KUALA LUMPUR: The 100-year-old house which formerly belonged to Kampung Abdullah’s founder, now proudly stands at KL Eco City here.
The traditional Malay house built on stilts was previously at risk of being demolished due to redevelopment of the area as a new commercial centre.
Now the house proudly stands on the 7th floor at KL Eco City building, which also houses Masjid Jamek Abdullah Hukum.
Abdullah Hukum was one of the pioneers involved in the development of Kuala Lumpur in the 1880s. He was also responsible for opening up areas such as Pudu-Bukit Bintang and also Sungai Putih area which is now known as Bangsar.
He was also a Kuala Lumpur community leader who was appointed by the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Abdul Samad with the title of Tuk Dagang Dianjuk.
The restoration of the Abdullah Hukum ancestral home was mooted to ensure that the new generation will get a glimpse of the history of the area as the house will be made an icon to the area.
Shaari Mat Saod, the contractor who undertook the restoration job said that the process of moving house starts in September 2012 before the constructions of KL Eco City project started.
“The restoration process was lengthy as we needed to document and to label each piece of wood and building materials to be used in the reassembling process later,” Shaari told Bernama today.
He added that all the Red Meranti woods and other timbers were then transported to a conservation centre in Malacca to treat the damage so it would be strong enough to be reinstalled.
The work of reassembling the ancestral home took about three months and 10 builders to complete in June.
“However, alterations had to be made on the main pole (tiang tunku) as it was not in good condition. We also changed the roofing materials as the old zinc wasn’t suitable anymore,”he said.
Abdullah Hukum or Muhammad Rukun came from Sumatra and was of Kerinchi descent.
He migrated to Malaya with his father in 1850 when he was only 15 years old, and had been living in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor until his death. He died at the age of 108 in 1943, and left behind 18 children. -- Bernama