Muzium Negara

On Wednesday we visited Musium Negara.     Not an easy place to find, as it was on the other side of the central railway station, a couple of newly built hotels, and a motorway.
 As the crow flies it was very close to the monorail station.   We walked through narrow tunnels, around buses, over and under the railway station, through the car park for the hotels, and alongside the motorway.  It was on this journey that Walter had his two falls.  Not a good start.

 Musium Negara was bombed during World War 2, rebuilt again and opened in 1963.  
There are four galleries, showing Early History, The Malay Kingdoms, The Colonial Era, Malaysia Today.   All very logically laid out.

 I found taking photos in the gallery depicting Early History diffiuclt, as there were many small exhibits and no large ones, except the cave dwellers exhibit which was too dark.

The early history of Malaya was the same as that in the northern hemisphere, Bronze Age, Stone Age, Iron Age, with many artifacts showing evidence of those civilisations.

I found The Malay Kingdoms gallery fascinating.   The number of ships that called into seaports in the Malay peninsula was astounding.   This was prior to 1400 AD.  Trade with areas such as the Middle East, India and China was prolific.   There were many settlers from these countries as well.   Consequently the religion was mainly Hindu and Budhist until the 14th Century.

 The original people of Malaya consisted of the Senoi which made up 55% of the total number of people.  Then there were the Negrito (or little black people), who lived in hilly areas and river valleys.   The Melaya proto lived on the outskirts of villages.   There are sub tribes within these groups.

I learnt about the Nonya and Baba descendents of the Melaka Chinese and Malay peoples.  I realise now that our first Amah came from this region, and wore the destinctive sarong and blouse.  She tried to explain this to me, but I did not  understand, and her English was very limited.   I wish now I had been a little more patient.

 During the Colonial Era,  administration was mainly controlled by foreign powers.    It was during this era that IsIam was brought to Malaya by traders from the middle east.   Islam, which began in the port of Melaka, then spread throughout Malaya, and influenced laws, culture and dress.

Melaka was the main port until 1500 AD.   The Portuguese attacked Melaka in 1500 and were in control until the Dutch acquired Melaka in 1641.

A scene depicting the middle eastern influence and Islam

Now I am not really sure about this scene but I think it could be the Portuguese.  Looks impressive anyway.

In 1874 Malaya came under the English residency law and administration.   There was a treaty but several terms were not honoured and the first British resident (Birch) was murdered.    And no wonder too.

 Rubber was introduced in 1877. 70,000 seeds were taken secretly from the Brazilian rainforest and brought to Kew Gardens, London.  22 seedlings were then sent to Singapore and so rubber trees were establshed in Malaya.   Industries also included mining for tin ore plus coffee, pepper, gambier, rice and coconut were also grown here.

 Schools were established during the late 1800's.  They catered for the different ethnic groups, Chinese, Malays, Indians and English.

Malaysia Today focussed on the forming of the modern Malaysia.   Not an easy path.   The Federation of Malaya in 1948 meant that it became a British Crown Colony.   Then during 1948-1960 there was the Emergency of Malaya due to the uprising of communism.   The British flag was lowered in 1957 and the Federation of Malaysia flag was raised.   In 1963 Malaysia, which included Sabah and Sarawak, was formed.  Singapore and Brunei went out on their own.

 There was unrest until 1965, with riots and killings a common occurence.   Due to the threat of communism and the unrest an Anglo Malayan Defence Agreement was established, with forces from the United Kingdom/NZ/Australia supporting the Malays from 1957 until about 1971.

The ANZUK (Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom) peacekeeping force was set up in Singapore in 1971.      Slowly during the next five years, there was a gradual wind down of support, and barracks, military housing and facilities were handed back to the Singapore Government.

We lived in Singapore, as Walter was in the Australian Army then, from 1972 to 1974, so experienced much of the wind down of the forces.   However, our fantastic lifestyle, which included servants, social, sports and clubs, meant tht we did not take too much notice of the developments in Malaysia.   In Singapore, it was obvious;  the burning of buildings and villages to make way for new housing, sudden high taxing of large cars in order to remove them from the roads, the clearing of jungles, ensuring that different ethnic groups live in the same housing blocks, the enforcement of two children families.   The list goes on.   Lee Kuan Yew's government had a vision for the future and contributed to the successful country that it is today.

Malaysia, on the other hand, took a much slower approach, but the massive changes to government, and the structures within the country, certainly took place.   A visit to the museum portrayed to us just how much happened in this country during the past 50 years.   Positive progress.

 We found the museum fascinating, and we certainly came away with a greater understanding of Malaysia's history and economic development.

We took a taxi back to the hotel.   The return path was too fraught with dangers.