Papan nominated for Unesco World Heritage status

Quaint commune: The historical Kampung Batu Papan in Perak has attracted visitors from as far as Singapore.

THE town of Papan – or “plank” in Malay – in the Kinta district of Perak has been nominated as one of the Unesco’s World Heritage Sites, Utusan Malaysia reported.

Papan Heritage Gallery and Papan Heritage Conservation Task Force head Jacky Chew said the townsfolk are having their own initiatives to attract more tourists to the town, which is more than 100 years old.

“Kampung Batu Papan is one of the seven new villages in the peninsula that has been nominated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites Malaysia (Icomos) to Unesco for world heritage status,” he said.

Currently, there are four World Heritage Sites in Malaysia, namely Gunung Mulu National Park (Sarawak), Kinabalu Park (Sabah), Lenggong Valley (Perak) as well as George Town and Melaka. The latter two are listed under one category as “Historical Cities Along the Straits of Malacca”.

Every year, new nominations are added if they meet the strict selection criteria, such as developing management plans and adhering to strict guidelines to maintain integrity.

According to Chew, although some of the structures may be decaying, the town has attracted international tourists.

He said comprehensive efforts must be taken to conserve the buildings and not merely restored or upgraded as they have owners.

> Fed up with being linked to other people’s husbands, actress Sophia Albarakbah says she prefers to act alongside actors who are single, Harian Metro reported.

“If possible, I do not wish to act alongside married actors to prevent people from thinking negatively about me.

“I really hope to be paired with single individuals onscreen,” said the 31-year-old star.

Singaporean actor Aliff Aziz has previously been reported as having agreed to stop working with the actress in future projects.

Aliff made the decision out of respect for his wife, singer Bella Astillah, who had accused Sophia of flirting with him and disrupting their marriage.

Sophia vehemently denied Bella’s assertion that she was a “penyondol” (homewrecker) or had tried to disturb anyone’s marriage.

● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.