First the good news: On 1st September, Suffolk House won the Award of
Distinction at the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards. UNESCO will make the
formal presentation at the end of the year, when we hope to know what is
happening at Suffolk House. Everyone, especially PHT members, wants to know -
'What is happening with Suffolk House?'
The difficulties surrounding the management of Suffolk House have been agonized
over by the State Goverment, HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad, PHT, donors and Badan
Warisan Malaysia (Heritage Trust of Malaysia) for more than 18 months, so as to
attain the best for Penang and for the House. This position has been deemed
necessary to negate any self-serving interests from other quarters. Despite
pressure from such quarters (totally uninvolved in restoration efforts), the
State Government cannot now morally discount or ignore public and NGO claims on
Suffolk House. While the State is the owner of Suffolk House, it paid for only
one-third of the restoration costs. It was NGO efforts, public support and
corporate vision that led to the house being rescued and restored. Even now, as
for the last 18 months, it is private funds that continue to pay for monthly
maintenance, with no acknowledgement of this fact by either the previous or
current State Government.
The current State Government in the spirit of CAT (competency, accountability
and transparency) is going to call for open tenders, based on
pre-qualifications, for the management of Suffolk House. As far as PHT
understands (and we may be wrong) the State will set up a management committee
chaired by the Chief Minister, with HSBC, PHT and possibly a donors'
representative included as members. This committee will set all overarching
policies, therefore retaining control.
The successful tenderer will conduct the daily management of Suffolk House under
a management agreement with the State. The State will have rights of usage of
Suffolk House as and when it wishes under conditions to be set by the management
committee.
It must be stressed that public perception and donors' pressure nationwide is of
concern. Suffolk House must be seen to be properly managed or else it will be a
source of embarrassment.
