MALACCA: HERITAGE enthusiasts have called for the state government to ensure proper restoration of the historic Nam Hoe Villa if it acquires the privately-owned property.
Cheng Hoon Teng temple advisory committee member Josephine Chua said she was concerned the mansion’s restoration project would not be done properly.
“It takes passion, love and good finances to restore a building to its original condition. If it is not properly restored, the mansion may not last.
“For example, you need to use good heavy roof tiles to sit on the structure sturdily, which requires a good wooden base to support it,” she said.
Chua, who contributed to the restoration of the Cheng Hoon Teng temple, which received a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) award for outstanding architectural restoration, said restoring the mansion would not be as expensive as the temple’s restoration.
“The Nam Hoe villa is an example of British colonial architecture. It was built in 1927 and construction items and experts can be obtained locally.
“If you look at the interior of the Nam Hoe Villa, most of the plasterwork is still intact, but most of the floor and wall tiles are gone,” said Chua, adding the tiles could be replicated by local tiling experts.
She said acquiring quality wood may be expensive, but timber was readily available in the Malaysian market.
“I can’t give an estimation of the cost, but it should not be exorbitant, probably around RM1 million or more,” she said.
She said restoring the Cheng Hoon Teng temple, which was built in 1801, was more elaborate, as materials and experts had to be imported from China, with the elaborate gold-leafing of the main temple alone costing RM1.5 million.
Former Malacca World Heritage Office general manager Rosli Nor said the contractors and architects involved in the mansion’s restoration project must pay attention to restoring it physically and aesthetically.
“They should do the restoration properly so that the project can win a Unesco architectural restoration award to recognise the state’s conservation efforts,” said Rosli.
He estimated the cost of restoration to be between RM3 million and RM5 million, taking into account the mansion’s decorative tiles, windows, doors and roofing structure.
“Restoration work for the mansion should be a rather straightforward affair and not difficult, as the overall structure is still intact.
“Most of the important features of the mansion, including the decorative tiles, windows and doors, can be replicated.
“The only thing to be replaced is the roofing, which must be replaced with good timber to maintain its originality,” he said.
He said plastering the wall using lime plaster instead of modern cement plaster should be maintained, as per the original construction material of the mansion.
He said it was also important for architects to decide which period of the Nam Hoe Villa’s existence the restoration work was to be based on, and whether the building’s landscape would also be restored in the same manner.
“The architects must decide whether to retain the structure as it was when it was built in 1927, or as it was in the 1950s when the villa was visited by Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Tan Cheng Lock.
“This includes restoring the landscape (outside the villa), as seen in old pictures,” he said, citing examples of the restoration of Suffolk House in Penang, the founder of Penang Captain Francis Light’s former residence.
Rosli also aired his concerns on the maintenance of the mansion after it was restored, stressing that after restoration it should also be considered.
“It would be good if the state government can introduce commercial activities to fund the maintenance costs of the mansion, as we cannot rely solely on heritage charges.
“Maintaining a heritage building can be expensive, unless we introduce commercial activities, such as a fine dining restaurant, cafe, hotel, villa or museum,” he said.
It was reported yesterday that the Malacca government was mulling acquiring the privately owned Nam Hoe Villa in Klebang to preserve it as a heritage building, after its owners were set to demolish the long abandoned property.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron had said the state government was duty-bound to preserve the property as it had historic significance, which should be shared with future generations.