The Perak Museum () is a public

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

located at the junction of Jalan Muzium (Museum Road) and Jalan Taming Sari (Main Road) in Taiping,

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, 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, Kel ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. It is the oldest museum in Malaysia and highlights the history of the state.

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 Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham (28 March 1850 – 11 June 1946) 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 P ...

, Resident of Perak from 1889 to 1895, Resident-General of the

Federated Malay States The Federated Malay States (FMS, , Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of four protectorate, protected states in the Malay Peninsula — Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang — established in 1895 by the British government, and whi ...

(now Malaysia) in 1896–1901, and Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements () were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of the ...

1901–1904. The museum was initially concerned with

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

particularly

ethnography Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

, botany and

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

, 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.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; , 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; , This museum should not be confused with The Perak Museum in

Ipoh Ipoh (, ) is the capital city of the Malaysian States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Perak. Located on the Kinta River, it is nearly north of Kuala Lumpur and southeast of George Town, Penang, George Town in neighbouring Penang ...

erected in 1926 by a rich and successful tin miner called Foo Choong Kit.

References

External links

* Museums in Perak Taiping, Perak {{Malaysia-museum-stub

History

See also

References

External links