KUALA LUMPUR: The Sarawak Museums Department is in the process of negotiating to bring back the human remains from the Niah Cave that are at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas (UNLV) for study purposes since the past 50 years.
The Tourism, Art and Culture Ministry, in a written reply to a question by Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (GPS-PBB Santubong) in Parliament today, said continuous efforts were made by the ministry to bring back documents, artefacts and national heritage that are in foreign land.
Wan Junaidi wanted to know measures taken by the government to bring back documents, artifacts and national heritage that were stolen and brought out of the country.
According to the ministry, efforts to bring them back are carried out together with the Malaysia Museums Department, National Heritage Department, Department of National Archives and the National Library.
“There are many historical materials and artefacts abroad and are kept at certain places, such as museums, and some are owned by individuals.
“Some of them cannot be brought home because of the laws in the countries concerned,” it stated.
The ministry said the Museums Department had bought and brought back several historical artefacts from London in 2001 and they comprised Malay weapons and Dayak masks, worth RM1 million.
It said the National Library has acquired 780 copies of the old Malay manuscripts from various sources abroad, including the National Library Board Singapore, Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris, Leiden University Library, Holland, Cambridge University Library and British Library, London.
“The National Library is now in the process of developing a data base for the Malay Manuscript Master Catalogue,” it said.
The ministry said, in 2006, the National Heritage Department had brought back the remains of two Malay warriors who were buried in Singapore.
They are the remains of Laksamana Muhammad Amin which were reburied at Makam Diraja, Bukit Chandan, Kuala Kangsar and that of Tengku Menteri Ngah Ibrahim, which was buried at Matang Museum.
The National Heritage Department had also brought back the human remains found in Gua Cha, Kelantan, from the University of Cambridge in 2008 for display at the National Museum, it said. — Bernama
