Lawrence and I had wanted to visit the Kota Tinggi Museum for some time as it focusses on the history of the Johor Sultanate, so we thought it might have information useful in the making of our documentary on The Hidden History of Johor Lama. The museum has undergone a recent facelift and is now open to the public, but like much of Johor’s Government-run ‘Cultural Museums’, it seems to be targetted more towards group visitors (school children and companies) than to individual visitors.
Nevertheless, if you planning a boat trip at one of the nearby FireFly parks in Kota Tinggi, why not visit the museum in the afternoon? It is open Sat-Weds 9:30 am to 4:30 pm, Thurs 9:30 am to 3:30 pm, Friday closed. It is clearly signposted from the road and has a large carpark. Toilet facilities are around the back of the museum building and there is no cafe, just a vending machine outside.
The museum has English-speaking guides who can show you around and the walls are covered in display panels which all have a summary in English. You can read the history of the Melaka Sultans from 1400 to the Johor Sultans up to the early 1800’s. There is even some pre-history but our guide did not know the dates.
Here are some examples of the paintings portraying major points in history and the lives of the rulers……..
At their peak, both the Melaka Sultans and the Johor Sultans were very successful maritime traders and their empires were vast. Naturally, this made them targets by the Siamese, Portuguese, Achenese, Dutch, Bugis and British. For the Johor Sultans, this meant they were constantly moving up and down the Johor River and out to the islands of the Riau-Lingga archipelago (current day Singapore and Bintan islands in particular). Unfortunately the museum has not yet thought through a story to tell visitors, so you might like to read through my blogs on The History of Johor in advance to help make sense of what’s on view here.
In addition to the pictures and text, there are many weapons on display. The first display you will come across is a wall full of kris, the weapon of choice for a Malay warrior. But I am pretty sure I can also see a Portuguese sword in this collection!
And at the far end of the hall is a wall full of spears, again a huge variety is on display.
There are also individual display cases showing more refined kris and other weapons. On the left is a pocket-size kris, and one could imagine this being used by an assassin. Assassination and poisoning by foreign rivals and one’s own family were common problems of the being a Sultan!
There are rifles and cannon on display as well, and the small size of the cannon is important to see because these would have been fitted at the front of the Malay fighting ships and were tiny in comparison to the guns of a Portuguese galleon. In written accounts of the battles, you read of hundreds of cannon being captured, but they were more like the size of the blunderbuss shown below right.
The Kota Tinggi museum is still a work in progress, so some display items are not fully labeled yet. I should also caution about the pictures on display. If you look at the one of Raffles signing the 1819 Treaty of Friendship, Raffles seems to be depicted as a Dutchman and the soldier standing behind him looks distinctly Portuguese! (I’m not showing this particular picture here, so you can search for it yourselves!) When you see inaccuracies like this in a museum, it does make you wonder about the portrayal of characters which you are less familiar with.
But anyway, use your imagination and go there to learn a little bit more about the history of Johor, what it had to go through to get where it is today, and it might help you better understand the relationship between the current day Sultan and his people.
The museum has a Facebook page Kota Tinggi di Ujong Tanah where you will see this photo of myself and Lawrence. The lady in pink was our guide and she was excellent company so we were able to clarify bits of information and learn something new as well. The gentleman on the left, wearing a tanjak on his head, was a teacher involved in student activities.
If you are looking for something to eat after all this mental activity, I can thoroughly recommend the Medan Selera RHD (Lot 223, Jalan Johor,81900 Bandar Kota Tinggi). The museum is to the northeast of the town centre, so drive southwards on Route 3. Just after you cross the river you will see this restaurant on the righthand side in between some petrol stations. We stopped there on our last visit to Kota Tinggi. It’s a classical Malaysian buffet style restaurant with plenty of choices and friendly staff.
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