TANJONG MALIM: The process of salvaging historical traces related to the British-Japanese 'Battle of Slim' military exchange during World War Two from the recently collapsed Old Slim River Bridge will be carried out by the end of the year.
Malaya Historical Group (MHG) chairman Shaharom Ahmad said parts of the structure, including bullet markings found on the bridge, will be placed at the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) National Education Museum. The rest will be placed about 500m from the original location for the public to view.
"For now, we are marking the traces on this historical bridge to facilitate the relocation work. The salvaging process takes time because the priority is to construct a bridge for the residents," he said when met during the marking process at the site of the Old Slim River Bridge on Wednesday (Aug 28).
on Tuesday (Aug 28), UPSI National Education Museum director Prof Dr Tajul Shuhaizam Said said the historical traces found on the 77m-long and 7.5m-wide bridge should be salvaged and displayed for future generations to see.
On Aug 23, the bridge, also known as the Slim Village Bridge, connecting Pekan Slim Village to Bandar Slim River and Bandar Behrang collapsed due to a water head incident.
Meanwhile, Shaharom said there were at least 10 bullet markings, including on the concrete pillars of the bridge structure, which are important artifacts that need to be preserved.
UPSI History Department, Faculty of Human Sciences lecturer Prof Madya Dr Nazirah Lee said the proposal to transfer part of the bridge construction to the UPSI National Education Museum is the best way to preserve the country's historical treasures.
Nazirah added that in addition to being used for public viewing, the artifacts can be used as study material related to the history that happened, especially in the location, for students or researchers in the country and abroad.
She hopes the relocation work will be done carefully so as not to affect the historical traces found on the bridge. – Bernama
