On 28th June 2019, Friday, I participated on a short trip with my classmates from the course MPU3412 Social Responsibility to the local heritage-preserving museum called the Muzium Negara, which provides an overview of the rich Malaysian history and culture over the past sixty years. As a matter of fact, Muzium Negara or the National Museum building was established and inaugurated by His Majesty the 3rd King of Malaysia on 31 August 1963, six years after the independence of the country in 1957 (Muzium Negara, 2019).
For this educational tour, I, with my group, reached the museum located on Jalan Damansara in Kuala Lumpur together on time at 2:00 pm by taking public transportation, the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Sungai Buloh–Kajang line. After purchasing tickets for entry, we were soon assigned under a very knowledgeable and entertaining tour guide named Mr. Jeffrey who showed us around the meaningful place of interest. During the visit, the respectful tour guide led us to the four main galleries of the museum, which are: Gallery A – the early history, Gallery B – the Malay kingdoms, Gallery C – the colonial era of Malaysia and Gallery D – the present Malaysia. Throughout the tour, I worked in a pair with a partner who would take down the points explained by the tour guide while I would take photos of the collection of heritages present.
Three Highlights Learnt in the Tour
There are three main highlights that captured my attention during the recent Muzium Negara visit. Foremost, it was the replica skulls of Homo Erectus and Homo Sapiens that were being displayed in the museum. This discovery describes the human evolution from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens from their respective skulls. The skull of Homo erectus (upright man), also referred to as the ancestors of modern humans displayed on the left, and the three skulls of Homo sapiens (wise man in Latin) displayed on the right showed many significant differences between the stages of human evolution over the past million years. One of the most notable differences between them is their brain sizes. The brain size of the ancient Homo erectus species was much smaller, accompanied by a larger face compared to the Homo sapiens species, which is also called the modern humans or what we are today. Additionally, studies also showed that Homo erectus’ skulls were thicker than modern humans’, with a prominent brow ridge present over the eye sockets, and their lower jaw lacking a chin (Hendry, 2018). The growth in brain sizes over the human evolution is said to accommodate the changes in cultural and linguistic complexity, dietary needs and technological prowess, by ways of accentuating the brain regions related to depth of planning, communication, problem solving and other more advanced cognitive functions (Hawks, 2013), in line with Mr. Jeffrey who explained that we simply think more in present days using our brains than our ancient ancestors as the world gets more and more advanced in all aspects. Therefore, to me, it should be taken as a privilege to possess the cognitive functions of a brain, and the ability to think and analyze things as the development of human brains never came easy but took millions of years instead.
Next, the second highlight of this tour is cave paintings or drawings that were believed to be done by the ancient people of Malaysia a few hundred or thousand years ago. The cave paintings were found in many locations around the present Malaysia including the early ones in Gua Tambun, Perak and Gua Kain Hitam in Niah, Sarawak which were believed to be done about 2000 years ago, as well as some others which are more recent, done approximately 500 years prior, like those discovered in Ulu Kelantan and Gua Kelawar, Perak and so forth. For instance, the cave paintings or artwork found in Gua Tambun, Perak were drawn and dyed using haematite, interpreted in such way since the red-colored iron-based rock can be easily found around the cave (Price, 2014). Some cave paintings were done using a mixture of charcoal and tree sap, such as the artworks found in Ulu Kelantan, Gua Kelawar, Perak and Gua Badak, Perak as well as those in East Malaysia such as the cave paintings in Gua Sireh, Sarawak and Hagap Bilo, Sabah. These cave paintings are significant and surprising to me as they show and further prove that the ability to think symbolically and creatively is a unique human or personality trait that has existed over thousand years ago.
Moreover, the cultural heritage inherited from the past generations of the Straits Chinese community also caught my eyes during the tour mainly because of how unique and interesting their culture is to me. The Straits Chinese community or the Peranakan Chinese is an ethnic group descended from Chinese who came to and settled in Melaka while socializing with and marrying people from the local community, namely the Malays, in the 15th and 16th centuries. Through this, it formed a new community where Malay culture is adapted and assimilated with their very own Chinese identity, religion as well as cultural heritage. Members of this community in Malaysia address themselves as Baba Nyonya where Nyonya is the term for the women and Baba for the men. This community also developed a unique character of their own culture over time such as that they speak fluent Malay language besides wearing baju kebaya with batik sarung as their norms. Furthermore, the Straits Chinese community is famous for its porcelain wares of strong and bright colors – red, green and yellow. These unique ceramics of the Baba Nyonya, also known as ‘Nyonyaware’, were once so highly priced in the local antiques market that a lidded pot would cost over RM60,000, as the colorful products attracted and caused intense rivalry among numerous antique collectors in Malaysia and Singapore (Wong, 2007).
Significant Element in the Tour
The one significant element that I find most interesting in this museum visit is the Bunga Mas or the Golden Flower displayed in Gallery C of the National Museum. The Bunga Mas or the Golden Flower was a tribute, or a gift sent by the Sultans of the Northern Malays States of Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Patani and so forth to the King of Siam in Bangkok as a token of friendship or diplomacy. In brief, the tribute consisted of two small trees made of solid gold and silver, in addition with costly gifts of weapons including shields and spears, goods and slaves which would be sent every three years to King of Siam. This culture of sending the Bunga Mas to Siam began in the 14th century and ended with the establishment of British rule in most of the Northern Malay states under the terms of the Anglo-Siamese Treaty 1909 (Andaya & Andaya, 1984). This is the most significant disclosure to me because of how artistically and beautifully it was crafted and presented even though the craftwork has since existed 600 years prior. It shows that time does not place a limit on the creativity of humans and artistic as a personality or trait is never restricted by space-time continuum. This element also amazed me as it was made of pure solid gold and silver which is extremely rare to see such a craftwork these days. The materials used in making the Bunga Mas also indicates how resourceful the Malay states were in terms of raw commodities which made the kingdoms as powerful as they were. This has taught me that it is vital to know our own strengths as it gives a better understanding of oneself and how he or she functions besides keeping one ahead in a lot of things and helping him or her to grow more as knowing what we can excel at enables us to aim higher and achieve much more (Pillay, 2014).
Thoughts-Shifting on Being a Responsible Citizen by the Tour
This educational tour to the National Museum has transformed me into a more responsible and patriotic citizen mainly due to my improved understandings of the way our nation achieved independence in 1957 and the establishment of Malaysia in 1963, which did not come easy even a bit.
As the group and I, led by Mr. Jeffrey, walked through Gallery C of the National Museum which displayed the history of the colonial era of Malaysia and the path to national independence, I understood that the formation of our nation was ultimately realized thanks to the leaders and politicians of all races and all regions in Malaysia, as well as the loyalty and the consensus of the people to their country which acted as a catalyst to achieving independence from the colonization of British. The greatest example is the contributions of our Father of Independence – Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra who, throughout his lifetime, has shown a high sense of identity to liberate the nation from colonial grip. Involvement to fight against the Malayan Union, driving UMNO leadership through the change of slogan form “Hidup Melayu” to “Merdeka”, and the organization of the inter-racial strategy with the cooperation of the Malay Rulers Council have proven Tunku's leadership to achieve independence peacefully through the negotiating table. As a result, multiracial and religious Malaysians are now free to practice their customs, culture and beliefs and live in peace and harmony.
Therefore, after knowing the history, I have had a change of mind to make peace with other races in order to preserve the racial harmony that was built and maintained by the past generations. I feel that it is not only my responsibility, but the responsibility of all people in Malaysia to prioritize the unity of all races existing in the country. Racism and prejudice or discrimination towards other races should not be practiced not only for harmony but also national safety, with the 13 May 1969 incident presenting us the most tragical consequences of racial tension in the history of Malaysia. Moreover, I have learnt that we should always respect and be loyal to the His Majesty and the country besides obeying the national constitutional laws all the time, in accordance to the responsibilities of a responsible citizen. Last but not least, I as a citizen of Malaysia am also responsible for taking part in the Malaysian general election as it aims to elect the best candidate to be the leader of the country who will then be responsible for managing the nation and leading it to become a developed country in the future.
Self-Reflection on the Whole Visit
The whole visit to the National Museum was delightful as I understood that the human civilization that we have in present days was achieved in multiple stages, bit by bit that took million years. From here, I have learnt to not to take things for granted or value things too lightly but to appreciate and give recognition to anything that is given to me. I will not expect someone or something to be always available all the time to serve as nobody is assumed to never lose something forever. This represents a change in my attitude towards things and people, from the old me who was somehow unappreciative for things and easily frustrated when things do not work out in the way I would like them to, to the new me with much more gratitude and respect stored in my heart.
Furthermore, this visit also turned me into more of a tolerant peacemaker as I understood the importance of diplomatic and peaceful relations between nations towards building national security by preventing conflicts and contributing to the development of a nation through economic and societal benefits. During the tour, I was exposed to many international organizations that aim at establishing world peace such as United Nations (UN) and UNESCO when the group made our way through Gallery D of the museum. Instead of making and preserving peace at a national level, I have learnt to apply it on the personal level and learnt to be more tolerant towards others. Developing peaceful relationships and being tolerant with others are essential to building a harmony community and society as misunderstandings between people will be greatly minimized. Nonetheless, tolerance is important to be fostered among citizens especially in a multiracial society with multireligious and multi-ethnic communities like Malaysia for the betterment of the nation.
After all, this tour has taught me many life lessons that I did not know I needed. This educational tour to Muzium Negara can be said as helpful and will be one of the most memorable trips I have ever taken part in as it has helped me reflect my own weaknesses and subsequently make a change to be a better man.
Conclusion
In short, I am grateful for Ms. Sara for arranging this educational tour to Muzium Negara as it was indeed a helpful and eye-opening experience to me. Through this tour across four different galleries, I have gained more knowledge on what happened in the past, ranging from what humans do daily in different eras or ages such as the Paleolithic period and the Bronze Age; to the history of Malaysia including the events that unfolded during the pre-independence and the post-independence periods of our lovely country that made Malaysia become what it is today. I am also thankful for the knowledgeable and well-informed tour guide, Mr. Jeffrey for trying his best to explain everything to us without feeling any frustrations or impatient. All in all, I sincerely feel that I am very fortunate to have taken part in such an informational tour with my classmates that actually made me become a more responsible and patriotic citizen as well as a better person in all aspects.