KUCHING: The present Astana should be converted into a Sarawak Heritage Centre due to its illustrious historical moments and the glorious events painted throughout its establishment.
Dr.Peter M.Kedit, senior advisor to the Tun Jugah Foundation said the decision to convert Astana into a museum marks the death knell for one of Sarawak’s illustrious built heritages, and the purpose it was meant for as the Astana and its surrounding site symbolises past power and authority of Sarawak governance and heritage.
“The present Astana – its position as the official residence for Sarawak Governor will soon be replaced by a new Astana.
“This was announced by the State Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah on July 4, 2023,” he said, quoting Abdul Karim’s comment in The Borneo Post that the old building would be turned into another museum, where artefacts related to the past governors would be showcased.
According to Abdul Karim the current 153-year-old Astana is slightly run-down.
Kedit shares significant moments of the historic Astana building, pinpointing historic events to well-known visitors which have painted rich historical moments of the building.
With references and notes taken from ‘Chater, W.J. 1994, Sarawak Long Ago, DBDP, KL’, he said the Rajahs of Sarawak built three residences in Kuching.
“The first in 1842, was burnt to the ground during the insurrection of February 1857, and the second, built immediately to replace the first, was demolished after only twelve years in 1869 to make way for the third, which is the present Astana.
“The Brookes’ residences feature many stories in the pages of Sarawak history. Since the times of the first Rajah, there were stories of how Sarawak was governed, happenings of famous visitors as guests of the Rajahs, and meetings between the rulers and their subjects,” Kedit shared in a statement.
“During the rule of the first Rajah, it was said that: “…The large sitting room was particularly useful since it was the custom of the Malay chiefs to visit the Rajah in the evening and sit and chat until late into the night.
“In this way he was kept in touch with events happening around him which were necessary in those early turbulent days.
“One of the famous guests whom the Rajah hosted was Alfred Russell Wallace, the co-founder of Evolution theory with Charles Darwin, who stayed in Sarawak during the 1850s, collecting biological specimens for museums in Europe,” he said.
Kedit explained during the time another important visitor was the Italian botanist, Odoardo Beccari, he was in the country from 1865-1868, collecting plant specimens (one of which is the rare giant corpse flower – Amorphophallus titanium, that can still be found in Gunung Gading, Lundu); and writing on his exploration in his book: “Wandering in the great forests of Borneo, Travels and reaches of a naturist in Sarawak (Beccari 1904).
“An interesting character that came visiting in 1876, was Marianne North, a Victorian botanical artist. She arrived in Sarawak from Singapore with a letter of introduction to the Rajah and Ranee from the Governor of Singapore and his wife,” he said.
From references of J.H.Walker: In Kino No 22,2016. ‘Marianne North in Sarawak’, Kedit shared that after Marianne had settled in the guest room which overlooked the river, the Ranee suggested that they rest, meeting for tea later in the afternoon. Marianne however, declared that resting to be a waste of time, telling Margaret that she wanted to set off to find pitcher plants, which she had come to Sarawak to paint.
“In one of her field-trips, she was given “a species of a very large pitcher plant, which she painted. When the director of Kew Garden, Sir Joseph Hooker, confirmed that it was a species previously unknown to science, he called the plant Nipenthes Northiena.
“This was one of seven species of plants named in her honor,” Kedit said.
Taking references from the notes of Brooke, M. 1986, My Life in Sarawak, OUP. Singapore, page.150-55; he explained Ranee Margaret wrote detailed accounts of Marianne’s visit to the Astana in her autobiography, as the notes tell that “Many people know the great work of her life, and must have seen the gallery of her pictures which she gave to Kew Garden. Many of these pictures were painted in Sarawak”.
Kedit explained; “The above narratives of visits to the Astana, and subsequently of books written on them, show the connections of Sarawak with the outside world, especially of nineteenth century Europe.
“Sarawak history also documents meetings in the Astana between the Rajahs and local personalities, such as OKP Aji, Penghulu Dalam Munan, Temenggon Koh; who, for some reasons, were summoned to defend their wrong-doings as referenced from Pringle, R. 1970, Rajahs and Rebels, MacMillan UK.”
Kedit, taking notes from Chater W. p 30 said contemporary history records happenings of British Governors residing in the Astana, during the Japanese Occupation of Prince Maeda who ordered the cleaning of creepers grown on the Tower, which local belief was a taboo; and because of this, it was said he was killed three days later in an air crash over Bintulu.
“There were also legal events of ‘Swearing-in Ceremony’ for the appointments of Chief Ministers and their Cabinet members.
“All these contribute to the rich history of Sarawak. But, with changing time, the purpose and function of the Astana, invariably change. As mentioned by Abdul Karim, the Astana will have a new role of: “…turning into a museum where we can showcase a lot of artefacts related to past governors.”
“This idea is somewhat similar to the American concept of honouring their past Presidents, in what is called the Presidential Library System,” Kedit said.
He pointed out that in the United States, the presidential library system is a nationwide network of 15 libraries administered by the Office of Presidential Libraries, which is part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
“These are repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, collections and other historical materials of every president of the United States …In addition to the library services, museum exhibitions concerning the presidency are displayed,” Kedit said with reference from Wikipedia: Presidential Library System.
He added it is interesting to note that Astana was also once a library.
“There was one thing for which this residence was very well known and that was its library. The Rajah, over a number of years, had collected a vast number of books covering a wide range of topics. Unfortunately, they were all destroyed when the residence was razed to the ground.
“As soon as news reached England, members of the Rajah’s old school sent out a large number of books to replace those destroyed. Cambridge University also contributed,” he said, taking notes from Chater, W. p20f.
Kedit recalled in the 1970s, when the Astana was undergoing renovation, Sarawak Museum Archivist & Librarian, Loh Chee Yin and his staff collected and transferred those books in the Tower to the Museum Reference Library.
