is essential not only for cultural development but also for economic demands. Neither agree nor disagree 17% Agree 50% Disagree 33% Discussion of Findings Conservation and maintenance of heritage buildings is on a current agenda relating to the built environment in Malaysia. It is realised that these buildings have important implications with the nation’s chronological development (Kayan & Zuraini, 2003). Most of these buildings face the same problems such as the lack of maintenance planning and adequate By-Laws regulations 36
The Professional Journal of The Institution of Surveyors, Malaysia regarding historical building conservations, which at the end of the day creates bigger crisis in the future. This kind of problem is even harder to solve especially when most of these buildings have been gazetted. There are also certain parties concerned that if the Government focuses to much on the cost of maintainng heritage buildings, it may lead to losses to the nation because it will eventually delay the country’s future development. As highlighted by Surin & Hamid (2007) in the Sun Online, it is the responsibility of the decision makers in protecting these historical buildings even though there are no proper guidelines and appropriate systems in the current situation in Malaysia. Parties like Kuala Lumpur City Hall Urban Design and Heritage Unit whose duty is to ensure unlisted buildings under the heritage unit are well maintained and preserved. But problems still arise for instance, expansive maintenance cost and lack of incentives given to owners of heritage buildings to undertake the neccesary maintenance steps. “We need to have fiscal incentives to spur and encourage owners and developers of heritage buildings and conservation areas to undertake conservation and revitalisation programmes, and to stimulate conservation and restoration activities” (Surin & Hamid, 2007). One of the sources of income to Malaysia is from the tourism sector. The percentage of tourists coming to Malaysia has increased each year. But what has changed in the demand of these tourists has to be taken into consideration. Nowadays, tourists from all over the world travel not only for holiday and leisure, but also for educational purposes. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain our existing historical buildings because not only does it help motivate the nation to be proud of our historical buildings, it is also a source of income to the country. However, the problem here is the cost to constantly maintaining these buildings for certain parties. Another issue relating to the maintaining heritage buildings in Malaysia, particularly in Kuala Lumpur, is that the existing guidelines can be a little bit misleading, complicated and not easily understood by people. This leads to problems such as the demolition of the Bok House in 2008. especially the younger generations on the importance of maintaining heritage buildings and sites where they have not been exposed to the uniqueness of the architectural and structural value of these buildings. They lack the spirit of nationality because they have never gone through war and have not been exposed to the historical technology in constructing old structures. Malaysia is a multi-racial country that consists of many different races, religious and ethnic groups. Each and every of these races have their own unique identity and characteristics for instance, their festivals and lifestyles. As time goes by, people tend to change their way of life. This has affected the mentality of the public, especially the younger generations in maintaining and appreciating heritage buildings. People are likely to live in a modern lifestyle like apartments and newly constructed houses using latest technology. Conclusion After undergoing several interviews and findings for this research, in can be concluded that the maintenance and conservation of heritage buildings in Malaysia is still in its developing stages compared to developed countries like the United Kingdom, where they are more advanced and are very vocal when comes to preserving their buildings’ historical value. This research is carried out with the aim to identify alternative methods or solutions in maintaining heritage buildings. This aim was achieved through the attempt of doing several interviews with different parties. These aims can be attained through the recommendations suggested earlier, especially the recommendation suggested by the Department of Heritage Malaysia. The understanding and realisation of the objectives and aims has made this research a success. This research offers information on the common management problems faced by maintenance management in maintaining heritage buildings and has highlighted several issues mainly on guidelines involved, availability of resources, cost and the importance of maintaining heritage buildings. Moreover, the research offers a helpful base for future research on maintaining heritage buildings. • Peer Review There are also other problems that do not comply with the guidelines or laws regarding old building maintemance. It involves the mentality and openness of public towards maintaining heritage buildings. This can be a difficult task for the Government and activists to encourage and create awareness in the public, 37
Page 1 and 2: Vol.46 No.1 2011 Heritage & Conserv
Page 3 and 4: The Malaysian Surveyor is a quarter
Page 5 and 6: Celebration Activities for the 50 t
Page 7 and 8: Launching of the 50 t h Anniversary
Page 9 and 10: The Professional Journal of The Ins
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Full 46.1 - Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia

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