Plans to develop cemetery into a historical walk
Kota Kinabalu: Old graveyards and burial grounds may be the next best things to keep tourists coming to Sabah.
Plans are afoot to develop a historical walk at the Mile 2½ Jalan Tuaran graveyard where some of the better known figures in Sabah’s colonial past are buried, the idea being similar to the historical cemetery walk in Malacca’s old quarters.
Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Pang Yuk Ming, on the other hand, said studies are underway to establish the link, if any, between some old cliffside burial sites along the Kinabatangan River and burial grounds along the Yangtze River in mainland China.
In this case, he is hoping a link would woo more tourists from China to Sabah, especially if there is more evidence on the lives of the earliest Chinese to set foot in the State.
Sabah Museum Director Joanna Kitingan said they had planned to turn the Mile 2 ½ Jalan Tuaran cemetery into a historical walk for a long time.
“We hope the Government can support us in implementing this project in terms of funds for the benefits of our younger generation. We cannot deny our history as it is part of our development and it is important for young people to learn to appreciate it,” she said.
She said this during the launching of “The Diaries of George C. Woolley Volume 1; 1901 to 1907” in conjunction with the State Museum’s 50th anniversary, here.
“If you were to walk along the cemetery, you will notice that’s where most of the former governors were laid to rest, especially during the Chartered Company time. I had been to the graveyard before and I felt like as though I was walking back in history,” she said.
According to Kitingan, they had also planned to list out all notable historian figures buried at the Mile 2½ cemetery as well as include markers and their contributions at their graves.
“We thought of having sort of like plaques on their graves, including the grave of the late Chartered Company Officer George C. Woolley,” she said.
She said Woolley’s grave was still in a good condition. However, it was too simple with only ‘G C. Woolley Died in 1947’ inscribed on his tombstone.
“We will do a proper plaque on his grave stating when he was born and in memory of him, especially his contribution to the formation of the State Museum and what he had bequeathed to the museum,” she said.
Pang earlier said the State Museum should organise more exhibitions and publish more historical research papers and documents to attract more people to visit the museum.
“In today’s tourism industry, we have a large number of China tourists but sadly, only a few of them would visit the State Museum,” he said.
However, he said people must understand that the Chinese, being one of the oldest civilisations appreciate history very much.
“If you were to visit China, you would notice that their tourism packages have a lot to do with historical events and historical sites.
“Therefore, to attract the Chinese crowd, we must do proper research especially on the Chinese migration to Sabah. We all know that the Chinese came into Sabah during the Sung Dynasty about 1,000 years ago and to prove this we can see today that there are three ships which sank in Kudat waters.
“That’s why we have lots of artefacts from the Sung Dynasty and if we put up exhibitions linking the development and history of the Chinese migration to Sabah, I believe we will able to attract more Chinese tourists to come and visit the State museum,” he said.
Towards this end, he said the State was embarking on research to uncover Sabah’s historical link, especially in regard of burial methods along the Kinabatangan which, according to him, were similar to that found along the Yangtze River, to attract more Chinese to visit the State.
“This tradition of burying the dead on cliffsides is not practised anywhere else but China…so there must be historical links,” he added.
Source: Daily Express
