Tun Sakaran Museum, Heritage museum in Semporna, Malaysia
The Tun Sakaran Museum is a two-storey building in Semporna, Sabah, with a main gallery on the ground floor and changing exhibitions of cultural and historical artefacts from the Semporna community, especially the Bajau, on the upper floor. It also has a cafeteria and a small multipurpose room.
The first ground-breaking took place on 31 December 2008 on land donated by Sakaran Dandai, the eighth Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah. The exterior was finished in 2010, but the interior and exhibition spaces were only completed in 2014. After soft openings from 2014 to April 2015, the museum was fully opened on 25 April 2015, built at a cost of RM2.8 million funded by the Sabah state government and officiated by Sakaran Dandai, Juhar Mahiruddin and Shafie Apdal.
The upper floor displays artifacts from the Bajau community, including traditional weapons and fishing equipment that reveal how these people lived from the sea. The objects on view show the everyday skills and craftsmanship that defined their way of life.
The museum has a cafeteria and a small multipurpose room open to the public, so a visit can be combined with a meal or a group gathering. The ground floor holds the main gallery and the top floor the changing exhibition, giving a clear two-level route through the displays.
Despite bearing Sakaran Dandai's name, the museum's galleries mostly present the history and culture of Semporna town and its Bajau community. The top-floor displays change from time to time, so repeat visitors may find different artefacts than on an earlier trip.
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