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| Loss of heritage shophouses in Beaufort Chapter Two |
| By: Richard Nelson Sokial |
| Daily Express |
| Three Weeks ago, the remaining row of pre-war shophouses in Beaufort town was destroyed by fire. This incident is another set back in efforts to preserve the last remnants of our architectural heritage in Sabah. A week after the fire, I took a taxi to Beaufort to document the extent of damage caused by the unfortunate incident.
The first two blocks of old shophouses on jalan Masjid facing the Beaufort Railway Station were the original shop house block of old Beaufort. Two years ago, a similar fire burnt down the first block of shophouses. Stepping out of my taxi at the train station, my heart sank as I realized that this most recent fire had obliterated the entire row of remaining pre-war shops. As I wandered around on the charred historical site, I reminisced about the numerous times I had brought my friends and students on whitewater rafting trips at the Padas River and had stopped over at these old shops for breakfast. The warm smoky aroma of kopi kampung used to greet us and I remembered how we enjoyed plates of delicious kolomen mee at these shops before making a mad dash towards the Beaufort railway station across the street and onto the the train that took us to our white water rafting destination. On all, my trips to Padas River ,we always managed to stop for a short rest at these historical buildings. After this recent fire, I feel that like the rafting experience on Padas River, will be some what lacking for visitors who have been here before. The unrealized potential of these old historical shop houses is a loss to local tourism. Through these photos, before and after the fire, I hope that the readers of Daily Express will understand what has been lost, and why it is important that we take proper measures so that this incident does not happen again. Although almost incinerated, it was still possible to make out the structure of the floor beams that supported the two storey high pre-war shop houses. What was amazing was how the length and size of the timber joist were enormous-singular pieces of hardwood spanning almost as long as long as the shop houses themselves. This itself was a historical testimony to the resources of our virgin forest during the British colonial days. It is a charcoal showcase of how Sabah was with natural timber before we run it onto the ground as a result of growing greed and uncontrolled logging. The other old shop houses in Beaufort used reinforced concrete beams instead of timber to support their ground floors. I wonder why. A visiting tourist was taking photos of the burnt ruins. When I showed her the photos of the old shop houses taken before the fire, she was dismayed. “It’s such a shame …these old shop houses had beautiful carvings and architecture. Now, it’s totally gone.” She exclaimed. |
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| Indeed the Beaufort pre-war shop houses were slightly different from the others. Before the last block was destroyed, I managed to study some of its architectural details. As the first two originals blocks, the Beaufort pre-war shop houses were designed to compliment each other-the upper storeys of the corner lots were cantilevered. , then supported with arched timber brackets. This design differs from that of other old Beaufort shop houses, which built sans cantilevered floors. The roof eaves of the pre-war shop houses were decorated using hardwood panels with strikingly ethic geometrical patterns.
The original owners of the pre-war shops apparently took pride in decorating their stores. I observed that the railings and timber roof brackets differed from one shop to another. Some of the roof brackets were arched, similar to those one would find in an English Church. Others had a clod like roof –bracket design. I noticed that the latter designs were similar to those previously supporting a small platform on the façade of the Atkinson Clock Tower. Before the tower was renovated after WW2. Even, the stone steps of the pre-war shop houses were special. Each shop had its own steps with arch openings to accommodate the drains. The composition of aggregates comprised of river stones instead of jugged edged gravel blasted from quarries. So why did these old shops have such tall steps and a distinctive colonial architecture? Records shows that from as early as 1718, Beaufort had been the focus of European coal and manganese mining activity in North Borneo. The first railroad in Sabah was built from Beaufort to Weston in 1900. In addition, its close proximity to the river was the main reason for the unique architecture of the old shop houses. Beaufort ahs a long and established history with the Padas River. Twice a year, the river would flood the fertile banks on which many locals lived and set up their businesses. Instead of moving further inland, the locals of the time embraced the river’s changing moods and built their shop houses on stilts. From the photo, one can see that it was quite a sight. Locals going to the grocery store in little boats. This was how Beaufort town came to be known the Venice Of Sabah. How many of our children know about this bit of local history? I believed that these local historical facts are not incorporated in their PMR or SPM textbooks. As I walked carefully through the blackened rubble, shattered glass and rusty nails, the only intact reminder of the pre-war shops were the stone steps and concrete stilts, cracked by the intense heat of the fire. Pieces of the half-century-old decorative wood panels and carved railings lay scattered among the heap of burnt timbers that used to be the roof structure of this unfortunate old building. |
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| While studying in Peninsular Malaysia, I was exposed to the architectural heritage efforts for our old shop houses in Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Penang and some other Peninsular States. Some of them are much older and more elaborately decorated, but none of them are built on concrete stilts and high steps like those in the town of Beaufort, Sabah. This makes our old Beaufort shop houses architecturally unique in Malaysia.
Is the state government aware of this? If so, why has the state government been dragging its feet in regards to its preservation? Apparently, I am not the first person in Sabah to mention the importance of conserving some of our old buildings for the future. So, why the lack of interest and definitive action by the state government? We had an architectural gem sitting right in front of our noses but our lack of vision is hindering any efforts to make them beneficial for the state and the local people. It would seem that our worse enemy is our own negative attitude towards the past built heritage and in giving committed efforts to improve and preserve it. Despite some opinions saying that no one particular is at fault for the incident, I still believe that some state government has to shoulder some of the blame. The columnist’s criticism harsh as it may seen has no malicious intent as my past articles have also highlighted some good efforts by the state government to improve the state infrastructure And architecture. However, our reluctance to question those directly involved in state heritage conservation has created a loophole where the people who have make a difference escaped scrutiny for the lack of attention that has allowed these fire incidents to occur time and again. The state government should wake up and see this as an opportunity to review the matter seriously and find long-term solutions to this problem. If we allow it to continue, soon there may not be any heritage buildings left to preserve in Sabah. Lack of urgency to promote the importance of preserving heritage buildings may soon result in further loss of not only history and possessions, but also human lives. Are we willing to take such a risk? The related government agencies need a more proactive approach to their efforts to conserve heritage buildings in Sabah. After identifying a heritage building and highlighting it in the media, it is imperative that the locals and students in the locality are approached and educated on the importance of protecting these heritage sites. If we cannot invest money to improve and preserve these old buildings for redaptive use, at least invest in the minds and heart of the locals so that they will love and appreciate their old buildings and the historical value of these structures. That means reaching out to the locals by organizing talks in their hometowns. Also it wouldn’t hurt to put a visible government signboard on all recognized heritage sites and buildings in Sabah, so that unscrupulous people may at least deter from vandalizing and destroying them. It is still speculation, but majority of the public whom I have talked to, believe that the razing of old timber buildings in Sabah is not a coincidence. This will be discussed in another article, along with suggestions how the general public can effectively contribute towards preserving these historical old buildings. |
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