Fire safety management in heritage buildings: the current scenario in Malaysia

In Malaysia, there are many heritage buildings with an architectural and historical significance that influenced by several architecture styles including a traditional Malay architecture, the Portuguese architecture, the Dutch architecture, and the architecture styles brought by British (e.g. Moorish, Tudor, Neo-Classical and Neo-Gothic). Most of them are worthy to be listed as Heritage Buildings or National Heritage Buildings under the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645). The Malaysian government is undertaking many efforts to promote conservation and preservation of heritage buildings in the country. Some of the buildings have been changed to different functions from its original (adaptive-reuse) such as into museums, libraries, offices or hotels. It is however, in the past few years there are few priceless heritage buildings were badly damaged or burnt down by fire includes the People Museum, Melaka (2001), Rumah Pak Ali , Gombak (2003) and Sarawak Club, Kuching (2006). In one case, it was given a total loss approximately up to MYR 5 millions. Fire is one of the greatest threats to heritage buildings not only to the building’s occupants but also to the building’s fabric and contents. Heritage buildings are irreplaceable but vulnerable to fire as there is a combination of several factors: large scale buildings; flammable priceless contents; large numbers of visitors; and existing structures weak on fire resistance. Unfortunately, until today, there are relatively no sufficient legislations or guidelines on fire safety for heritage buildings in Malaysia. In fact, the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (FRDM) stressed the safety of life is the ultimate principle of fire safety in a building. Property protection which includes protection to building’s fabrics and contents of heritage buildings is not really been prioritised. The purpose of this research is to investigate the current fire safety management in heritage buildings in Malaysia through a series of interview and observation surveys. In this research, thirty seven heritage buildings have been surveyed as a building sampling. The finding found that most of the buildings are still having a poor fire safety management. From the survey, seventeen leading fire safety management problems in the buildings have been identified

The Implementation Of Maintenance Works For Historical Buildings – A Review On The Current Scenario

The conservation of historical buildings is a method on preserving structures which are historically and culturally important to the nation

Pemuliharaan Warisan Seni Bina Melayu Dan Islam Pulau Pinang.

Dalam aspek pelancongan warisan, Pulau Pinang memang terkenal dengan produk pelancongan yang berteraskan sejarah, keindahan alam semulajadi dan juga seni bina bersejarah. Malah, terdapat beberapa buah bangunan bersejarah yang menjadi mercu tanda kepada Pulau Mutiara ini samada bangunan warisan seni bina kolonial, Cina, Melayu mahupun seni bina Islam. Namun begitu, jika dibandingkan dengan warisan seni bina kolonial dan Cina, warisan seni bina Melayu dan Islam kurang mendapat perhatian umum terutamanya untuk tujuan pelancongan warisan dan pemuliharaan bangunan.Hakikatnya, warisan seni bina Melayu dan Islam Pulau Pinang menampilkan pelbagai jenis bangunan yang unik termasuk (a) rumah tradisional Melayu kampung yang biasanya terletak di kawasan desa dan di pinggir sungail/laut (b) rumah tradisional Melayu bandar dan juga (c) bangunan masjid, surau dan madrasah yang mempunyai rekabentuk berunsurkan tradisional atau kolonial. Warisan seni bina Melayu dan Islam Pulau Pinang kini masih terus dikekalkan di beberapa lokasi termasuk Batu Uban, Balik Pulau, Jelutong, Tanjung Tokong, Georgetown, Sungai Juru, Sungai Bakap, Sungai Acheh dan Bukit Mertajam

Conservation of British colonial buildings built between 1800 and 1930 in Malaysia.

conservation in the United Kingdom and to develop possibilities of transferring them to the context of British colonial buildings in Malaysia. It is axiomatic, based on visits to and observations of a large number of buildings in Malaysia and the United Kingdom, that there are many similarities between the British colonial buildings built between 1800 and 1930 in Malaysia and those built in the same period of time in the United Kingdom; in terms of style, building materials, detailing, function and construction. Like many other countries in which building conservation seems a fairly new practice, Malaysia faces problems in dealing with the issues of historic buildings. The present legislation for historic buildings is not sufficient nor suitable, to protect such buildings from being demolished and destroyed. There is also no suitable system for discovering and recording the British colonial buildings in the country. Another aspect is lack of technical knowledge in repairing and maintaining historic buildings. An introductory chapter explains further these problems besides describing the British colonial architecture and the present situation of building conservation in Malaysia. The thesis is divided into five parts. Part One, deals with legislation, examines the scope of building conservation, reasons for conservation, tenninology, recording and listing buildings; and also some case law in regard to building conservation in the United Kingdom. Part Two looks upon philosophical attitudes of some organizations dealing with building conservation in the United Kingdom and Malaysia. Part Three includes a study of methodology which covers saving historic buildings, systems for discovering and recording, data of British colonial buildings, the use of building materials and common defects; and methods and techniques of building maintenance. Part Four presents and analyses case studies of building conservation in the United Kingdom and Malaysia. Several buildings have been selected to compare their changes of use and methods of renovation. Part Five provides conclusions and recommendations for the improvement of the British colonial buildings in Malaysia

Pilot Survey On The Conservation Of Historical Buildings In Malaysia

Historic buildings basically represents the single most visible aspect of our past history and culture

Fire safety management in heritage buildings: a case study in Malaysia

In Malaysia, there are few heritage buildings with an architectural and historical significance that may classified into several categories, namely traditional timber Malay houses, pre-world war shop-houses, colonial office buildings, institutional buildings and religious buildings. Many of them are worthy to be listed as Heritage Buildings or National Heritage buildings under the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645). However due to poor fire safety management, many priceless heritage buildings were badly damaged or burnt down by fire e.g. Muzium Rakyat, Melaka (2001), Rumah Pak Ali, Gombak (2003) and Sarawak Club, Kuching (2006).It is widely accepted that fire is one of the greatest threats not only to the building’s occupants but also to the building’s fabric and contents. Nevertheless, in term of fire safety approach, a heritage building requires relatively more sensitive approach compare to a new building; a high standard of fire safety management is required, not only to protect people but as well as to protect historical contents, fabrics and structures of the building. This paper suggests some recommendations to provide a satisfactory level of fire safety management in a heritage building

Treatment Of Salt Attack And Rising Damp In Heritage Buildings In Penang, Malaysia

Of the common building defects that occur in heritage buildings in Penang, Malaysia, salt attack and rising damp are considered the most challenging, particularly for building conservation. Both problems of salt attack and rising damp are closely associated. Moisture from the rising damp makes the building‟s existing salts soluble, or ground water that contains salt finds its way through the building wall. This moisture then evaporates on or just below the wall‟s surface, leaving salt residue behind. High salt concentrations in masonry walls cause extensive fretting and crumbling of the lower parts of walls. These are formations gradually contribute to building dilapidation and reduce the building‟s aesthetic value. Sodium chloride and calcium sulphate are commonly found in masonry walls, apart from other forms of salts. The sources of these salts may be natural or manmade. This paper is based on research into the problems of salt attack and rising damp in heritage masonry buildings in Penang, Malaysia. Based on a case study of five buildings in Penang, the research findings showed that these buildings faced several common building defects, including salt attack and rising damp. Treatment guidelines for salt attack and rising damp are proposed within the Malaysian context of architectural heritage and climatic conditions

Antimicrobial and antioxidant property of Curcuma longa Linn.

Background: Curcuma longa Linn. (Zingiberaceae family) plant or turmeric is known to possess pharmacological properties at relatively nontoxic doses. The study was carried out with the aim to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of C. longa L.Methods: Ethanolic rhizome extract was applied against Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhi using disc and well diffusion methods. Antioxidant of C. longa L. was determined by measuring 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity.Results: The ethanolic extract of rhizomes showed inhibitory activity against Gram-positive S. aureus bacteria, whereas the Gram-negative S. typhi bacteria were resistant toward the ethanol extract. Zone of inhibitions against S. aureus were 7 mm and 11 mm by disc and well method, respectively. For antioxidant activity, DPPH radical scavenging activity of ethanolic extract of C. longa L. was set against butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). It was shown that the value of half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of rhizome extract was higher than standard control. The dose response curve was utilized to determine the half maximal IC50 value for each sample. The IC50 of rhizome extract is 21.25 µg/ml, while the value IC50 for BHT is 12.42 µg/ml.Conclusions: The finding suggested turmeric rhizome-extract as a good candidate in the search for a natural antimicrobial and antioxidant agent

Protection Priority in Mountain Environment Using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) on Kinabalu Park, Sabah

Environmental degradation is one of the largest threats that are happening especially in protected areas. This is due to protected areas provide not only environmental benefits but also social and economic benefits to people and communities worldwide. Kinabalu Park, Sabah is declared by UNESCO as Malaysia’s first World Heritage Site in 2000 and the park is classified into category II (National Park). A national park is very closely related to naturebased tourism, being a symbol of a high-quality natural environment with a well-designed tourist infrastructure. Among the main reasons for people coming to Kinabalu Park is to enjoy the beauty of nature as its flora and fauna diversity and also the magnificent mountainous landscape. This paper focuses on prioritizing the environment aspect that being affected by the tourism activities and some of the acts of irresponsible visitors. If the environmental degradation continues, this might harm the environment on the long term basis. The method that will be using is Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to prioritize the protection of the environment on the study area. It can help decision makers to prioritize on which matter that they need to focus more on and also enables to put more expert knowledge together allowing more precise decisions and moderating personal judgments