Perak Museum

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Perak Museum
Muzium Perak
Museum Perak Taiping.jpg
Malaysia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Malaysia
Established1883
Location Taiping, Perak, Malaysia
Coordinates 4°51′38″N100°44′42″E / 4.860556°N 100.745°E / 4.860556; 100.745

The Perak Museum (Malay : Muzium Perak) is a public museum located at the junction of Jalan Muzium (Museum Road) and Jalan Taming Sari (Main Road) in Taiping, Perak, Malaysia. It is the oldest museum in Malaysia and highlights the history of the state. [1]

Contents

History

The Perak Museum in Taiping is the first and oldest museum in Malaysia. It was founded in 1883 by Sir Hugh Low, the fourth British Resident of Perak (1877 to 1889). It owes its establishment to the fund-raising efforts of Sir Hugh Low and Sir Frank Swettenham, Resident of Perak from 1889 to 1895, Resident-General of the Federated Malay States (now Malaysia) in 1896–1901, and Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Straits Settlements 1901–1904.

The museum was initially concerned with natural history particularly ethnography, zoology, botany and geology, all key areas of interest of its founder Sir Hugh Low. Its first curator was Mr. Leonard Wray Jr., a botanist, geologist and Superintendent of Government Hill at Larut (1883 to 1903).

In the beginning, the museum was housed in some renovated government offices while the main building of Neo-classical design was under construction in 1883. The building comprised an office, library and exhibition hall (Gallery A) and was only completed in 1886 due to lack of funds. In 1889, extensions to the museum's front and back were added. A new exhibition hall (Gallery B) was constructed in 1891 to 1893. As the collection of exhibits grew, a new two-storey building (Gallery C and D) were added from 1900 to 1903. [2] [3] [4] [5]

This museum should not be confused with The Perak Museum in Ipoh erected in 1926 by a rich and successful tin miner called Foo Choong Kit.

See also

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Perak is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's Yala and Narathiwat provinces both lie to the northeast. Perak's capital city, Ipoh, was known historically for its tin-mining activities until the price of the metal dropped, severely affecting the state's economy. The royal capital remains Kuala Kangsar, where the palace of the Sultan of Perak is located. As of 2018, the state's population was 2,500,000. Perak has diverse tropical rainforests and an equatorial climate. The state's mountain ranges belong to the Titiwangsa Mountains, which is part of the larger Tenasserim Hills system that connects Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia.

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The Federated Malay States was a federation of four protected states in the Malay Peninsula - Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang - established by the British government in 1895, which lasted until 1946, when they, together with two of the former Straits Settlements and the Unfederated Malay States, formed the Malayan Union. Two years later, the Union became the Federation of Malaya, which achieved independence in 1957, and finally Malaysia in 1963 with the inclusion of North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James W. W. Birch</span> Colonial Administrator

James Wheeler Woodford Birch, commonly known as J. W. W. Birch was a British colonial official who was assassinated in the Malay state of Perak in 1875, an event that led to the outbreak of the Perak War and ultimately to the extension of British political influence over the Malay Peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Swettenham</span> British colonial official in Malaya

Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham was a British colonial administrator who became the first Resident general of the Federated Malay States, which brought the Malay states of Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang together under the administration of a Resident-General based in Kuala Lumpur. He served from 1 July 1896 to 4 November 1901. He was also an amateur painter, photographer and antique collector.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taiping, Perak</span> Town and district capital in Perak, Malaysia

Taiping is a town located in Larut, Matang and Selama District, Perak, Malaysia. It is located approximately 48 km (30 mi) northwest of Ipoh, the capital of Perak, and 78 km (48 mi) southeast of George Town, Penang. With a population of 245,182, it is the second largest town in Perak after Ipoh, the state capital.

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"It is for the reader, in the light of subsequent events, to judge how far the Councillors were right or wrong, and to see for himself who really did the pioneer work of building up the prosperity of Perak. In the published accounts of British rule in Malaya, sufficient prominence has not always been given to the efforts of these early pioneers; the reaper, intent on his own work, is apt to forget the man who sowed. These Council Minutes are the record of the work of the sowers. A study of that record will show how much the State owes to Sir Hugh Low and to his fellow-Councillors, especially Raja Dris, Sir William Maxwell, and the Chinese towkays, Ah Kwi [Chung Keng Quee] and Ah Yam."

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The Larut, Matang and Selama District is a district of Perak, Malaysia. Taiping is the capital town of this district. Larut, Matang and Selama used to be three small different districts and they merged into one larger district later. Larut, Matang and Selama houses Taiping, Perak's second largest city and former state capital. Other towns in the region include Matang, Kuala Sepetang and Selama. The region borders the state of Kedah on the north, the Kerian District on the northwest, the Hulu Perak and Kuala Kangsar District on the east, and the Manjung District on the south.

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Taiping Aerodrome is an aerodrome in Taiping, Larut, Matang and Selama, Perak, Malaysia. It is located at Jalan Muzaffar Shah formerly Creagh Road, Assam Kumbang and also called Tekah Airstrip. The airport was built in early 1929, this wooden structure aerodrome was the first airfield in the state of Perak and also in Peninsular Malaysia.

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Taiping Hospital, formerly known as Yong Wah Hospital, was one of the first hospitals established in Malaysia. Located at Jalan Taming Sari near the commercial town centre, it is one of the biggest hospitals in Malaysia and is the second biggest in the State of Perak. The hospital is strategically situated 80 km from Ipoh and 85 km from Penang and was able to serve the northern states of Malaysia.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinta Valley</span>

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The statue of Robert Sandilands Frowd Walker CMG is situated outside Perak Museum, Jalan Taming Sari, Taiping, Perak, Malaysia.

References

  1. Lenzi, Iola (2004). Museums of Southeast Asia. Singapore: Archipelago Press. pp. 200 pages. ISBN   981-4068-96-9.
  2. Nature and Nation: Forests and Development in Peninsular Malaysia By Kathirithamby-W, J. Kathirithamby-Wells, Claire Hall, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies Published by NUS Press, 2004; ISBN   9971-69-302-X, ISBN   978-9971-69-302-2
  3. 100 Resorts Malaysia: Places with a Heart By Dominique Grele Published by Asiatype, Inc., 2004; ISBN   971-0321-03-X, ISBN   978-971-0321-03-2
  4. Illustrated Guide To The Federated Malay States, 1923
  5. Mines and Minerals of the British Empire; Being a Description of the Historical, Physical, & Industrial Features of the Principal Centres of Mineral Production in the British Dominions Beyond The Seas By Ralph S. G. Stokes Published by Read Books, 1908; ISBN   1-4086-2839-2, ISBN   978-1-4086-2839-3