The Save Valley of Hope Solidarity Group had been fighting for preserving the Sungei Buloh Leprosy Settlement as a Heritage Site. Please visit http://valleyofhope.blogspot.com/.
About 45 years ago when I was a school girl I joined a school trip to the Sungei Buloh Leprosy Settlement. Many of the patients we saw had some form of disfigurement. I remember somebody in charge gave us a briefing. I did not remember much of what he said, but I had never forgotten what one of the patients told us. This patient was invited by the Person in Charge to speak to our group. The patient was a gentlemen probably then in his forties. He told us he contracted leprosy in his 20s after returning from his Acccountacy Degree Program abroad. He spoke immaculate English. He told us that when it was discovered he had leprosy, his family stopped visiting him in the hospital, and he had never seen them since. Then the hospital where he was being treated arranged to have several of them in the hospital transferred to the Sungei Buloh Leprosy Settlement. He boarded a train from the nothern part of the country with a few others in a separate coach, including a small boy. When the train finally reached Sungei Buloh it did not stop but only slowed down and they were told to jump from the train. It seems the reason for this was that if the train were to stop the other passengers would be annoyed because it was too close to the leper settlement. So they jumped, including the little boy who hurt himself in the process. He had to track several miles to reach the Leprosy Settlement with the others. This story had haunted me for many years. What anguish, hurt, despair and anxiety they all must have sufferred.
It seems the Sungei Buloh Leprosy Settlement was constructed in 1926 and opened in 1930, following the 1926 Leper Enactment Act, which required the segregation and treatment of those with the disease. The idea was to create a self-contained community where patients could live in humane surroundings while under medical supervision. According to a web site, http://www.tslr.net/2007/09/sungai-buloh-lepers-settlement.html, "The leprosarium had its own rules and regulations, school, places of worship, social clubs, fire brigade, police force and a prison too. At one time, the colony even had its own currency".
About 45 years ago when I was a school girl I joined a school trip to the Sungei Buloh Leprosy Settlement. Many of the patients we saw had some form of disfigurement. I remember somebody in charge gave us a briefing. I did not remember much of what he said, but I had never forgotten what one of the patients told us. This patient was invited by the Person in Charge to speak to our group. The patient was a gentlemen probably then in his forties. He told us he contracted leprosy in his 20s after returning from his Acccountacy Degree Program abroad. He spoke immaculate English. He told us that when it was discovered he had leprosy, his family stopped visiting him in the hospital, and he had never seen them since. Then the hospital where he was being treated arranged to have several of them in the hospital transferred to the Sungei Buloh Leprosy Settlement. He boarded a train from the nothern part of the country with a few others in a separate coach, including a small boy. When the train finally reached Sungei Buloh it did not stop but only slowed down and they were told to jump from the train. It seems the reason for this was that if the train were to stop the other passengers would be annoyed because it was too close to the leper settlement. So they jumped, including the little boy who hurt himself in the process. He had to track several miles to reach the Leprosy Settlement with the others. This story had haunted me for many years. What anguish, hurt, despair and anxiety they all must have sufferred.
It seems the Sungei Buloh Leprosy Settlement was constructed in 1926 and opened in 1930, following the 1926 Leper Enactment Act, which required the segregation and treatment of those with the disease. The idea was to create a self-contained community where patients could live in humane surroundings while under medical supervision. According to a web site, http://www.tslr.net/2007/09/sungai-buloh-lepers-settlement.html, "The leprosarium had its own rules and regulations, school, places of worship, social clubs, fire brigade, police force and a prison too. At one time, the colony even had its own currency".
It seems Sungai Buloh was the most impressive Leporasy Settlement in the world because of its scenic setting and its modern buildings and facilities. In the later years it also made its mark as a distinguished center of research for the disease.
An aerial view of the orignal settlement :http://www.leprosyhistory.org/
A view of the ward :http://www.leprosyhistory.org/
A picturesque view of the Settlement: http://www.tslr.net/2007/09/sungai-buloh-lepers-settlement.html
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