Despite mixed reaction to John M. Chu's Crazy Rich Asians, if there was one thing that the film did right was give Carcosa Seri Negara a facelift.
Constructed in 1896, the colonial mansion had served as a witness to many important historical events for Malaysia.
Among the most memorable? It was here the Constitution of Malaya was drafted in between 1955 to 1957.
The 40-acre national heritage site had also seen the nine Sultans signing the Merdeka Agreement on August 5, 1957.
Built by then British Resident-General of the Federated Malay States, Sir Frank Swettenham, the national heritage site actually has two separate colonial era mansions; Carcosa and Seri Negara.
The site was also the official home of Malaysia's first king, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
During the Japanese Occupation in World War II, the mansion served as the headquarters for the Japanese invaders from 1941 to 1945.
Sadly, the buildings were left abandoned by its previous caretakers, twice in 2010 and 2015 respectively due to high maintenance cost.
Now, the building which is under the care of Asian Heritage Museum Sdn Bhd (AHM), finally has a reason to be noticed once again.
In the film based on Kevin Kwan's book of the same name, the national heritage site served as the location for the matriarch, Eleanor Sung-Young's mansion, Tyersall Park.
Infact the makers of the film even took the pains to repair and clean up some aspects of the historical mansion, much to the delight of its current caretakers.
So, the next time you watch Crazy Rich Asians and see this building on screen, remember that it has a huge historical significance to Malaysians.
