KUCHING: The Heritage Society of Rajah Charles Brooke Memorial Hospital (HSoRCBMH) hopes the gazettment of the RCBM site into an open-air museum will become reality this year.
Its president Angelina Jong said Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, the Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports, had tabled the proposed gazettment in the State Cabinet meeting in May this year.
She said the Sarawak government, especially Abdul Karim, was very supportive of the society’s proposal.
“He had actually visited us in 2017 and he wanted us to make this place into a heritage site. We have been fighting for it and it has been tabled and the draft has actually been sent by the Museum Department to the Chief Minister.
“I was told that the Chief Minister has already got the draft, and once the Chief Minister signs it and (Abdul) Karim signs it then it is confirmed the site will be gazetted as well,” she said.
Jong said once the draft has been signed by all parties, it will be sent to the State Attorney-General’s (AG) office and would be included in the Museum rules which were, since July 28, 2017, under the Sarawak Culture and Heritage Ordnance 1993.
“The gazettment should be this year. We are pushing for it. Our time line is 2025, when the RCBM leprosarium will be 100 years old.
“So we have the time line and we hope we can achieve the time line so that everything gets settled, development is there, so that we can open up our heritage site and RCBM leprosarium to our community and tourists,” she said.
Jong said the leprosarium at RCBMH was incepted in 1925 and it is the oldest leprosarium in Malaysia because the leprosarium in Sungai Buluh was incepted in 1931.
“We are oldest and we have more artefacts around as well. So we hope that we would be one of the leprosarium that will be preserved and conserved in the world because now developed countries are actually pushing for all leprosarium to be gazetted.
“Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, they are all pushing for it and we hope to follow suit as well,” she said.
The RCBM leprosarium chronicles a story of survival and struggles of affected individuals who had to endure stigma and ostracism in society.