Stories to tell of lepers enduring stigma and ostracism

1. Young children smuggled in to stay with their leprosy parents would hide in this concrete water tank at their quarters during morning checks by the British administrators. The law required patients to be separated from their families.

KUCHING: Leprosy may not be a serious health issue in Sarawak today but the historical experience of patients affected by Hansen’s Disease is something that needs to be told.

Among the numerous buildings the 74ha site of Rajah Charles Brooke Memorial (RCBM) Leprosarium lies a small museum, which chronicles a story of survival and struggles of affected individuals who had to endure stigma and ostracism in society.