By JAG
A delegation from the Royal Gallery Tuanku Ja’afar visited the Perak Academy and YLCO Museum recently. It was led by Mohd Khairil Hisham, the Curator and accompanied by Research Officer Cik Nur Amira and her colleague Aina. They were greeted by Perak Academy’s Chairman Adib Vincent Tung Abdullah and Vice Chairman Chan Chee Keong.
The trio were in Perak for the last two weeks visiting museums in Perak such as the Kinta Tin Mine Museum in Kampar, Antong Coffee Mill,Taiping which was the historical home of Chinese revolutionary Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and his lover, Chen Chuifen and Lat’s Gallery in Batu Gajah.
However the team was disappointed as the Gopeng Museum was closed.
Their purpose was to view the link between the Federated Malay States, a straightforward treaty which the British signed with the Sultan of Perak and agreeing to accept a British Resident. Unlike in Negeri Sembilan due to its unique structure, had 6 treaties with 6 British Residents signed between 1874 till 1888.
According to Khairil the Gallery Tuanku Diraja Ja’afer (GDTJ) is a privately funded establishment under the Tuanku Ja’afar Foundation. It has a staff strength of eight including 2 from marketing. They have three halls including a multi-purpose hall, all available for rent. The Gallery has 4 programmes / exhibits a year which are presented to the board a year in advance. As such ”we are very busy throughout the year” said Khairil.
The Chinese in Seremban loved Tuanku Ja’afar the son of Tuanku Abdul Rahman and that is why we collaborated with the Chinese. Chinese account for 50% of our visitors each year. That is the reason our gallery brochures are printed in Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese.
The Negeri Sembilan Royal Family and the Kuomintang (KMA, the Chinese Nationalist Party founded by Sun Yat-sen in 1912) were very close. Tuanku Abdul Rahman who was Malaysia’s 1st Agong kept a bodyguard who was from the KMA. He was a target of the communist due to his closeness with the KMA.
A major incident occurred in 1951 when Tuanku Abdul Rahman was returning to Seremban from Singapore by train. He was attacked by communists at Tampin resulting in 12 persons killed. It was reported in the Singapore daily, but not in Malaya.
In fact GDTJ has a collaboration with all the Chinese museums ie Selangor, Johore, Penang and Negeri Sembilan. They have a cultural exchange with 2 Chinese museums in Negeri Sembilan belonging to the Chinese Chambers in the dialects of Hakka and Teochew.
After a fruitful discussion the delegation visited the YLCO family Museum. Curator Ignatius Chew greeted Mohd Khairil and proceeded to show them the family museum. The team posed with Malaysian Oscar winning actress Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh’s photo.
Ignatius showed them a photo of Tuanku Ja’afar the Yang DiPertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan with the Sultans of Perak, Pahang and Perlis together, in which they immediately showed interest. The photo was from the file of Yeoh Cheang Lee, the chairman of the Perak Turf Club at its inaugural opening ceremony on 26 February 1971.
What a coincidence for Mohd Khairil to take home a souvenir from YLCO Museum.
