KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 ― An architect group questioned today if City Hall (DBKL) had thought its decision through before it moved to demolish the 30-year-old Lunar Peaks sculpture, deemed by art lovers here as an “art heritage” of the city.
In a statement, the Association of Consulting Architects Malaysia (ACA:M) said DBKL should have consulted experts or even considered relocating the sculpture before hastily destroying it on Friday.
“Ideally there should be a committee comprising of experts and technical/artistic specialists who are able to independently advise on such issues, eg whether a structure has any intrinsic heritage value, whether it is technically feasible for rehabilitation or relocation, and many other criteria.
“The authorities should act as the custodians of public art and spaces and in this regard ought to be more circumspect and responsible in their duties,” ACA:M president Jasmeet Singh Sidhu said in a statement.
The group added that DBKL should be protecting the city’s art and culture instead of destroying it, pointing out that other major cities in the world took pride in maintaining culture and heritage.
In a separate statement, Kuala Terengganu MP Datuk Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad, who is also an architect by profession, accused the government of displaying a “total lack of sensitivity” especially when dealing with the work of a “national artist.”
“We may disagree on matters involving aesthetics appreciation, but we must respect works by recognised artists that we ourselves bestowed awards and decorations,” he said, also pointing out that the architect responsible for Lunar Peaks was awarded the “Seniman Negara” award.
“No public poll opinion was carried out and the family of the artist was not even informed out of respect. Our government always demand respect from its citizens when it shows no sign of any onto its own people,” he also said.
He added that if the government were to continue destroying national works of art, Malaysia would end up becoming a nation that may be economically successful, but starved of any cultural heritage.
“We are a nation perhaps well endowed materialistically, but certainly a pauper in terms of moral and intellectual capacity as far as the government is concerned,” he said.
On Saturday, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said that DBKL had no choice but to demolish the Lunar Peaks sculpture on Jalan Sultan Sulaiman as it was “too old,” an “eyesore” and beyond repair.
Lunar Peaks was commissioned by the United Malayan Banking Corporation and was built in 1986 by late National Art Laureate Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal Syed Jamil Sahil.
The sculpture made headlines again in 2010, when Syed Ahmad Jamal won a civil suit against the mayor who had carried out modifications to the sculpture without notifying him or seeking his consent in 2000.
In its decision later, the High Court ordered the mayor to pay Syed Ahmad RM750,000 in damages.
Jasmeet today explained that back in 1996, DBKL had sought to repair the sculpture by removing some of the ceramic tiles, which were broken due to acts of vandalism.
DBKL then replaced it with “pieces of stainless steel tiles supported with a space-frame” which, according to Jasmeet, drastically changed the concept of the structure.
After Syed Ahmad won his civil suit, DBKL removed the disputed stainless steel coverings but left the sculpture exposed and unattended, which eventually led to its dilapidated state.
“This begs the question, who was responsible for this ill maintenance? Why, indeed, was the sculpture left to rot (so to speak) for six years?” ACA:M asked.
