SIBU: Dubbed as a tourism icon that once recorded an average of 8,000 visitors a year, the Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum could see it being renovated and upgraded as a heritage site.
The museum was built in 1996 and launched in 2008. It came about after the demolition of the former Lau King Howe Hospital following the completion of Sibu Hospital.
The hospital itself was built in 1936 and named after the late Lau King Howe, a Foochow from China. Lau, who came to Sibu and ventured into rubber estate, had sold off his assets in the state to fund the project before he left for his home country.
A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was today inked between the Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum Association Sibu and University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS) for the renovation and upgrading works.
Assistant Minister of Housing and Local Government Dr Annuar Rapaee said in his speech at the ceremony that he was allocating RM50,000 for UCTS to conduct a physicality and consultancy study on how the museum could be upgraded.
“In six months, they will come up with a proposal and we will show it to the state government. In that six months, they not only have to come up with the design, but they will also have to do a lot of research on all the equipment and the old apparatus in the building, so it involves a lot of work,” he said.
Following that, he added that he would seek for funds from the state government for the upgrading work.
The Nangka assemblyman said he wanted the museum to become a heritage centre not only for tourists but also most importantly for the Sibu community to remember the contributions of Lau, who had given up his assets for the construction of the first hospital in town.
The hospital, he said, was a centre of unity among the community of different races here, and that about 80 per cent of the population here was born in the hospital.
He also suggested the setting up of a ‘Babies of Lau King Howe’ fund to attract the public to donate between RM1 and RM2 each a year for the museum’s upkeep and maintenance.
“If Mr Lau King Howe can donate almost all his properties to build this hospital, what is RM1 to us for this museum,” he said.
UCTS vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Khairuddin Abdul Hamid said under the MoA, LKHMM association was appointing a team of professional architects, professional IT technologies and lecturers from the university as the project consultants for the renovation and upgrading works of the museum.
“Our team will also be involved in the design and development of animation characters based on the history of the hospital,” he said.
Chairman of LKHMM Association, Datuk Vincent Lau said the museum recorded an average of 8,000 visitors every year since its launch in 2008. — DayakDaily
