Labuan Museum and Negeri-negeri Selat

Do you know how it feels when you found out that you were wrong all this while?

Or perhaps, you did not read and understand thoroughly?

Or not one knew about this info all these while!

Well, this is the story of Me, Labuan Story and the Straits Settlement (Negeri-negeri Selat). 

Let me set the stage so that you guys can clear understand my train of thoughts (or bewilderment) when I got this information. First and foremost, we were told that Labuan is part of Straits Settlement of which, all this while, I thought the Straits Settlement consist of Penang, Melaka and Singapore. I guess I was NOT right.

Secondly, I have always enjoyed museums, a small quaint one is simply perfect as I find it more intimate, within reach (I love touching stuff) and not that overwhelming, making digesting the info and feel - easy. More consumable than the large scale museum. But Labuan Museum did totally the opposite, the info was overwhelming and new (I was running from one end to the other to compare notes, I ever backtracked to relook at the Labuan flag and Brunei family chart just to reaffirm the details.

Last but not least, Sir Hugh Low of whom I always thought helped to introduce rubber/rubber tree in Perak actually started his career in Borneo, namely Labuan, Sabah and Sarawak. I was like ‘just wait a minute, this is a lot to consume in the first 30 minutes of my visit to Labuan Museum’. For a person who loves history, UNESCO sites and all… I basically flipped. An hour visit is insufficient, I need at least 2 hours here (MINIMUM) hence I need to revisit Labuan and its museums again (hint hint to Perbadanan Labuan and Gaya Travel).

Let’s share some insight on the 3 items I shared earlier (as above) with some visual help (to justify what I read). It says clearly that in 1871, Sir John Pope Hanessey; the colonial Governor of Labuan in 1867 suggested Labuan be united with the Straits Settlements so that it may develop further but the Colonial Office did not accept his suggestion. And in 1906, the Colonial Office took over Labuan and was incorporated into the Straits Settlements in 1907 as part of British Colony. On 1^st December 1012, the status of Labuan as part of Straits Settlements was confirmed.

On to the 2^nd item, this is pretty straight forward as you can see in the video, I basically touch the board as I read (sorry yek curator museum).

Lastly, Sir Hugh Low, a colonial administrator and naturalist joined James Brooke, the White Rajah in Sarawak writing on botany in the Sarawak Journals, he later held various colonial roles in Labuan and was the Consul General of Borneo. He also documented ascent of Mount Kinabalu in 1851 thus both Kinabalu's highest peak as well as the gorge on the northern side are named after him. Only in 1877, he was transferred to the Malay Peninsula and became the 4th Resident of Perak.

And all this info that I just shared, is just a section of the museum. I did not even covered the upstairs nor the other half of the ground floor. Well, I guess I need a repeat trip huh! (Sorry, I was so absorb that I forgot to take photos of the museum)

Operating Hours

Daily : 8.30am - 5.00pm

Closed on first day of Eid al-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha

Entrance Fee : FREE

Labuan Museum

Jalan Dewan, Bandar Labuan

Labuan, Wilayah Persekutuan

Tel : +6087-414 135

Email : mlabuan@jmm.gov.my

Explore Labuan Media Fam Trip is in collaboration with Perbadanan Sabah and all its sponsors with #GayaTravel as media coordinator.