THIS writer was invited for lunch at a restaurant within the old Court House complex in the heart of Kuching recently. For even a jaded local like myself, a keen physical sense of history pervades a visit to this building and its immediate vicinity so replete with evidence of an era long gone.
This, after all, used to be the centre of government from the Brooke raj to colonial rule till the early years of Malaysia. It served not just as a court of law, but its main chamber of panelled walls of heavy tropical timbers also doubled as the legislative chamber where the first stirrings of institutionalised democracy took root.
I was thus sitting down and having lunch in the very spot where Malaysia’s oldest legislature once held court.
The warren of meeting rooms and auditoriums connected by colonnaded hallways of dark wooden floors make this the perfect venue for a modern-day business meeting, art exhibition or a musical performance. Or just a leisurely meal, soaking in the sense of history thick in the air.
Beyond, one can still steal a peek across the river to the Astana and certainly won’t miss the massive hulk of the modern State Assembly building. Or take a sideway glance across some of Kuching’s oldest streets, still a hive of commercial activities as they have always been, though now catering more to a tourist clientele.
Carpenter Street is, as its name suggests, a street once of artisans, some of whom still labour away, plying what is sadly a slowly dying trade. Many shops are now converted into cozy little lodging places and eateries, catering to the breakfast crowd in the morning and to the young and travellers at nightfall.
On one side of the entrance to Carpenter Street (a colourful archway signifies this to be unmistakably part of the city’s Chinatown) sits the majestic General Post Office building, easily one of the most handsome old buildings in the city. On the other, past a line of goldsmiths, is Main Bazaar and beyond that, Kuching’s famed Waterfront.
One of the more popular hotels among the well-heeled along Main Bazaar is the rather exclusive boutique establishment, the Ranee, which deliberately tries to recreate the old-world charm of the days when the “White Rajahs” called the shots in town.
On the other side of the old Court House is India Street, where some of the descendants of early Indian settlers still run the stores selling colourful fabrics. An obscure old mosque tucked within this street marks it out to be mostly a community of Indian Muslims.
The old Court House now has its back to a modern shopping mall topped by a newly-opened major hotel from where one can catch previously inaccessible vistas of the low-slung rows of shophouses that are the core of old Kuching.
Or be bewitched by the graceful old trees surrounding the green expanse of Padang Merdeka. Lately, the cotton seeds of a massive kapas tree have burst and is raining the padang with snowflake-like cotton balls, attracting families on weekend late-afternoon outings.
There are grand plans to further “restore” this part of old Kuching. It has actually begun with the opening of the new mall and hotel and another towering hotel near the Sarawak Museum much earlier. A massive new museum campus under construction is slowing making its presence keenly felt.
An uneasy juxtaposition of the old and new in what is supposedly the city’s heritage district is not just inevitable, but already a fait accompli. But those tasked to preserve what remains of old Kuching must endeavour to retain a still intact historical ambience from being totally overshadowed and possibly lost over time.
Old Kuching is easily Sarawak’s most prized tourist asset. It should also be turned into a much more people-friendly venue for local folk to linger, mingle and spend quality time outdoors with the entire family.
The entire district should probably be packaged and rebranded by way of a catchy, readily recognisable and memorable name so it becomes a must-stop not just for tourists, but locals alike. Even the old Court House complex is rather a mouthful and should be properly renamed.
All the recent additions to this heritage district probably make earlier attempts to gain it recognition as a Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) heritage site now an impossibility. But with greater care and thought given to its preservation henceforth, an acceptable compromise can still make it one of the unique attractions on offer anywhere on Borneo island.
JOHN TEO views developments in the nation, the region and the wider world from his vantage point in Kuching, Sarawak.