Sungai Buloh settlement - past, present and future

Abstract

The Sungai Buloh Leper Settlement, or better known as Sungai Buloh Settlement, was proposed in lg24toreplace the overcrowded Kuala Lumpur Leper Atylrr-.Not long after its establishment in 1930, many leprologists admired the settlement for being one of the finest of its kind. Emancipating from the prison-like segregation, Sungai Buloh Settlement was intentionally planned as a self-supporting "human settlement", and corresponds to the Garden City Planning concept with clear zoning, oPen spaces and gardens, public and socio facilities, and a huge agriculture zone. In 2007, half of the eastern section of the settlement was earmarked for development. The event had prompted the public, scholars and NGOs to urge the government to preserve the entire settlement permanently, protect the community and allow the inmates' children to inherit their legacies. The significant historical, heritage and scientific values of the Sungai Buloh Settlement is not merely confined at a national level, it was also known as one of the important models of leprosaria and its research unit had once placed the country in the world map of leprosy research. These historical, heritage and scientific assets could be integrated together with the natural and agriculture resources of the settlement and transformed into an open museum or historical park. In 2009, the first International Transnational Leprosy Heritage Symposium suggested Sungai Buloh to link with other important leprosarium around the world including Culion, Kalaupapa and Losheng as a Transnational UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is the greatest way to commemorate the unforgettable and extraordinary events in human history before the disease is entirely eliminated in the near future.