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EXTENDED: “Warisan Kertas 2” - Exhibition and Sale of Books, Maps, and Ephemera on Malaya and Borneo By Popular Picture History Resources
Extended to 9 September 2010

See interview in the Star Weekender, here.

Badan Warisan Malaysia is delighted to again host an exhibition and sale by Popular Picture History Resources featuring books, maps and ephemera on Malaya and Borneo.

Popular Picture History Resources is run by Johan Nicholson. He came to work in Kuala Lumpur in 1968, carrying with him a childhood obsession with collecting things. On his retirement he felt the need to keep busy and decided to turn his hobby into a business.

On buying Malayan and Borneo material, he says that he sometimes buys things locally so riddled with worm holes that he regrets these spur of the minute decisions. “Material locally stored is almost always chewed or bitten or eaten by some evil insect! The alternative is to buy material from Europe, North America or Australasia, but the prices are way above local material and the cost of postage even by sea is very high. So I am always making decisions on material I have never seen but which sound interesting.”

Therefore in Johan Nicholson’s words, his exhibition and talk will be:

“BRINGING TO LIFE THE BYWAYS OF OUR HISTORY, MAKING THE FORMAL HIGHWAY MORE INTERESTING AND UNDERSTANDABLE”

I spent a year after graduation learning to be a history teacher but ended up as a publisher I am grateful to say. I often wondered how I would have survived as a teacher with few interested students. Ask almost anyone of their memories of history taught and the reply is almost always, “boring, irrelevant” etc. So my hope is that among the 200 or more items there are some that strike the imagination.

For example, I am offering:

a 1942 large format diary, with only 6 words written in it and what is the interest if this I hear you cry, just think of Pearl harbour and Kelantan in early December 1941!

And two lovely editions of a children’s book on rural Kedah, one from 1936 and one from 1949, both elegantly designed with illustrations by Nora Hamerton, one called Paddylands and one called Padilands. Nora Hamerton did fine illustrations for another book on sale, Haji’s Book of Malayan Nursery Rhymes with traditional English rhymes and clever translations and adaptations into Malay by Haji Hamilton, another prolific author on Malayan themes.

And two extracts from the Royal Geographical Society Journal in the 1880s and 1890s, both with very pretty maps, of Malaya and north Borneo, both written by people who had surveyed on the ground and who both said how much there still was to do!

And two books especially for Mems, the names for wives of expatriate civil servants or those in the trade. Malay for Mems is a brilliant book to teach Mems the basics of bazaar Malay so that she could communicate with the Chinese cookie, a great number of fixed phrases and some sentences but no gardening vocabulary as that was clearly left to the Tuan Besar! And Mem’s Own Cookbook 1929 that mentions Malayan or Asian cooking very little, for example curry puffs and the like, no mention of nasi goreng, a great way to get rid of leftover food!

And “The Modern Malay” from 1928 that very seriously discusses the community’s problems and likelihood for survival! Modern Malaysians with weak hearts and no sense of humour should not read!

The aim then of this exhibition and sale is to illuminate the byways of Malayan history, and Singapore and Borneo generally, so the participant can find things to relate to, something to talk to your children about. There is another side of the exhibition, key books from the pre and post Merdeka period. Europeans can refer to key events hundreds of years ago. The Malaysian equivalent may only be sixty years ago, but is just as important.

LIST1: Ephemera, Maps, Prints & Engravings

LIST 2: Books

For details, please email admin[at]badanwarisan[dot]org[dot]my

Exhibition Hours

Mondays to Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.

Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays

EXTENDED: “Warisan Kertas 2” - Exhibition and Sale of Books, Maps, and Ephemera on Malaya and Borneo By Popular Picture History Resources

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News & Announcements

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Walls Come Tumbling Down, History Bypassed
Would this decision to demolish have been made were the building to have been the Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad? Both these buildings were built at the same time, and the design credited to the same engineer, C E Spooner. And yet one is retained, despite having had extensive changes made to its interior, while the other has largely retained its original form. While it may be too late to save Pudu Jail, Badan Warisan hopes that the awareness raised by this will strengthen the resolve members of the public to be conscious of how fragile our heritage is and to speak up for its protection, conservation and preservation.

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Notes from Council
It was an historic moment for Badan Warisan Malaysia when, at approximately 1p.m. on Saturday 4 July 2009, our President, YABhg Tun Ahmad Sarji bin Abdul Hamid signed a lease agreement for the management of Suffolk House with YAB Mr Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang, witnessed by about 40 people including the State Secretary YBhg Datuk Zainal Rahim Seman members of the State Ex-Co, the Penang Heritage Trust and Friends of the Botanical Gardens, as well as members of the press and media.

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MERDEKA STADIUM RESTORATION RECEIVES AWARD OF EXCELLENCE FROM UNESCO
Badan Warisan Malaysia congratulates the Merdeka Heritage Trust and Permodalan National Berhad on winning the Award of Excellence for the 2008 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation for the restoration of Stadium Merdeka. We also delighted that the restoration of Suffolk House in Penang received the Award of Distinction. Congratulations to Arkitek LLA Sdn Bhd, HSBC and the State Government of Penang.

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PENANG HERITAGE TRUST AND BADAN WARISAN MALAYSIA ON THE SUCCESSFUL INSCRIPTION OF MELAKA & GEORGE TOWN AS A SERIAL WORLD HERITAGE SITE
BWM is honoured to have played a part in the country’s achievement. During the last 10 years, we have had to add our weight and experience to actively support the efforts to promote the nomination. Last year we authored the World Heritage Site Management Plan (WHSMP) for George Town which was formulated on behalf of the Penang State Government. This plan formed part of the nomination dossier which was submitted to the World Heritage Centre. A WHSMP is a prerequisite for listing.

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Buletin Warisan September - November 2006
Notes from Council - In the past few months, some members and friends of heritage have commented that they would like to know more about the sorts of heritage issues which concern Badan Warisan Malaysia, and how the Council responds to them. This is especially so for those who do not often come to the Heritage Centre nor participate in activities which have been organized for members. To address this, a note on a selection of issues which are raised at Council will be presented in the Buletin Warisan for your greater understanding and appreciation of the efforts by Council towards promoting the conservation and preservation of Malaysia’s built heritage. In this edition, I am focusing on the most recent campaign for Bok House.

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Terengganu's Rich Heritage
In June 2005 a rather mixed gathering of people from the arts, the media, the adventure travel business, photographers and film makers were assembled at the salubrious Sutra Beach Resort north of Kuala Terengganu courtesy of DiGi Telecommunications for a celebration of some aspects of the state’s rich cultural heritage. The primary focus of the occasion was DiGi’s “Amazing Malaysians” contribution to its corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the individual concerned was none other than the renowned architect and conservationist, member of Badan Warisan YM Raja Dato’ Kamarul Bahrin Shah.

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Report on the Fundraising Dinner 6 December 2007 by Puan Sri Datin Amar Elizabeth Moggie
Malaysians are generous and some donations came from companies we least expected. BWM’s tax exempt status is a great incentive to donors and we were encouraged by people who genuinely supported our cause. We received 3 Platinum donations (4 including Sime Darby), 9 Gold donations, 23 Bronze donations and numerous Warisan donations. Even though some donors did not want to attend the dinner, all 62 tables were filled.

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TOWN PLANNING AND CONSERVATION: WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?
In the preservation of the streetscape or heritage enclaves, we should take a new course – leasing the properties for long periods, instead of selling them outright. The biding process should be open to investors in the country and abroad. The period suggested is a 50-year lease, and the government needs to ensure that these properties are protected when the lease term expires, and this needs to happen before anything is signed. We should not sign away our architectural jewels.

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Events

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