One of KL’s most iconic buildings remains safe from plans – proposed by the people entrusted to maintain its state – to turn the 112-year old Viveknanda Ashram in Brickfields into part of a glass-and-concrete highrise complex.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court today upheld the designation of the Vivekananda Ashram as a national heritage site, when it dismissed an application by the building’s board of trustees to review its designation by the National Heritage Department.
The decision was laid out by High Court judge (Appellate and Special Powers Division) Hanipah Farikullah, in which he allowed the preliminary objection from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).
Before we proceed, here’s what the ashram would have probably ended up looking like if its national heritage status was removed:
Still, the decision came down to a technicality, not a concern for the bizarre teabagging of history the above image would have been in real life.
“Our objection is that the application was filed prematurely, before the appeal process to the minister was completely exhausted,” said senior federal counsel Mazlifah Ayob, who represented the respondents: The Ministry of Tourism and Culture; Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz; and National Heritage Department commissioner Dr Zainah Ibrahim.
The New Straits Times Online reports that the Vivekananda Ashram’s board of trustees sent a letter “dated on Oct 7, 2015 but before the minister could decide the appeal, this application was filed on Oct 13, 2015.”
Syabas for jumping the gun, then!
