Museum Attracts Over 1,100 Children

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam - The Brunei Museum's school holiday programme has been a success, attracting 1,171 children in less than three weeks, raising the museum's visitorship to 3,690 for the month of December.

Mariani Hj Abu Bakar, public relations officer for the Museums Department, said the number was an encouraging sign that the museum still remained relevant to the younger generation.

"It's very encouraging to see the numbers pass the 1,000 mark only three weeks in. The programme of activities will continue to run until the end of the month."

However, this year's number of visitors was a sharp decline from December 2009 which saw 8,173 visitors.

"We can't really account for the high numbers last December, since we didn't have any special exhibits on at the time, but visitors for the museum have been slowly increasing this year due to the various activities, programmes and new exhibitions such as the BLNG one in the lobby."

The public relations officer added that new exhibits and activities may be in the pipeline next year, stating that the department will prepare something in conjunction with the 27th National Day celebrations in February.

Mariani said the activities at the museum aim to highlight the nation's cultural heritage by including traditional games and activities such as congkak, pasang and kite-making.

"Also, while they are here, hopefully they will take the time to look at the exhibits in the galleries with their parents and siblings."

The museums official added that one of the most popular activities was an Amazing Race-style expedition through the museum, where children receive a list of clues and search through all the exhibits to find the answers.

"We have staff from the museum and our department's education services helping out and taking turns conducting the activities throughout the month. We also have hospitality students from MTSSR (Sultan Saiful Rijal Technical College) doing their attachment here and helping the staff provide the activities for the public," she said.

One of the highlights of the month-long programme is the kite-making competition, overseen by the museum's own kite expert, Hj Suhaimi Hj Azahari. Hj Suhaimi, who has over 30 years of experience in kite-making, has conducted several workshops throughout the month to teach children the art of traditional Bruneian kite-making.

"The workshop was held over three days and the competition is the culmination of all they have learnt over that time," he said.

Prizes will be presented to the winners on December 27.

Sumber: http://email.brudirect.com
Sumber Foto: http://www.travelpod.com

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