Tuesday June 4, 2013
KUCHING: Residents in Sri Aman division are encouraged to form a volunteer group known as Friends of Fort Alice (FoFA) to support the Sarawak Museum Department to set up and operate a heritage museum to be housed in Fort Alice after its conservation has been completed.
Consultant for conservation project, Mike Boon, said as the Sri Aman people helped to build Fort Alice nearly 150 years ago under the Rajah Brooke, it was only right and proper for them to help set up the heritage museum.
“Concerned stakeholders including Sarawak Heritage Society (SHS) and Simanggang Soon Heng Society (the first Chinese association in Sri Aman) could help provide some guidance. We will retreat to the background after FoFA has been properly set up,” he told The Star when contacted yesterday.
Boon hoped that the three main ethnic groups in Sri Aman — Iban, Malay and Chinese — who played a big part in developing the division would pool their resources and run the show in the future.
“FoFA will run on volunteerism and will be a platform for the locals to be involved in taking care of the fort and museum,” he said.
The idea to form FoFA was mooted during a recent a community-based cultural heritage conservation programme called “Reminiscing Forgotten Treasure ... Simanggang”.
To date a few persons had shown some interest in the idea, he said.
The community programme was held by SHS as its second series following the first one implemented in Siniawan near here called “Reminiscing Forgotten Treasure ... Siniawan”.
This programme was funded by SHS with the Malaysian Institute of Architects Sarawak Chapter as the co-organiser. The corporate partner was NS Bluescope Lysaght (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd.
Simanggang Soon Heng Society, the local partner, played an important role in the implementation of the programme and logistic coordination.
Sarawak Museum Department and The Talents and Arts Performing Group also supported the community programme.
Boon said the programme consisting of talks, workshop and site visit was held to raise public awareness of future conservation of Fort Alice and to turn it into a heritage museum.
During the programme, he said, participants including secondary school students visited Fort Alice and witnessed a “miring” ceremony to mark the beginning of the conservation project.
He said it was pivotal to include the community in the overall conservation because they were also the custodians of Fort Alice, and not just government agencies.
“We hope that in the coming months the project implementor, the Public Works Department and contractor, will allow us to bring programme participants to the site to see for themselves the work progress and how conservation is done.
“We hope to create an interest in them particularly the students so that they can tell the story of their experience in the future, otherwise it will be a missed opportunity,” he said.
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