Malacca: The Malacca Museum Corporation (Perzim) is carrying out an exercise to restructure 20 museums and galleries that it manages to make them more relevant and appealing to visitors.
Its general manager Mohd Nasruddin Rahman, said the move would also involve the closure of its less popular museums and would see many of their exhibits being relocated to other museums, especially in the Banda Hilir area.
So far, four museums were closed in the ongoing exercise that started two months ago. They include Muzium Alor Gajah, Galeri Malacca, Muzium Al-Quran and Galeri Batang Tiga.
“The closure of some of the museums and galleries does not mean that we will store the historical artifacts and other items, instead, we will place them in the other museums.
“For example, the exhibits in the Muzium Al-Quran at the Al-Azim Mosque were moved to the Muzium Islam and Muzium Dunia Melayu and Dunia Islam in Bandar Hilir,” he told Bernama after officiating the closing of the 2019 ‘’sleepover at the museum’’ programme, here today.
The programme which lasts for two days and one night kicked off yesterday at the Hang Tuah Centre involved the participation of 67 students from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Pulau Sebang, Alor Gajah; SMK Sungai Rambai, Jasin, both in Malacca and SMK Sri Serdang, Selangor.
He said Perzim was also improving the quality and quantity of its exhibits by adopting an interactive method which would enhance the role of each museum and gallery in line with current technological developments.
“We are also focusing on a learning package where the target audience are students from schools and tertiary institutions,” he said.
The objective of introducing the package was for them to view the artifacts and to spark their interest in History.
Sungai Rambai SMK student Erna Syarina Mohd Shibolfabilah, 16, a participant, said the overnight programme at the museum was a new experience for her.
Her schoolmate, Khairul Irsyaduddin Sulaiman, 16, said he was initially sceptical when his teacher told him that he and a few others had been selected for the programme.
“I was also afraid to stay overnight at the museum thinking it would be a scary experience being in the midst of ancient exhibits and statues.
However, all that changed the moment he walked into the Hang Tuah Village Centre dedicated to the famous Malay hero, Hang Tuah as the activities were fun, enlightening and heightened his interest in history. — Bernama
