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| Abdul Karim (third right) and his entourage inspect the project site. |
KUCHING: The new Sarawak Museum Campus is set to become a must-visit attraction once it opens its doors to the public in 2020.
The RM308-million project is undertaken in two stages – the first one involves the new museum campus and its annex building, while the next involves the old Sarawak Museum and the ancillary buildings surrounding it.
Work progress rate is currently at 92 per cent towards completion – the scheduled official opening by 2020 appears to be on track.
However Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the physical construction of the building should reach completion by March next year, but it would take another year to move the historical artefacts into the building.
“Museums are different compared with other buildings. Whatever that is put inside the museum must be accompanied by a write-up.
“In any museum in the world, only 20 per cent of the artefacts are displayed (to the public); 80 per cent is being kept in the storage,” he told reporters during a visit to the museum site at Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg here yesterday.
According to him, the reason for this is to enable and facilitate proper research works on the artefacts prior to putting them on public display.
Thirty per cent of the new Sarawak Museum, he said, would feature interactive contents while the rest would be the ‘more traditional’ exhibition.
He said that the new museum would also showcase how Sarawak was formed, apart from reflecting its identity and heritage.
“That’s why we are quite excited about this museum as it progresses – we want to see it being properly managed and administered once it is completed.”
It is said that over 100 staff members would be recruited – adding to the existing 20 – to better manage the new Sarawak Museum, which would also have a children’s gallery targeting to host families and visitors from schools.
Moreover, there would also be an auditorium where seminars and briefings could be conducted.
“Students from overseas who want to do studies on the cultures and history of Sarawak can use the facilities in the building now,” added Abdul Karim.
The new museum would also house state-of-the-art conservation and laboratory facilities to ensure that all artefacts would be properly fumigated, researched, controlled and cleaned before being moved into storage.
Two offices would be set up in the northern and central region of Sarawak for administrative purposes.
The new museum, with an exhibition space of 6,500 square metres, is expected to be the next largest museum in South East Asia, after the National Museum in Singapore.
Meanwhile, the old Sarawak Museum is being restored to showcase the building and also the exhibits as an example of the late 19th to early 20th century museology.
Adding on, Abdul Karim said his ministry would eye tabling the amendment to the Sarawak Cultural Heritage Ordinance 1993, during the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly sitting in May next year.
The amendment aims to cater to the needs of the larger Sarawak Museum besides better protect
and preserve the Sarawak heritage. -TheBorneoPost
Best to also leverage on Augmented Reality that could make the younger generation knows the kind of life or history back then..
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