Paper short abstract:

This paper reviews the contemporary cultural heritage management (CHM) in Malaysia with a special focus on the prehistoric sites of Lenggong Valley. It reveals that the social voices are underrepresented in the local CHM planning and highlights a need to rethink the old CHM approaches in Malaysia.

Paper long abstract:

This paper reviews the contemporary cultural heritage management system in Malaysia with a special focus on three prehistoric archaeological cave sites - Gua Gunung Runtuh, Gua Kajang and Gua Harimau - that form part of the Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley, which is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This study reveals that the contemporary conservation and management of the Lenggong Valley tends only to emphasize the archaeological or scientific heritage values of the area. Other heritage values, as outlined in the internationally recognised ICOMOS Burra Charter, are held by the local community but are underrepresented in the heritage interpretation of the valley. Investigations into recent use of the caves surprisingly show that the local community associated these caves with several important social and historical episodes and that these caves are still being used by members of the local community on a daily basis. The discrepancies between how local stakeholders, and professionals and other officials perceive the Lenggong's heritage values reflects the domination by professional groups of the cultural heritage assessment process in Malaysia. This highlights a need to rethink the old heritage management approach and for a greater recognition of the social significance of the Lenggong Valley.