Abd Karim: Sarawak museums enrich collections through public donations

KUCHING (Dec 2): Sarawak’s museums continue to grow their cultural and historical collections through meaningful public contributions, said Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

He told the august House during his ministerial winding up speech at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Sitting here that the Sarawak Museum Department (JMS) has recently received a series of valuable ethnographic artefacts from local and international donors, reflecting strong public trust and interest in preserving the state’s heritage.

According to him, JMS recorded the donation of 26 ethnographic artefacts such as brass and silverwares, wood carvings, miniature cannon, gong, parang, paddle, tuntun petik, kain kebat and spear from Teresa Platt, whose mother Monica Platt, an Iban woman from Pakit, Sri Aman, had collected the pieces in the 1960s.

“Madam Monica Platt is an Iban woman who married Mr Philip Platt, a New Zealander, former staff of Sarawak Land and Survey Department. She is the sister of Lieutenant General (Retired) Datuk Stephen Mundaw, who is a special administrative officer to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Urban Development,” he said.

Abdul Karim also noted the contribution of 13 traditional fishing tools from Mei Ang, a researcher who studied the Orang Ulu community in Baram during the 1970s.

“Another important donation is an old Malay brass container from Mr Simi Yah of Asajaya.

“The brass container is estimated to be around a hundred years and shows how food was stored in the past,” he said.

In addition, he said JMS also received eight ethnographic items from the estate of renowned anthropologist Barbara Harrisson, which were donated anonymously from the Netherlands. Harrisson was the wife of the late Tom Harrisson, a former curator of JMS.

He also said that another notable contribution came from Los Angeles-based antique collector Mark A Johnson, who donated an Iban war jacket featuring a unique blend of traditional and modern Iban motifs.

On a related matter, Abdul Karim said the Borneo Cultures Museum (BCM) continues to cement its position as one of Sarawak’s top cultural attractions.

“BCM has recorded a total of 1.4 million visitors since its official opening on the March 9, 2022, emphasising its status as one of Sarawak’s most popular cultural landmarks.

“Between January to October this year, BCM has welcomed 236,971 visitors,” he said.

He added that BCM has, for the first time, appeared in the Museum World Ranking and was recently placed 289th out of 421 museums worldwide through an online voting process.

“The Museum World Ranking is an international initiative to evaluate the performance and assessing the museum’s prestige and internationalisation through highlighting its best practices,” said Abdul Karim.