Premier: Smaller version of Borneo Cultures Museum to be built in Bintulu

Abang Johari speaking during the during the Borneo Cultures Museum restaurant opening ceremony tonight.

KUCHING (Jan 18): A new museum modelled after the Borneo Cultures Museum will be built in Bintulu, said Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

Abang Johari said the construction of the new museum will take about three years and will display the historical heritage of Bintulu Division.

“We want a similar museum to be constructed in Bintulu because Bintulu is the birth of democracy in Sarawak, where the first meeting of our state legislative assembly actually took place,” he said when officiating the opening ceremony of a fine-dining restaurant at Borneo Cultures Museum here tonight.

Not disclosing the estimated cost of the proposed museum, he said it will be a smaller version of the Borneo Cultures Museum.

He said the new museum in Bintulu will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and a restaurant will similarly be opened inside the museum building to cater for the local community, particularly the sizeable population of foreign workers there.

Moreover, Abang Johari highlighted that Kuching has been listed by the United Nations as a Unesco Creative City of Gastronomy and as a result, the fine-dining restaurant at Borneo Cultures Museum will also serve local cuisine to the visitors.

He further explained that the concept of the Borneo Cultures Museum was initiated during the administration of former chief minister and the current Governor Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

“Borneo Cultures Museum is a state-of-the-art institution and we modelled after a museum in Singapore. Our museum is the largest in the country and it is installed with the latest technology. We have kiosks that explain the history of the exhibits placed in the museum.”

Other museums, which are the natural history museum and Islamic heritage museum, are located in the surrounding areas of the Borneo Cultures Museum.

Abang Johari considered the Borneo Cultures Museum as one of the best in the region and it is better than the national museum in Kuala Lumpur.

Sharing on the recent development related to historical heritage in Sarawak, the state premier said researchers from University of New South Wales had uncovered civilisation that existed in Niah Caves in Miri can be dated back to about 65,000 years ago.

The timeline exceeded the previous estimate of 45,000 years.

Among those in attendance at the Borneo Cultures Museum restaurant opening were Abang Johari’s wife Datuk Amar Juma’ani Tuanku Bujang, state Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah and wife Datin Sri Zuraini Abdul Jabbar, Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department (Law, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and state-federal relations) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Syeed Aman Ghazali, Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Michael Tiang and the restaurant founders Ngui Ing Ing and Damien Sii.

from Borneo Post Online https://ift.tt/58cirjA
via IFTTT