Preparing for my Trip again...

The past few days, besides getting ill, I had been writing to prospective interviewees to make my trip to London on the 7-12th July 2005 worthwhile. So far I had confirmed a meeting with Tony Crosby at the Heritage Lottery Fund for the 11th July, and will meet Valerie Wenham at Morden Hall Park on the 10th July. Ms Wenham had worked for the National Trust for 20 years as an Access Advisor and now she is with the Historic Houses Association.

I shall discuss about the trip to Morden Hall Park after meeting Ms Valerie and her husband.

As I know more about the development of heritage properties in England and Wales, I noted that the Heritage Lottery Fund, by making disabled access a major requirement on applicants getting funding to their project, it has set an important precedent of how to incorporate access features and benefiting from it.

"... The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) was set up by Parliament in 1994 to give grants to a wide range of projects involving the local, regional and national heritage of the United Kingdom. We distribute a share of the money raised by the National Lottery for Good Causes..." (from the website)

I wish that we have a similar funding body in Malaysia. I know that MAGNUM, SPORTS TOTO and a few other gambling companies do give money to charity, but this is totally different approach. When I was in the UK in the mid and late 80s, there was no such thing as the National Lottery. But the government intentionally created it to get the funds to regenerate art and culture (among other things) in their country.

We could not imagine a similar thing to happen in Malaysia, as gambling is not permitted for Muslims. In the 70s, I remember that we had a similar situation with what the UK is doing now. Every week, they show on television, numbers on balls being taken out from a cage and the winning numbers being announced. People would buy these lottery tickets from supermarkets and corner shops. I remember my mother dabbling in that for awhile before she got interested in the stocks exchange when we were in Penang.

Now, people are more conscious of being a better Muslim and although people do dabble in it, it is not prominent.

I think providing funding for art and culture projects via a lottery is not totally gambling. I think there is a way round this, as I see the effort in the UK really paving the way to a real love of heritage properties and when HLF manages to insist on access for the disabled people, it proves to be a catalyst for much success.