Bukit Malawati, the popular Kuala Selangor outcrop with the domineering century-old lighthouse, has a chequered past that is worth telling.Early Bugis raden or rulers were quick to see that the hill, overlooking the Selangor estuary, was strategic to their power base. By the 17th. century, Kuala Selangor was a thriving port and a powerful domain of the raden.
Not surprisingly, it invited prying eyes and sowed the seed for many invasions to come.
Soon, bloody tussles between the Bugis warlords and Dutch invaders erupted over the ownership of the hill and the lucrative tin trade. With each warring tide wavered, the hill namesake too moved back and forth, Malawati and Bukit Belanda -Dutch Hill -in Malay.Three hundreds years later and much of the history have disappeared with time.
For years, the hill suffered one lacklustre attempt after another, like the few cannon replicas at the hilltop. They are a dismay sight and fail to provide accurate glimpse to the violence that once plagued this former military stronghold.
However, with the boom in tourist arrivals, Kuala Selangor soon found fame as the newest cash cow, and suddenly history now has an economical value.
The state museum board - Perbadanan Muzium Selangor is amongst the first to join the fray - and opted for a brilliant plan to excavate the entire hill. Few artifacts were found i.e. musket balls, broken chinaware and old coins. They were placed in a museum housed in the former home of the District Officer, next to the iconic lighthouse.
All five galleries in the Historical Museum (Muzium Sejarah) are devoted to the hill’s tumultuous history, and why Kuala Selangor is touted as the cradle of Selangor Sultanate.
However, the displays illustrating the chaotic events leading to the attacks and sieges on Bukit Malawati can be overwhelming for the uninitiated. The museum is also let down by the lack of historical artifacts, like weapons and archaeological findings, to add weight to the message about the turn of events.
Another of my bane is the dioramas inside the galleries. Two of which depict the early trading days and the battles between Dutch and the raden’s men. However, the results are amateurish, and worst, historically inaccurate.
You wonder why the curators overlooked the diorama showing European galleons berthing at Kuala Selangor when no record of such event. The other diorama depicting Dutch soldiers wearing cowboy hats and jackets and slaughtered in gruesome bloodbath by the locals, also begs for answer.
Despite these hiccups, a visit to the historical Malawati Hill and the museum offers a great weekend getaway for those looking for an adventure with Selangor history.
All five galleries in the Historical Museum (Muzium Sejarah) are devoted to the hill’s tumultuous history, and why Kuala Selangor is touted as the cradle of Selangor Sultanate.
However, the displays illustrating the chaotic events leading to the attacks and sieges on Bukit Malawati can be overwhelming for the uninitiated. The museum is also let down by the lack of historical artifacts, like weapons and archaeological findings, to add weight to the message about the turn of events.
Another of my bane is the dioramas inside the galleries. Two of which depict the early trading days and the battles between Dutch and the raden’s men. However, the results are amateurish, and worst, historically inaccurate.
You wonder why the curators overlooked the diorama showing European galleons berthing at Kuala Selangor when no record of such event. The other diorama depicting Dutch soldiers wearing cowboy hats and jackets and slaughtered in gruesome bloodbath by the locals, also begs for answer.
Despite these hiccups, a visit to the historical Malawati Hill and the museum offers a great weekend getaway for those looking for an adventure with Selangor history.
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