The Academy, the mighty young man of Old Kuching's heritage mapping

Cooking, Oct. 5: The programCultural mappingor Old Kuching Smart Heritage Cultural Mapping (OKSHE),Voices of Old Kuching2026 saw the enthusiastic involvement of young people and academics in documenting the heritage treasures of the community in Old Kuching area.

The programme under the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industries and Performing Arts (MTCP) of Sarawak aims to identify, document and map the historical, cultural, memorial and community landscape treasures in the area.

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) in a statement said, the program brings together UNIMAS's Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FSSK) graduate students, youth, community leaders, resource managers as well as local communities.

"The programme is headed by Senior Lecturer of the Program of Anthropology and Sociology, FSSK, Dr Nur Auni Ugong.

"Emphasis is placed on a community-based research approach in an effort to document the history, culture, memory and landscape of Old Kuching's life", according to the statement on Monday.

According to UNIMAS, the mapping focused on eight Malay villages namely Kampung Masjid, Kampung Bintangor Kecil, Kampung Bintangor Besar, Kampung Bandarsah, Kampung No. 3, Village No. Village No. 4. 5 and Village No. Six of them.

The programme, which took place on 3 and 4 October, was also supported by the President of International Council on Sites and Monuments (ICOMOS) Malaysia, Faisal Abd Rahman who has extensive experience in implementing cultural mapping at home and abroad.

The mapping includes three main components: tangible heritage, intangible heritage and natural heritage.

According to UNIMAS, the documentation covers historical buildings and sites, traditional houses, places of worship, public spaces, customs and cultural practices, heritage food, traditional occupations, oral history, collective memory, local knowledge as well as rivers and landscapes related to the history of community life.

Meanwhile, the involvement of village youth is seen as important as a bridge between generations in ensuring local knowledge and heritage are maintained.

"Through interaction with sources and previous generations, the process of cultural mapping opens up space for transferring local knowledge, stories and memories to younger generations, thereby strengthening a sense of belonging to the history and identity of each village", according to the statement.

Among the results targeted through the program are the formation of historical profiles and community heritage, inventory of heritage assets, systematic databases as well as documentation of oral history and local memory.

It also included location mapping and distribution of heritage assets which subsequently formed the basis for the development of Old Kuching Community Cultural Mapping as well as early proposals for routes and heritage points.

According to UNIMAS, the trails and heritage points have the potential to connect locations, history, landscapes, traditions, stories as well as local cultural experiences.

The documentation produced also has the potential to be a reference source for conservation purposes, heritage education, community programs and future heritage tourism development.