The MV Screamer November 2016

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What’s going on?

2017 MV Training Programme The next MV training programme is scheduled to start on 14 February and will run to 20 June 2017. Only a Tuesday class will be conducted. There will be no Saturday class. Two coffee mornings will be held to promote this: Thursday 8 December 2016, 10am Saturday 21 January 2017, 10am. Please do tell your friends who may be interested.

Visit by a Deputy Prime Minister of Turkmenistan, 7/11/16 By Jegatheesan Vellupilay On Monday 7th November, the Museum informed the MV that they needed assistance for the visit of a high powered delegation of 40 officials from Turkmenistan. This delegation would be headed by a Deputy Prime Minister and the visit is scheduled for the afternoon of Tuesday 8th November, at 3.30pm. In the usual way, a request was put out and responded by Yee, Rosa, Gokilan, Jega with Karen present. On the day, we were told that the President of Turkmenistan himself would be coming in a second delegation after the first. He would be accompanied by 3 more Deputy Prime Ministers. Further, the rest of the cabinet would also be accompanying in either of the groups. In Turkmenistan, the cabinet has a President and Deputy Prime Ministers. Before the visit the Museum was given the full once-over, maybe twice by the Special Branch and some group with Polo shirts marked Eagle 6, who came in but were not seen going out and were not seen around anywhere. Meanwhile, MV guides gathered in the lobby. Down at the entrance were the Senior Museum officials headed by the YBhg. En. Kamarul Baharin bin A. Kasim, Ketua Pengarah, Jabatan Muzium Malaysia, YBrs. En. Mohamad Shawali bin Hj. Badi, Timbalan Ketua Pengarah (Dasar), Jabatan Muzium Malaysia and En. Azmi bin Ismail, Pengarah, Muzium Negara. At 4pm, the first delegation arrived led by a Deputy Prime Minister and some officials. Encik Kamarul proceeded to bring them to the lobby where they were formally welcomed, via an interpreter. We were told they had 20 minutes only. In quick time, Jega started the tour and was told to speak two sentences at a time, for easy translation by the interpreter. The Ketua Pengarah and other officials followed. His Excellency, the Deputy Prime Minister was attentive and asked a few questions. Gallery A was breezed through and finished in quick time and the delegation proceeded to the Gallery B. Some other officials had arrived in the meantime and were guided by our MV who were

The MV Screamer November 2016

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there. Just as we approached the Spice cabinet, we were told the tour was to be cut short with 5 minutes left. So His Excellency was briefed on the coming of Islam to Malacca. With that, we headed back to the Museum entrance for departure. At this point, we were told the President was not visiting after all. With the usual appreciation and thank you all round, the delegation drove off. This must have been the quickest visit we have ever handled, all over in just above a half hour. (There are no pictures to be published as there was a sensitivity about photographs).

Lemuria, the Turtle Corridor and its relevance to Peninsular Malaysia and Tamil Naidu, 14/11/16 Mr R.S. Balasubramani B+ve of the Integrated Ocean Culture Research Foundation (IOCRF) is a marine and maritime archaeology researcher and has worked extensively on the study of ancient Indian maritime activities, sunken lands and the turtle corridor. Like the turtles, Mr Balasubramani’s talk floated from Tamil Nadu to nearly all corners of the earth to demonstrate to us that the Tamils were great seafarers. The Tamils sailing in their dhows followed the turtles to discover new shores to trade and influenced cultures not just around

the Indian Ocean but as far away as China, Korea, Europe, North and South America. Artefacts with Tamil inscriptions or places with Tamil names have been found in practically all continents suggesting that Tamil is the linking language of the globe through maritime trade. Strangely, not much was said about Lemuria, the "lost land" which Mr Balasubramani believes to be near Madagascar. So Lemuria remains sunk in mystery.

Remains of Lemuria

MV 10th Anniversary Party “1001 Arabian Nights”, 19/11/16 Happening in a few days’ time!

Textile Museum Training, January 2017 The Textile Museum training has to be moved further to sometime in the 3rd or 4th week of Jan 2017. Further details will be announced as soon as possible!

The MV Screamer November 2016

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Christmas Gift Ideas MV book “A Malaysian Tapestry – Rich Heritage at the National Museum” On sale at the JMM Library. “Kuala Lumpur Street Names” by Mariana Isa & Maganjeet Kaur On sale at Kinokuniya, MPH and other book stores.

Inaugural MV Japanese Culture Day & Bazaar, 24/9/16 – Correction In last month’s Screamer, I wrote that Jega was selling Nasi Lemak and Apam Balik assisted by Poh Leng. Actually, Poh Leng was selling Nasi Lemak and Jega the Apam Balik but they were closely helping each other. And regrettably Nobody was selling “coconut infused rice topped with fiery sautéed wild anchovies & caramelised onions, cool cucumber slices and farm fresh egg”.

New Pieces on the Blog @ museumvolunteersjmm.com

“The Forgotten Duo” by Maganjeet Kaur, 2/11/16 “ASEAN Songket Exhibition”, 13/11/16

Other interesting bits

Penang Monthly, October 2016

Penang: The Rebel State (Part Two) By Koay Su Lyn Displeasure with the Federation ignited Penang’s secessionist movement which lasted from 1948 to 1951. In this final part concluding last month’s article, we witness the movement’s struggle to gain traction, and its speedy demise. Continue reading on ….. http://penangmonthly.com/penang-the-rebel-state-part-two/

Hanyut Coming soon - historical drama directed by U-Wei Haji Shaari Cast: Diana Danielle, Sofea Jane, Ady Putra, Bront Palarae, Sabri Yunus, Alex Komang, Khalid Salleh, Peter O'Brien Based on Joseph Conrad`s 1895 novel Almayer`s Folly, this epic film tells the story of Kaspar Almayer, an English trader struggling to survive in Malaysia at the turn of the 19th Century. His dream of finding a mythical gold mountain is challenged by his scheming wife, the colonial authorities, the political machinations of the local chief and Arab traders, and his daughter`s love for a freedom-fighting Malay prince, Dain Maroola. Release date: 24 Nov 2016

The MV Screamer November 2016

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Mark this in your calendar

Misc

SCHOOL VISITS: Please contact Marie Andree madreeabt@gmail.com if you would like to help with the school visits. BLOG: Please do contribute to our MV blog. Send your articles to Magan at magan25@gmail.com FACEBOOK: If you like taking photos, please upload your photos of MV events to “Museum Volunteers, Department of Museums Malaysia” Facebook. http://museumvolunteersjmm.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Museum-Volunteers-Department-of-Museums-Malaysia http://www.jmm.gov.my/en/museum/muzium-negara http://www.muziumnegara.gov.my/

Date Day Time Event/Speaker

16/10-31/12 ASEAN Songket Weave Exhibition

15/11-28/2 Shadow Puppet Exhibition, Gallery 3

15-Nov-16 Tue MVJ: Seisanseinofune Society visits MN

16-Nov-16 Wed 8.00 Wayang Kulit Nusantara Seminar, Muzium DiRaja

16-Nov-16 Wed Matrix International School visits MN

17-Nov-16 Thu MVF: Birth of KL

17-Nov-16 Thu School visit to MN

19-Nov-16 Sat 8pm MV 10th Anniversary Party & Graduation, Byblos

20-Nov-16 Sun MVJ: Members of Japanese Diet visits MN

25-Nov-16 Fri 2-4 Chinese Tea Ceremony, Purple Cane

28-30 Nov MVF: Visit to Borobudor & Yogyakarta

1-Dec-16 Thu MVJ: Japanese School of KL visits MN

6-Dec-16 Tue MVF: Visit to IAMM

8-Dec-16 Thu 10.00 Coffee Morning

8-Dec-16 Thu MVF: Collete Hassan talk "Bahasa Melayu through its proverbs"

9-Dec-16 Fri 10.00 MV Committee meeting

Jan 2017 Textile Museum Training (TBC)

19-Jan-16 Thu MVF: French expats visit MN

21-Jan-17 Sat 10.00 Coffee Morning

14-Feb-17 Tue Start MV Training