In the main building of the Sabah Museum, visitors were sparse, as opposed to Gaya Street. Using dioramas and stuffed animals, the museum might be said to have elaborated on their displays in a sense, but the exhibition of Malaysian natural science seemed to have gotton behind across the board. There was no audio guidance. The old pictures and their descriptions for their tradition were like a cultural festival in high schools. Several agricultural or hunting tools were also displayed, but I felt something incomplete in them. They wouldn't yet be able to invest enough funds in such non money-begetting - at least directly - facilities or works of scholarships.
As opposed to scarce documentation, historical materials were well prepared. The restored traditional house with the decoration of human skulls - it would be a replica, I believed - was set indoors. The native peoples' ancient tradition of head hunting was elaborately illustrated. Pictures of the real head hunting tribes were exhibited on the wall with a detailed account. I wasn't able to read all of them due to limited time, but scanning them, their ancient custom of head hunting was not simple cannibalism, but deeply religious. They'd like to receive good fortune by placing some human skulls inside the house. The men who hunted human skulls were respected in their community and were able to get partners. The custom of head hunting was apparently not for eating humans. The museum would be built being intensely aware of international tourists, I thought.
On the other hand, I didn't see any record of the 1st and 2nd World Wars in the museum. After the 2nd World War, the country had seen difficult times and survived. The history that they went out of slavery status and became independent after the 2nd World War must be critically important. There was vast vacant space on the third floor of the museum. I'm not sure, but they might be setting further displays from now on. I'm keenly interested in what point of view they'll take when they explain their post-war history.
By the way, a Malay word "Harimau" caught my eye on a description board. You would know about a Japanese, who had been nicknamed "Harimau" in the 2nd World War. It seemed to mean "Leopard" in Malay. Taking his achievement into account, Harimau must be an ideal nickname. He was a real hero for both Japanese and Malay. The British would have hated him, though.
(Vocabulary)
across the board 全面的に
sparse
a sparsely populated area 人口のまばらな地域
beget (フォーマル) …を生む, …の原因となる
scholarship [U] 学識, 学問
a work of great scholarship 優れた学術研究
マレーシア旅行記： サバ州立博物館
ガヤ通りの人出に比べ博物館本館には来場者が非常に少なかった。ジオラマや動物の剥製など工夫を凝らしたと言えないこともないが、博物館は全面的に自然科学系の展示が遅れていた。音声案内もなく、伝統文化については高校生の文化祭のようなポスターと写真があるのみ。実際に使われた農具や狩猟の道具の展示もあったが、説明が稚拙だと感じた。歴史、文化の展示などお金にならない分野に資金をつぎ込むことはまだできないのだろう。
そのなかで、首刈りの風習についての説明は多かった。レプリカだろうとは思うが頭蓋骨などをぶら下げてある首刈族の家の中を再現したり、実際の写真を掲示していた。全掲示物を読む時間は無かったが、首を刈る風習は単なるcannibalism（人肉を食う風習, 食人）ではなく、宗教的なものであると書かれていた。頭蓋骨を置くことで家庭に幸せを呼ぶとか、首を刈った男は一人前として認められるとか、女性を惹きつけるとか、そういった意味合いのものだったらしい。この博物館はやはり、海外からの旅行者を意識して造られているなと感じた。
一方、大東亜戦後の歴史についてはほとんど触れておらず、展示物のない広いスペースがあった。これから展示物を準備していくのだろうか。近代史を取り上げるのだろうか？どのような視点で歴史を俯瞰するのか、非常に興味がある。余談だが、ハリマオという単語があったので写真に収めた。怪傑ハリマオのハリマオである。豹を意味するマレー語のようです。日本人にとってもマレーシア人にとっても彼はヒーローでしたね。イギリスにとっては悪魔に見えたでしょうが。（笑）
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