Let's talk about building a national railway museum together

‘Malaysia’s railway history’s current narrative frames it as a legacy of colonial-capitalist expansionism. That’s how it began, yes, but that’s only a small part of the picture. We need to consider what it means to Malaysia and Malaysians today,’ says Mahen. Photo: KTM

Do you like trains? Do you like museums? Do you wish museums would do something different?

There is an open call now for the (RE)MUSE - (RE)imagining A 21st century Malaysian Railway Museum workshop series, which will be presented by Projek Keretapi Kita and Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur next month.

This workshop series - to be held at Rumah Tangsi KL on Feb 19 and 20 – is designed to challenge established ways of thinking and to interrogate local issues towards conceptualising a railway museum that is localised, sustainable and distinctly Malaysian.

Participants will spend the day discussing and brainstorming ideas on what this railway museum in Malaysia would look and feel like. As a community project, the workshops welcome input from academics, the general public, amateur historians, students and others.

“The goal of the workshop is to capture a snapshot of our collective imagination of what a railway museum can be. As individuals, we rarely have a say in these initiatives. The building of museums, especially ones that are of national interest, are typically initiated from the top by government departments, agencies and institutions,” says Mahen Bala, who will be leading a team of facilitators during (RE)MUSE.

“The construct of these museums are defined by conventions and end up being administrative, rather than innovative and relevant. This is why the core concept or idea of the museum in question must necessarily emerge from the collective inputs of various stakeholders,” he adds.

Mahen, a documentarian, researcher and photographer, is no stranger to the topic of railway history in Malaysia.

In 2016, he initiated the Projek Keretapi Kita project, which led to his documentation of Malaysian railways in the book Postcards From The South, which was published in 2018.

Postcards From The South, a memory and documentary project, retraced the historic Southern Line in Malaysia, giving voice to the railway, the people and the places they call home.

The cover of Mahen’s book 'Postcards From The South' in 2018, which was a memory and documentary project that retraced the historic Southern Line in Malaysia.

Mahen widened his research on railway culture beyond Malaysia when he received an Asia Center Fellowship programme in late 2019, organised by Japan Foundation KL. He spent a few months in Japan, and Indonesia (travelling from Jogjakarta to Jakarta). In Japan, where he stayed for three months (before the pandemic cut short his research), Mahen rode on various railway lines and visited museums and other places of interest.

Railway heritage, a collective discussion

Mahen notes that we tend to have a fixed idea of what a museum is and can ever be: a large building housing neatly labelled artefacts and walls of explanatory text. This is how museums traditionally look like and this workshop is an opportunity to challenge that fixed notion, hence the emphasis on “21st century” in the title of the workshops.

“There are no rules governing what a museum should look like, where it should be located or what should be displayed inside. Can it be a virtual museum instead of a physical building? What do we include (or exclude) when discussing railway as history and as heritage? These are just some of the criteria that will be addressed in the workshop,” he adds.

Organised by Projek Keretapi Kita’s small team, (RE)MUSE will feature two full-day workshop sessions. Participants can choose a suitable day to join.

Working in groups, participants will work through a Q&A session, brainstorm, discuss and present their ideas.

“By the end of the day, each group will produce a unique idea that is true to the collective ambitions of the members. These ideas will be compiled and published in a printed report on railway heritage in Indonesia and Japan. Each participant will receive a copy of this report.

"The working principle is simple really: if we think Malaysia deserves a railway museum, then we will have to roll our sleeves up and get to work. In this process-oriented way of working, the outcome of the workshop is entirely dependent on the participants. Whether or not any of these ideas will materialise is beside the point,” says Mahen.

Prior to the workshop, a field trip to the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station and Muzium Negara will be held on Feb 12.

“History is not just a collection of facts. It is an ongoing conversation between the present and the past, and we need to continually consider the different ways in which we encounter, consume and embed it in our daily lives. Malaysia’s railway history is a perfect example.

“The current narrative frames it as a legacy of colonial-capitalist expansionism. That’s how it began, yes, but that’s only a small part of the picture. We need to consider what it means to Malaysia and Malaysians today. It is an ongoing, accumulative process. The more we inquire, the better we understand ourselves. This sense of empowerment is an important step towards decolonising the way we write and think about history,” he says.

The workshop invites anyone from any background and expertise. All you need is a keen interest in railway heritage or history in general, and an openness in contributing ideas in a group.

Participants have to be fully vaccinated.

More info here.