Family hopes Court of Appeal will save 106-year-old house from demolition

In Rawang, a family is desperately trying to prevent the demolition of their 106-year-old bungalow scheduled for August 18. The Shah Alam High Court rejected their stay application on August 11, prompting the family to escalate the matter to the Court of Appeal. Jimmy, also known as Maljindar Singh Sidhu Brar, expressed his determination, stating that this home has been in his family for 65 years.

He informed FMT that his lawyer advised the Court of Appeal to hear the appeal on the same day as the demolition deadline. The family, comprising Jimmy, his mother, wife, and two children, has been residing in the Sino-Malay-Palladian house for the past 65 years. They have applied to acquire the land seven times, with the Selangor land and mines registry informing them that the area is under a mining lease.

This lease, initially granted in 1920 by Berjuntai Tin Dredging Bhd, was renewed until the end of 2045 in early 2025. However, the family discovered this renewal information only after learning that the original lease had been extended. The bungalow was originally constructed by Berjuntai Tin Dredging Bhd in 1920, which held a mining lease for the land at that time.

In 1959, the company sold the property to its employee Pologa Nathan, who subsequently sold it to Jimmy's grandmother, Gurtha Kaur, in 1959. The family first attempted to acquire the land in 1967, but their applications went unanswered. In 1989, Gurtha transferred her interest in the property to the family through a deed of assignment. However, by this time, the mining lease had already been granted to two cement manufacturers.