摘要：The responsibility to ensure a legacy is continued, particularly for cultural and
natural heritage, often rests with the government agencies, who are armed with the
necessary legislative mandates to safeguard and protect them. Heritage in itself
has a complex meaning, from the determination of the subject matter itself, the
characterisation of its nature and value, to regulating the interactions that may
have positive or negative impacts to it. It transcends guarding an object or subject,
and involves the complex human-environment relations to the object or subject,
encompassing that which is tangible and intangible. In addition, there are times
when both cultural and natural heritage become interlinked resulting in it being
categorised as mixed heritage, which requires a different set of approaches that
complements the need for both cultural and natural heritage conservation. The
question to be addressed revolves on what needs to be safeguarded and how can
it be properly contextualised, taking into account the complex nature of heritage
conservation and the interactions between those who know, those who have
"inherited" and have cared for it, with those who are tasked to safeguard it. In
addition, there is a need to look at the roles of those who act as custodians, by
exploring what entails from the mandate given, towards enabling a collaborative
arrangement, in order to ensure that existing mandates become complementary
and mutually supportive. This article looks at the intricate relationship focusing
on different Federal government mandate holders of cultural and natural heritage
conservation, taking into account the federated system of government in place in Malaysia. It briefly discusses a segment of the current Federal government
arrangement, and challenges as well the opportunities ahead in Malaysia.
关键词：mandate; heritage law and regulations; federated system of government;
heritage governance; heritage custodians
