By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Nov 14: A prehistoric skeleton from Niah Cave is among national artefacts that abroad has been brought back home.
According to a TVS news report, Minister of National Unity, Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang said, the Sarawak Museum Department managed to secure the skeleton which was stored in Florida, United States of America, in 2020.
He revealed that two Orang Ulu swords, an Iban pua kumbu cloth and Borneo ethnic bead accessories were also brought back home in 2023.
“(In addition, a) Kenyah Badeng heritage ‘sun hat’ was obtained this year.
“The Malaysian Museums Department previously managed to obtain a blue whale skeleton from Singapore in 1974 and a human skeleton from Gua Cha, Kelantan from the University of Cambridge in 2028,” he said during the Minister’s Question Time for Oral Answers in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Aaron also answered a question from Bakri Jamaluddin (Perikatan Nasional-Tangga Batu) about efforts made to bring back artefacts and old manuscripts related to the history of Malaya that were looted during the Portuguese, Dutch and British colonial eras and kept abroad.
Meanwhile, Aaron disclosed that the National Archives of Malaysia (ANM) has also conducted tracking, research and purchase of old manuscripts and historical materials related to Malaya stored in archival institutions abroad since 1965 up until present.
“A total of 1,448 manuscripts have been obtained and opened for reference to researchers and the public.
“Apart from manuscripts, ANM focuses on historical sources in the form of documents, notes, files, registers, printed materials, books, maps, plans, drawings, photographs, cinematograph films, sound recordings, microfilms and records in digital form.
“These materials were obtained from various institutions in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Portugal, New Zealand, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia,” he said.
He also informed the Dewan Rakyat that since the 1970s, the National Library of Malaysia has managed to obtain 1,090 manuscripts and copies involving 22 institutions in Singapore, France and the Netherlands. — DayakDaily
