Attracting more crowds to our Borneo Cultures Museum for the visitors' experience of Sarawak rich and colourful history

I have congratulated our Sarawak Museum Department for doing a great job in wooing locals and foreigners to our Borneo Cultures Museum (BCM) which was awarded the Malaysia Tourism Council (MTC) "Gold Award" for Museum of the Year Award for year 2022.

At the same time, the museum which is the largest in Malaysia and the second largest museum in Southeast Asia, had received a total of over 600,000 visitors since its opening on March 9 last year. This heartening to us because it showed the new iconic building and facility had received enormous interest from local folks and also from the rest of the world. Apart from the BCM,  a total of 171,643 visitors had also visited the other museums which are located throughout Sarawak.

Thus, I call on the department led by its new Director, Puan Nancy Haji Jolhi to continue their good job because the Brooke Dockyard Industrial Heritage Museum will be among the new facilities and galleries in Sarawak to be opened to visitors this year.

The new ones will include Santubong Archaeological Park, Wallace Centre, Limbang Museum and Rumah Sri Aman Gallery. I have revealed these in my speech at the recent "Jalinan Kasih" Appreciation Dinner which was organised by the department.  

The department is also undertaking14 projects in which six are to conserve and upgrade Fort Emma, Fort Brooke, Fort Lili, Fort Hose, Fort Sylvia and Fort Arundell.

The department is currently doing the content development for the old building of the Sarawak Museum and in the meantime, it will also open the old Sarawak Museum building for tours starting March this year. I am also happy the Islamic Heritage Museum and the Natural History Museum, are open to visitors while the Sultan Tengah Mausoleum located in Santubong, has reopened to visitors effective Feb 1 this year.

The department had embarked on the digitalising the "Sarawak Journal" publication with ongoing work to obtain Journal Management System with the cooperation from Sarawak Service Modernisation Unit and Sarawak Information System Sdn Bhd (SAINS). Currently, there are eight-book series being launched and the publication is the results from research works of the Sarawak Museum Department curator together with external researchers. Sarawak had also be given the honour to host the national-level International Museum Day that would be held in Kuching in July this year with the theme “Museums, Sustainability and Well-being.”

Getting excited with launching of Dewi Liana's "Cinta Abadi" soundtrack and short story.

We take our hats off to our local beauty queen, model and talented singer, Dewi Liana Seriestha who recently released her latest single entitled ‘Cinta Abadi’ (Eternal Love) which composed by herself and is accompanied with a music video featuring her and another Sarawakian – singer, actor and host Anding Indrawani.

The talented Bidayuh lass was inspired by the legendary folklore of "Puteri Sejinjang" in which the music video tells a story of a silat warrior and master who was greatly wounded during a battle, where he was found and treated by Puteri Sejinjang.

The princess proceeded to treat warrior's wounds using her magical healing powers in which subsequently the two then fell in love and lived the rest of their lives together, until her death upon reaching old age.

An interesting fact about the song and the video, said Dewi Liana, was that the initial plan was for it to be a solo act. According to Dewi, the music video, was also about highlightings Sejinjang as the "good princess", in contrast to the storyline in the well-known lore and also the song "Puteri Santubong" whom Puteri Sejinjang was often portrayed as the "unkind" rival.

The whole short story and original soundtrack project was delightful because it was very heritage-focused. and as homage to her Dewi's Bidayuh ancestry. The song has also incorporated the gongs – one of the traditional musical instruments of the Bidayuhs. It also features other Sarawakian traditional arts such as the "songket", the "keringkam’ and "Silat Sarawak" martial arts.

Highlighting Bau as the potential local tourism destinations in Sarawak

Bau, our former gold mining town in Kuching Division has identified by Sarawak Government as one the local tourism destinations with the most potential of wooing local and foreign tourists. The town which is just 30 minutes drive from Kuching City had experienced the fast-pace of development taking place in over the years, with a flourishing tourism industry that is benefit the local community.

In fact, the district stands out among other places in Sarawak because it has the "Fairy Caves" and "Wind Caves", Taoist temples and also the lovely natural landscape. I have mentioned these when officiating the the opening of the newly-renovated 200-year-old Golden Hill Temple at Tasik Biru, Bau recently.

Bau could offer a melting pot of tourism products, particularly with its long colourful history and the famous Chinese gold miners’ uprising against the Brooke administration back in the 1800s. Sarawak has been making tremendous progress that other states in Malaysia which serves as good role model for others. We are also blessed with our revenue has grown significantly and the Sarawak government will be introducing a sovereign wealth fund for the state’s excess money to be deposited into. We are also hoping for the local community would be ready to offer warm and friendly hospitality to the influx of tourists in the years to come.