Bujang Valley: A Heritage of Global Significance

I co-chaired a meeting with YB Senator Saraswasthy Kandasami, Deputy Minister for National Unity, to receive an update on the status of listing the various candi sites in the Bujang Valley, Kedah, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Present at the meeting were YB Dato’ Haji Mohd Salleh Bin Saidin, Kedah State ExCo for Tourism, Culture and Entrepreneurship; senior officials from the Department of Museums Malaysia; Prof. Dr. Stephen Chia Ming Soon, Director of the Centre for Global Archaeological Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM); and Dato’ V. Nadarajan, who has researched and written extensively about the Bujang Valley and its history.

The Bujang Valley, also known as Lembah Bujang, is often described as the “cradle of early civilisation” in Peninsular Malaysia. Dating back as early as the 3rd century CE, it was a thriving entrepôt of international trade, linking the Malay Peninsula with India, China, and beyond. It represents one of the earliest evidence of state formation, urbanisation, and cultural-religious exchange in Southeast Asia.

We had a productive meeting on the vast historical value of the candi sites at the Bujang Valley, their tourism potential, and on what has been done to date to research and preserve them, while advancing the effort towards UNESCO recognition.

To be included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List, a site must be of ‘outstanding universal value’ (OUV) and there are 10 selection criteria, out of which at least one must be met. The criteria are as follows:

“(i) to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;

(ii) to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;

(iii) to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;

(iv) to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;

(v) to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;

(vi) to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);

(vii) to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance;

(viii) to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;

(ix) to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals;

(x) to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.”

Our lengthy discussion yesterday allowed us to precisely identify and deliberate on several of these criteria that could be met for submission to UNESCO. I was also most pleased to hear of the support being extended by YB Dato’ Haji Mohd Salleh Bin Saidin towards this effort. The cooperation of the Kedah State Government will certainly help accelerate the process.

We will next be engaging with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, and the National Heritage Department, on several outstanding issues. It is hoped that these joint efforts will lead to a favourable outcome in the steps towards UNESCO recognition for the Bujang Valley.

M. Kula Segaran
Member of Parliament for Ipoh Barat
9 September 2025