The Malacca Bukit China Declaration
Adopted by the ‘Save Bukit China’ Public Ceramah held at Pay Fong Chinese Independent Secondary School on Saturday, July 28, 1984
WE, THE PEOPLE OF MALACCA, ON THE OCCASION OF THE ‘SAVE BUKIT CHINA’ PUBLIC CERAMAH ON JULY 28, 1984, MAKE THE FOLLOWING DECLARATION TO BE KNOWN AS THE MALACCA BUKIT CHINA DECLARATION:
WE, THE PEOPLE OF MALACCA AND MALAYSIA
DECLARE that Bukit China in Malacca is a national heritage for all Malaysians regardless of race, as it symbolises: and represents:
(a) the first Sino-Malay friendship and co-operation dating to 500 years ago as recorded in the Malay Annals (Sejarah Melayu) in the union of Sultan Mansur and Ming princess Hang Li-po;
(b) the historic, cultural and religious contribution of the Chinese to Malaysian nation building in the pass 500 years;
(c) the trust property for the Chinese community handed down by the ancestors for the purposes of the ‘promotion, propagation and observance of the doctrines, ceremonies, rites and customs of the Buddhist and other religions’, and which trust had been given statutory basis by the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (Incorporation) Ordinance 1949 which was signed into law by the High Commissioner of the Federation, Henry Gurney, and the Representative of the Malay Rulers, Tuanku Abdul Rahman ( the first Yang di Pertuan Agong); who was the Yang di-pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan.
(d) The cultural roots of the Chinese in Malaysia, with its 12,500 graves on Bukit China;
NOTES that the Malacca State Government, without consulting of seeking the consent of the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple Committee, the trustees and the Chinese community, has decided to level and develop Bukit China into a housing and commercial centre and use the earth for land reclamation projects;
RESOLVES that Bukit China should remain a national heritage and trust property of the Chinese community as provided for under the Cheng Hoon Teng (Incorporation) Ordinance 1949; and
DECLARES full backing to Cheng Hoon Teng Temple and all concerned organisations and bodies to oppose any government development of Bukit China and demand:
(a) government abandonment of the decision to level and develop Bukit China:
(b) withdrawal of the Chief Minister’s three proposals for the development of Bukit China as announced in the Malacca State Assembly on July 23;
(c) the withdrawal of the $2 million quit rent and late payments demand on Bukit China for the past 16 years;
(e) the cessation of activities by ‘Level and Develop Bukit China faction’ to provide legitimacy for the Malacca State Government to develop Bukit China as originally planned, such as the 5,000-People August 8 dinner in Malacca; by ^ manipulating public opinion and manufacturing ‘phantom’
(f) public support for the Government’s development plan; and
CALL on all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or party affiliation, who oppose any government development of Bukit China to join in a mass signature campaign to be to Cheng Hoon Teng Temple trustees as a expression of public opinion on the future of Bukit China.
(Omission)
(d) the full recongnition and respect of the Malacca State Government for the full ownership and determination right of the Chinese community, through trustees Cheng Hoon Teng Temple Committee, over the future of Bukit China, including the right to reject the State Government’s proposal to level and develop Bukit China;