KAMPAR - Police have arrested an unemployed man who is suspected to have stolen the World War Two (WW II) ‘Battle of Kampar’ signboard in Green Ridge here.
Kampar police chief Supt Mohamad Nazri Daud said the man in his 30s, a local, was arrested in the district at about 5 pm yesterday.
"Following interrogation, the suspect admitted to stealing metal scrap around Kampar the past week” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
He said police were tracking down two of his accomplices who are in their 40s.
Meanwhile, commenting on the matter, Perak Housing, Local Government and Tourism Committee chairman Datuk Nolee Ashilin Mohamed Radzi said public property such as the WW II ‘Battle of Kampar’ signboard in Green Ridge should be preserved and not stolen.
She stressed that all parties need to play a role in preserving public property notably those that have historical value and information and are useful as reference materials for future generations.
"The Perak state government regrets the theft of the signboard that was donated by the Malayan Historical Group Association (MHG),” she told Bernama .
Prior to this, MHG chairman Shaharom Ahmad had told Bernama that MHG regretted the actions of those who stole the signboard, without appreciating the historical elements and value associated with the battle.
According to him, that the signboard installed along Jalan Ipoh-Kampar here was missing was only realised when some members of the association passed by the area on Monday morning.
The signboard marks the site of the WW II Battle of Kampar in Green Ridge which is awaiting to be gazetted as a heritage and tourism site as was recommended by the Indian government.
At the end of December, India's High Commissioner to Malaysia, B Nagabhushana Reddy was reported to have said that the notion of gazetting this historical war site was a wish expressed by the Indian prime minister during his visit to Malaysia in 2015 to honour the sacrifice of British and Indian soldiers during WW II in Kampar.
The 6.47-hectare site is a testament to the fierce battle between 1,500 British troops including Indian, Sikh and Gurkha soldiers who fought against 4,000 Japanese troops for four days and four nights from Dec 30, 1941 to Jan 2, 1942 in trying to stop their advance through the Malayan peninsula.
The battle saw 150 British soldiers as well as 500 Japanese soldiers killed and buried in one place in the same area known as Green Ridge, thus the significance of the signboard in remembrance of the heroic deeds of the allied troops in wartime Malaya.
Japanese troops overran the peninsula and Singapore with lightning speed during the war. - BERNAMA