Family loses court bid to save Rawang’s century-old bungalow
The Shah Alam High Court on Aug 11 rejected a stay against the demolition of a 1920s Sino-Malay-Palladian bungalow in Rawang, setting Aug 18 as the date for the house to be torn down.
Source: Free Malaysia Today · August 16, 2026 at 7:31 PM · AI-assisted report
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KUALA LUMPUR, 17 AUGUST 2026 —
The Shah Alam High Court on Aug 11 rejected a stay against the demolition of a 1920s Sino-Malay-Palladian bungalow in Rawang, setting Aug 18 as the date for the house to be torn down.
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The order came after Maljindar Singh Sidhu Brar, known as Jimmy, and his family failed to stop enforcement of a demolition notice tied to a mining lease that was renewed until 2045. They have now filed a certificate of urgency with the Court of Appeal, which will hear the appeal on the same day the wrecking crew is scheduled to arrive.
Jimmy, who runs a transport business, told FMT the house has been home for 65 years. “We’ve been residing here since 1959,” he said. “It’s our family home.”
The 106-year-old bungalow was built by Berjuntai Tin Dredging Bhd during its mining operations in the area. In 1959 the company sold it to employee Pologa Nathan, who later sold it to Jimmy’s grandmother, Gurtha Kaur. Gurtha assigned her interest to the family in 1989, but by then a mining lease covering the land had already been granted to two cement manufacturers.
Jimmy said the family has applied seven times since the 1960s to acquire the land, only to be told each time that it remained under lease and to reapply when the lease expired. When they enquired earlier this year, Selangor’s land and mines registry confirmed the lease had been renewed for another 20 years, pushing its expiry to the end of 2045.
“They went silent when we asked what this meant for our alienation attempts,” Jimmy said. “We’ve been going through the proper channels since 1962.”
FMT has contacted the Selangor land and mines registry for comment.