Pesta Meow 2008 at the Sarawak's Cat Museum

KUCHING: Eighty cats of various breed are taking part in the Pesta Meow 2008 being held at the Cat Museum, Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara, in Petra Jaya here.

Among the breeds on show are American Shorthairs, European Burmese, Persian Siamese, Bengal, British shorthairs and Himalayasan and other local breeds.

The two-day event was officially launched byTuan Haji Abang Atei Bin Medaan, the Mayor of Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara (DBKU) yesterday.

Various activities and competitions were being organised in conjunction with this year’s Pesta Meow 2008.

Among the activities and competitons organised were cats in action video competition, cats candid shot with caption competition, cats colouring and drawing competition, cats stories telling competition, cat hunt, cat make-up competition, cat mimicking competition.

Today, there will be cat kites competition, cat dressing competitions, cat cage decoration competition and cat cartoon film for the public.

Continue reading (incl. pic) at: Pesta Meow 2008 at the Sarawak's Cat Museum

Kuching's ‘Meow Festival’ revived

KUCHING: The ‘Meow Festival’ is making a comeback. In a press conference yesterday, Kuching North City Hall (DBKU) Mayor, Abang Haji Mohamad Atei Medaan announced that the festival will place from May 24 to 25.

The festival is aimed at promoting the Cat Museum as a tourist destination while creating an awareness of the branding of the city of Kuching. Members of the public would also gain a better understanding on how to care for their pet cats.

An handful of competitions with titles such as ‘Cats Candid Shot with Caption Competition’, ‘Cats in Action Video Competition’, ‘Cat Make-up Competition’, ‘Cat Story Telling Competition’, ‘Cat Voice & Action Imitation Competition’, ‘Cat Poster Colouring Competition’ and the ‘Cat Poster Drawing Competition’ will be held on the first day of the festival on May 24. On the second day, May 25, the ‘Cat Fancy Dress Competition’, ‘Cat Cage Decoration Competition’ and the ‘Cat Kite Competition’ will take place.

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Unique charm of Limbang museum

By Hj Mohd Said Arshad

Limbang Regional Museum, located near the Limbang River, was officially opened by Datuk Adenan Hj Satem, Social Development Minister on August 27, 1994.

Back in 1897, the wooden double-storey museum was an old fort during the reign of Rajah Charles Brook against native uprisings.

During the Brooke era, half of the ground floor acted as a prison, while the other half was used as storage. Later on, the upper floor was used as administrative purposes for the resident, district officer and staff.

Several government departments had also used this building until a fire brokeout back in 1989.

As it was gazetted as an historical monument back in 1985, the building was then renovated six years later, preserving its original architectural design.

In the museum, visitors can see 'Batu Ganesa', a Hindu deity bearing an elephant head, which was found at the resident's place in 1921, as well as a Jawi script gravestone.

The museum displays the history and culture of the people from the region - Malay and Kedayan indeginious groups.

At the entrance of the museum, lies a replica of a buffalo and two sets of old canon.

The museum was built to give Limbang residents an opportunity to understand the role of such historical site and also to provide a valuable lesson, whilst at the same time to attract tourists to the area.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin Weekend

Walking through the portals of time in Sarawak

THE driver manoeuvred through the winding driveway and finally came to a halt under a huge tree. I stepped out and was immediately welcomed by the crisp, cool morning air.

Impatient to start my exploration, I hastily jotted down the driver’s phone number, promising to call him for my ride back to the hotel.

He nodded, waved farewell and soon disappeared around the corner, leaving me to unearth Sarawak’s interesting past at my leisure.

Sarawak Islamic Museum

My first stop was the Sarawak Islamic Museum. Admission was free and I quickly went in through a huge ornate doorway, hoping to enrich my mind with the historical heritage and special culture of the Muslim community in Sarawak.

The seven galleries, housing exhibits ranging from Islamic history to a Holy Quran collection, were spacious and didn’t feel like a typical museum at all. Perhaps the fact that the building was constructed to serve as the James Brooke Malay College, had something to do with it. Some 80 years ago, it was converted into the Madrasah Melayu Sarawak before it became the Sarawak Islamic Museum in 1992.

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Kuching Cat Museum - Crazy for cats

If you adore everything feline, a visit to the Kuching Cat Museum is a must.

The first thing you notice when you step off the plane is that the people in Kuching, Sarawak are crazy about cats.

Huge, colourful cat statues dominate the town. The fishing cats dominate the centre square, the beckoning cat stands at the crossroads and the smiling cat stands guard at roundabouts.

Part of the local fascination stems from the fact that kuching means cat in Malay. Lively discussions centre on whether this refers to the wild cats that dominated the area in times past, or the proliferation of a local fruit tree whose lychee-like fruit is nicknamed mata kuching or cat’s eyes.

Still others suggest that the name refers to the coiling shape of the river that winds through the city.

Whatever the reason, Kuching announced it was a Cat City on August 1, 1988 and threw itself into celebrating the cat. To kick it off, the Sarawak Museum took over a cat display from the National Museum, Kuala Lumpur. As it proved popular and the collection grew, the exhibition was given its own space in Kuching’s North City Hall in 1993.

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New exhibition at Sarawak Museum

STUFFED wild animals over a century old and rare items are among the highlights of a new exhibition at the Sarawak Museum’s Dewan Tun Abdul Razak in Kuching.

The exhibition is called “66 - The Chosen Ones” and as its name implies, displays 66 artefacts from the museum’s archaeology, zoology, history, ethnographic and Islamic collections.

It commemorates the museum’s 120th anniversary which fell in 2006.

“We took the number six from 1886 and 2006 to come up with 66 for the exhibition,” museum director Sanib Said explained.

He said some of the exhibits were chosen because of their age. Collected in the 1880s and 1890s, these artefacts are over 100 years old now.

Continue reading (incl. pics) at: New exhibition at Sarawak Museum

Lauding Sarawak tourism development

The awards were organised by the Sarawak Tourism Federation (STF) in collaboration with the state Urban Development and Tourism Ministry, Sarawak Tourism Board and Tourism Malaysia.

A total of 368 entries were received for 15 categories of the awards.

For the first time, a Model Toilet award was given to encourage a high standard of cleanliness.

The award went to the public toilet at the Sarawak Museum maintained by the Kuching North City Hall.

In other new categories, the Best Homestay Programme went to Abas Homestay in Kampung Panglima Seman Lama while Top Spot Food Court in Kuching received an award for best hawker stalls.

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Sarawak Tourism Awards - lauding tourism development

OUTSTANDING contributions to Sarawak’s tourism industry were honoured at the Hornbill Tourism Appreciation Awards in Kuching recently.

The awards were organised by the Sarawak Tourism Federation (STF) in collaboration with the state Urban Development and Tourism Ministry, Sarawak Tourism Board and Tourism Malaysia.

A total of 368 entries were received for 15 categories of the awards

For the first time, a Model Toilet award was given to encourage a high standard of cleanliness. This award went to the public toilet at the Sarawak Museum maintained by the Kuching North City Hall.

Continue reading (incl. pics) at: Sarawak Tourism Awards - lauding tourism development

Sarawak’s Fort Margherita temporarily closed

KUCHING: Fort Margherita, one of the most popular tourist spots in Sarawak, has been closed temporarily.

The Sarawak Museums Department said the closure was due to the poor condition of Jalan Astana, the road leading to the fort, which made it unsafe for visitors to travel there.

“There is also a construction project going on nearby,” said the department in a statement.

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