The Need to Preserving Our Heritage Buildings (edited)

Should we preserve the country's heritage buildings? It seems to us that it is not important to hold onto our heritage buildings, after all, what value do these buildings have? However, there are several significant factors that we need to consider with regards to our heritage buildings, because they provide a sense of identity, benefit the environment by reducing energy consumption, and aid in optimizing the existing infrastructures.

Firstly, the country's heritage buildings should not be demolished because the built environment provides a footnote to our histories, helping to identify our place as Malaysia, rather than giving others the idea of  "it is just another modern building". Historic buildings should be preserved because it gives us a glimpse of our past and lends character to our communities as well as serving practical purposes. There is a need to hold onto our heritage buildings because it is essential to understand our nation's heritage. Preserving our historical buldings would encourage more tourists to come visit our country. This is very beneficial to our country, as it promotes awareness to others and also aids in our country's economic advancements.

Secondly, the preservation of historical buildings is environmentally beneficial. By reusing existing buildings, historical buildings preservation is essentially a recycling program. Existing buildings can often be energy efficient through their use of good ventilation, durable materials, and spatial relationships. An immediate advantage of older buildings is that the buildings already exists; therefore energy is not necessary to create new building materials. In addition, the infrastructure is for such buildings is already in place. Minor modifications can be made to adapt existing buildings to compatible new uses. Systems can be upgraded to meet modern building requirements and codes. This not only makes good economic sense, but preserves our legacy and is an inherently sustainable practice.

Thirdly, our existing infrasturctures can be optimized by preserving our country's heritage buildings. By optimizing the existing heritage buildings, there is no need to build new roads, spend a sum of money on the sewer, the demolition and the new construction processes, and go through the hassles of getting approval from the government to build new buildings. Furthermore, the existance of usable space within the historical buildings provide for quicker occupancy.

Even though, the historical buildings need certain materials that are not readily available to restore some part of the originalof building, but, with the social network contacts extended throughout the world, these materials such as old growth wood is readily available. Although demolishing historical buildings to build newer ones could create a fresh impression, the process would certainly give out more hazardous substances harmful to humans and the environment. Why waste money on building new infrasturcture when we have the opportunity to optimize the existing infrastructure instead? In conclusion, we should hold onto our country's heritage buildings as they serve as a source of identity of our country, reduce the further damage done to our environment, and aid in optimizing the existing infrastructure.