The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) Museum at Jalan Perdana in Kuala Lumpur, which was initially a store used to keep exhibits from criminal cases for training of police trainees, now holds the treasures and glorious history of the more than 200-year-old police force.
The museum, which was opened on Jan 9,1961 by the third Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Syed Putra Ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail, keeps various artefacts, including a more than 300-year-old British-made flint-lock pistol and 500-year-old Portuguese coins.
There are over 3,000 artefacts, such as pistols, swords, arrows, cannons, armoured vehicles, fire engines, maps, police uniforms from the previous years and documents confiscated from the communists.
There are also pictures and photographs on display for visitors to see and get an insight on the history, struggle and challenges of the oldest security force in the country.
Upon entering the museum compound, visitors will get to view an armoured truck from GM Motors, a light aircraft and the 103-year-old British HMW cannon, previously housed at the Sungai Petani Police Station in Kedah.
The museum director, Supt Selamat Sainayune said a visit to the 70-year-old museum will give visitors an insight on the history and development of the PDRM.
“The history and glory of the police force since the Malay Sultanate can be seen through the various artefacts on display.
“By viewing the artefacts, including the firearms that were confiscated during the communist era, and the equipment used by the police force since 1807, visitors will realise the huge sacrifices made by members of the police force to the country, ” he said.
Selamat who has been with PDRM for 36 years, said the current PDRM museum was formerly a senior police officers’ mess, which had been renovated for use as a museum.
The museum formerly occupied a building which was used as a store at Jalan Gurney (now known as Jalan Semarak).
The construction of the new museum was inspired by former Inspector-General of Police Tun Hanif Omar, and it was opened to the public on July 24,1999.
So far, it has received more than a million visitors, said Selamat.
He said PDRM also has two galleries, one is known as Galeri Darurat Bukit Kepong (GDBK), which exhibits artefacts from the Malayan Emergency period.
It was opened in early 2017 and had so far received 200,000 visitors.The other is the Galeri Ketua Polis Negara (GKPN), which was opened in late 2016 in Bukit Aman.
It was set up to honour those who held the post, and their contributions.
Selamat said the PDRM Museum also organises various activities to attract visitors, including student trips.
“We have the ‘A Night At The Museum’ series as well as patriotic poetry contests and talks on nationhood, ” he said.
However, he noted, the programmes for this year have been cancelled due to the pandemic.
The museum is opened from 10am every day, except on Monday. Entrance is free. – Bernama
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