GEORGE TOWN, Oct 11 — Putrajaya is considering gazetting a Penang mission school and a 282-year-old mosque as national heritage sites.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng told reporters today that the state formally recommended the 200-year-old Penang Free School (PFS) and Masjid Batu Uban, founded in 1734, in a letter to Tourism and Cultural Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz on August 30.
“Under the National Heritage Act, the state government is required to give its approval in order for any site to be gazetted so in my letter, we have given our prior approval while recommending that the school and mosque be gazetted,” Lim said.
Nazri’s private secretary Dr Jurij Jalaludin replied Lim’s letter on September 1, saying the application has been passed to the National Heritage Department commissioner Dr Zainal Ibrahim for consideration and further action.
Lim said the gazettement if approved would be fitting, especially for PFS which is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year.
PFS was founded in 1816 by Reverend Robert Sparke Hutchings and is said to be the country’s oldest school. It was originally built on Farquhar Street before relocating to its current premises on Jalan Masjid Negeri in 1928.
The 282-year-old Masjid Batu Uban was founded by Mohamad Salleh, also known as Nakhoda Nan Intan or in full, Maharaja Nan Intan Ibnihajar Al-Marhum Tengku Patie Nan Sebatang, a Sumatran who migrated to Penang and is recorded to have started one of the earliest settlements on the island at Kampung Batu Uban.
