A Visit to Malaysian Chinese Museum on 30/05/2018

On Wednesday, May 30, 2018, Soh Ai and I visited the Malaysian Chinese Museum (马来西亚华人博物馆) located at 1^st Floor, Wisma Huazong, along Lebuhraya Sungei Besi, Seri Kembangan, Selangor from 11.30am till 1.00pm.

This museum is set up by the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia or Hua Zong and is scheduled to officially open for public in June this year.  The entrance ticket is now RM 10 per person for adults and free for children below the age of 12, senior citizens above the age of 65 and disabled persons.  After the official opening, the ticket would be RM20 per person for adults.

It is understood that the museum has a built-up area of 10,550 sq. ft. and has a total of 15 thematic zones exhibiting the history of Chinese and other ethnic groups. Different phases of era – Japanese rule, return of British, emergency period and others are displayed.  The museum is also equipped with high tech devices such as 3D and 2D interactive visuals to merge with traditional artifacts. 

The artifacts and accompanying write-ups chronicle the history of Chinese immigrants to Malaysia and their integration into Malaysian society.

As today is a working day, and I purposely chose it for the visit, there were only 5 visitors in the morning, i.e. Soh Ai and I, and another man with his two parents.  Anyway, five of us were entertained to a 10-minute video footage showing the brief history of Chinese in Malaysia.  

I found the visit very interesting, educational and enjoyable. 

Admiral Cheng Ho's artifact 

Princess Hang Li Poh and Malaccan Sultan Mansur Shah

Ship-building

Tin-mining operation

Chen Jiageng aka Tan Kah Kee (Chinese businessman, community leader and philanthropist active in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and various Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Xiamen, and Guangzhou)

Japanese occupation of Malaya

Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Tan Cheng Lock, founder of MCA

During the Emergency Rule

Vernacular Chinese newspapers of the past