The rubber industry once provided impetus for growth in many small Malaysian towns. A forgotten rural town, Lunas, with an abandoned rubber smokehouse was chosen as the site to conduct a cultural mapping and restoration project for schoolchildren and for the community as a whole.

80 school children of Lunas, learnt about the significance of their past, of nurturing ‘knowledge keepers’, of documenting oral history and of authenticity in building preservation. More importantly they discovered true intercultural and inter-religious tolerance and the importance of valuing each other’s traditional inheritance, be it intangible or in architecture unique to their town. 

The abandoned and blackened rubber smokehouse was an eyesore at the town entrance, reminiscent of an industry considered irrelevant to modern growth. A simple 3-storey timber structure accessed by narrow stairs, with high rooms, tightly sealed, timber-racked and interwoven with long bamboo poles from which rubber sheets were hung. Smoke was funneled throughout the rooms, produced from a fireplace at the base of the building. Narrow windows at the rear facade were occasionally opened to air the smoke-rooms. Authenticity and retention of ‘spirit of place’ was made paramount in the conservation exercise, which allowed community focus on a tangible edifice.

The ‘Lunas Story’ and the ‘Rubber Story’ Museum was set up in the restored structure, based on the cultural mapping exercise. The children witnessed how something well past its prime can be given new life, how a modest structure can reflect important cultural interpretation and how an abandoned utilitarian building can regain a significance for a community.

The project has allowed the people of Lunas to become aware of their past, of the importance of intercultural tolerance, of significant architecture and of the need to conserve. It has allowed them to regain remarkable pride in what they have.