Respondent Profiles
From the total of four respondents interviewed by this study, there is only one female staff
member. Three respondents worked with PERZIM for more than ten years except for one,
who worked there for less than a year. Two of the respondents were in their mid-thirties, one
of them in his late-forties, and one in his mid-twenties. All respondents obtained their
education in Malaysia, with one staff possessing a vocational certificate qualification, three
possessing a Bachelor’s degree, and one currently completing his Masters.
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Table 6.3: Respondents Profile for Malacca Maritime Museum
Respondent Post Age Sex Years of
working
Education background
Mohd Shukry Curator for Malacca Maritime
Museum Complex
24 M 10-months Bachelor Degree (UM)
Zulkifli Museum Assistant 37 M 19-years Certificate (SMVM)
Hj Khamis General Manager for
PERZIM
49 M 24-years Masters Degree (UKM)
Syahidah Curator for History and
Ethnography Museum,
Malacca Education Museum,
Democracy Ruling Museum,
Malacca Yang Dipertua
Negeri (Governors) Museum,
Malaysia Youth Museum,
Malacca Art Gallery, and Folk
Art Gallery
34 F 10-years Bachelor Degree (UM)
PERZIM has a strong blend of staff from all ranges of age and qualification. However, their top
management staff qualification does not vary; all of their curators have tertiary qualifications in
history. I argue that the corporation needs staff from other areas—for example Arts and
Design, Culture, and Tourism—to provide more interesting and different ideas for activities
and programs. By employing a staff with diverse fields of expertise the museum can offer its
visitors a more engaging and satisfying experience.
During the interviews, I found one curator has to look after eight museums under the
corporation, and that the senior curator post for the corporation has been vacant for almost a
year. This potentially creates issues relating to work overloads. PERZIM’s status as a
government corporation means that it takes longer to fill a senior position vacancy, because
promotion depends on seniority and other qualifications. Further, due to the worldwide
recession of the 1980s, the Malaysian government tried to reduce the size of its public sector
by curbing the creation of new posts, abolishing vacant posts in non-critical areas, and
reviewing positions in statutory bodies (Siddiquee 2006). Since PERZIM is a state government
agency, only local Malacca people can apply for the job. Job vacancies sometimes are not
filled long-term, possibly due to shortages of interest in filling the post, because salaries are
not as competitive as those offered by private companies.
Working Environment
The most senior curator at PERZIM is Hj Khamis, whose title is General Manager (GM). Under
Hj Khamis, there are eight curators and this study interviewed two of them. The GM manages
and makes decisions for PERZIM as a whole, while the other curators make decisions for the
museums under them after getting approval from Hj Khamis. The curatorial roles in PERZIM’s
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museums are different from those in developed countries like Australia and the U.S. The
curators are responsible for managing their own museums and staff. For instance, Shukry
looks after the Maritime Museum Complex, which has three museums, while Syahidah looks
after eight museums, and Hj Khamis as the GM administers PERZIM. The GM also represents
PERZIM during state government functions or meetings.
This organisation is a Malacca state government corporation and operates using a top-down
management style similar to that of most other government corporations in Malaysia. The
curators follow the state and federal government policies, rules and regulations communicated
via memos and other instruction. Further, the museums around Malacca city are required to
follow the rules and regulations of UNESCO to retain their status as a “UNESCO World
Heritage City”. To be appointed as a curator at PERZIM, a person must hold either a degree in
history or museology. They must also meet various other criteria set by the state government,
for example, they must be born in Malacca. The GM makes major decisions for the
corporation after getting approval from the state government, while the other curators made
decisions for the museums and staff assigned to them. Thus, each staff member must report
to their superior, according to the traditional government structure of an organisation. The
main role of curators under PERZIM is to manage the operation of the museum assigned to
them. Their job is largely administrative, as opposed to centred on thinking of new ways to
make their museums look more appealing for the visitors. Any decisions made by curators can
take a long time due to tier decision-making and a top-down management style. This may stop
the curator from being proactive and productive in their job. With more than two stakeholders
to report to, and following the rules and regulations, any decisions need careful consideration
in order to avoid any conflict of interest.
When I asked how the staff members are involved in contributing ideas and taking part on the
future planning with their organisation’s products and services, they answered brain-storming,
meeting, and peer group discussion. These processes involve all PERZIM officers from all
departments, and are headed by the GM or a curator. The GM normally chairs the meeting
with the most senior management officer of PERZIM, while the curators lead the meeting for
the museums under their responsibilities with their staff. In this way, ideas for the corporation
are generated; for example, the establishment of a new museum and other activities. For their
activities meeting, PERZIM also consult with the local community members for their opinions
and advice. Malacca local ethnic community leaders such as Malay, Baba Nyonya (Malay
mixed with Chinese group), Chetti (Indian), and Portuguese were called to a meeting to help
the organisation brainstorm the best activities and outcomes for visitors. These community
leaders are also invited to attend PERZIM’s functions and events.
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The rank and file staff members have a special association called MPK, which invites
comments and opinion about their work and other issues relating to PERZIM. Later the
representative for this association brings forward their comments to each related department
in another meeting with PERZIM management. Besides that, each curator organises monthly
meetings for all staff under their supervision. During the meeting, staff members are
encouraged to give their comments, opinions and ideas, and report any problems so the
curator can bring the matter to a higher level authority. Some of the staff members have been
working with the museums for more than twenty years, and the management always seeks
their advice and opinions on certain matters.
Like any other tourism (including cultural tourism) producers, the PERZIM lower-ranking staff
members are the “front-liners”, and meet the visitors the most. Their top-ranking staff
members have less involvement with visitors. Thus, it is crucial for PERZIM or other tourism
producers to train their front-liners adequately; for example, by sending them to attend
seminars and conferences to upgrade their knowledge, and provide their staff with the latest
news about the museum sector in the country and region.
Experience is important, but depth of knowledge is also an important aspect of the front-liner
job, particularly in an era where visitors tend to be more knowledgeable and educated than
ever. Front-liners are required to meet local and international visitors every day, and therefore
these staff must be alert and well prepared. The front-liner needs to represent the corporation,
the state and the country. By attending suitable seminars and conferences, they can improve
their knowledge-base and thus confidence with their job. Front-liners often spend more time
with visitors than other museum staff, as such they play a significant role in presenting the
corporation and state government’s mission to the public. During the interviews, the
management of PERZIM were fully aware of the concept of the creative economy and creative
industries, unlike the lower-ranking staff. PERZIM management should deliver important
information to all of their staff particularly the front line, as they need first hand information
about the museum’s plan in their everyday work. Unfortunately, not many tourism producers
(including PERZIM) in Malaysia recognize the front-liner role as a crucial role in contributing
towards the development of the entire industry.
When generating new ideas for their museums, the staff must to go through several levels of
decision-makers. The lower rank of the staff member, the further he or she is from the final
decision-making process. For example, during the interview the lower-ranking staff did not
know about creative economy development, while the top management were aware of this,
which shows that there is a gap between the top management and low-ranking staff. This type
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of information is crucial for the management to deliver to their staff so that they understand
about the future plans of the corporation, and subsequently can educate the public about the
new changes too. PERZIM encourage their staff to express their ideas to the higher authority
of the museum, but whether they approve these ideas or indicate when they are going to
approve them is another question.
Location
Malaysia is a historical state, and the state government realises the importance of preserving
and restoring its historical locations, particularly around the city areas. Malacca managed to
attract approximately two-million tourists in 2009, and in 2010 their target is to attract eightmillion
tourists, according to PERZIM’s GM. The state has been one of the most popular
destinations among local and international tourists in Malaysia for more than a decade.
However, according to PERZIM staff, local tourists make up a smaller percentage of visitors
compared to international tourists.
Shukry reported that PERZIM museums are experiencing decreasing numbers of visitors
because they are facing competition from other tourism products in Malacca state. Examples
include the Melaka Taming Sari tower, which celebrated 500,000 visitors in less than a year in
2009, and the Malacca River Cruise operated by a private company, situated next to the MMM
complex. In addition to these problems, some of the PERZIM policies are discouraging visitors
to their museums. When they started to adopt ICT applications and new ideas like the
Sleepover @ Museum program to their museums, the number of visitors increased
significantly. PERZIM have also recognized a different pattern in the market recently, where
children tend to bring their parents to the museums as opposed to a long-standing trend of the
opposite. Hence, PERZIM’s current and future activities and programs are more familyoriented
in order to attract everybody to the museums.
When asked about the responses to their latest program, Sleepover @ Museum, Shukry
stated that as at January 2010 they had hosted ten groups, of which seven were international
groups from Singapore and Japan. This study found more information about this program
through PERZIM Facebook fan page, and in less than a year since they launched the program
(until April 2010), they had three groups of local visitors, of whom the majority were students
from college and universities. PERZIM expects the number of local groups will increase in the
future, when the program becomes more popular and the public are more aware of it.
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Figure 6.3b: Sleepover@ Museum program at Malacca Maritime Museum
(PERZIM Facebook 2010)
At present, the experience of visiting museums is about more than merely inspecting exhibits.
However, they can also deepen knowledge and understanding (Colbert 2003). In the last
decade, traditional museums globally started to shift their roles to become more than just
exhibition centres. To remain competitive in the market, they are offering other services such
as research and development, meeting rooms, conference facilities, bookshops and cafes to
their visitors. With the rapid development of modern museums, such as science and
technology museums, traditional museums face tough competition to attract visitors.
The same scenario is also occurring in the Malaysian museum sector. Although the numbers
of visitors for PERZIM museums are high compared to other museums in the country, they are
facing tough competition from modern museums and other tourism attractions in the state and
country. Cultural tourism producers, particularly in the museum sector, need to find new ways
to attract visitors to their museums. Introducing new activities and programs could be one way
to attract more visitors, especially from the younger generation. Programs such as PERZIM’s
Sleepover @ Museum received a positive response from younger visitors, who tend to be
attracted to new technology applications and different ideas. Therefore, the museum sector
needs to incorporate these features in their museums. The older generation are perhaps more
attracted to the traditional and cultural features of a museum, thus the museums need to
preserve their cultural identity too. Museums have to cater for both markets and have both
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elements in their attractions in order to remain sustainable and competitive in the experience
industry.
Sector or Industry
In the case of PERZIM, this shows a substantial and close relationship between creative
(experience) industries and cultural tourism. Although modern applications are used at a
minimal level by PERZIM currently, more changes relating to modern components are
expected to be adopted by the corporation within three to five years. For instance, PERZIM
plans to collaborate with a private company to re-launch their Lights and Sounds interactive
program and Malaysia Cultural Parade before the end of 2010. As well as these new activities
and programs, other expansion plans involve a mixture of cultural tourism and modern
technology to attract more visitors to their museums. This is evidence of PERZIM’s serious
commitment to shift their function as from the traditional to the modern category of museum.
All of these new changes are evidence of the close connection between the creative
(experience) industries and cultural tourism adopted by PERZIM. However, in light of
Malacca’s “UNESCO World Heritage City” status holder since 2008, more deliberation must
occur before they can introduce any new changes to their museums, because they have to
maintain strong elements of Malaysian culture in their products and services to remain in
accordance with the UNESCO guidelines (Syahidah 2010). Nevertheless, PERZIM has tried
to include both aspects of culture and modern applications in their museums. They
acknowledge the importance of both elements for their museums, and are working towards
maintaining a balance between cultural and modern elements. This shows the uniqueness of
PERZIM museums, which attract visitors from all over the world.
PERZIM’s statistics show that their museums have among the highest attendance numbers in
Malaysia; at end of December 2009, they received a total of almost 680,000 visitors to their
museums all over Malacca (PERZIM official website 2010). The Sleepover @ Museum
program is an example of a cultural tourism product being given a fresh touch to become
unique and more appealing to the market. These figures have prompted PERZIM to realise
that there have been significant changes in the behaviour patterns of their visitors. One major
shift is that children are bringing their parents to visit the museums (Shukry 2010). Thus, they
are making appropriate changes in response to market needs and wants, which have more
family-oriented appeal and other fresh elements. The findings showed that the museums
managed by PERZIM are marrying both creative (experience) industries and cultural tourism
in their products and services.
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Apart from that, PERZIM has actively organised events, programmes and activities with
different components for the past three years to offer the best experience to their visitors, and
also to create awareness of their products and services. These programs differentiate
PERZIM products and services from other museums. The management of the organisation is
fully aware of the new developments taking place in museum sector in developed countries,
which involve new technology, and the museums under their management are slowly moving
in that direction. At the same time, they acknowledge their major role as the cultural institution
that preserves the history for the country.
Expectation and Future Planning for the Organisation
PERZIM plans to open up at least another five museums around the state in the next five
years. According to Hj Khamis (GM for PERZIM) (2010), there are plans to open up a
museum at Pulau Besar, a popular local tourist island in Malacca. Also, the first submarine
museum will be built around the Kelebang area, and will be the second of its kind in the
ASEAN countries (the first being in Surabaya, Indonesia). There also are plans for more ship
museums to be built around the Kelebang area. This strategy to build more museums outside
Malacca city hopes to divert the attention of tourists to other parts of Malacca.
The organisation also realises the important role of technology, and creativity in today’s
cultural product and services. Thus, PERZIM is trying to shift their products and services to be
closer to the tourists and visitors because this is the era where the museum has to implement
those elements in order to remain competitive. Museum visitors want to be able to interact
with exhibits. The GM (ibid.) is aware of this latest trend taking place all over the world and
states:
Yes, at the moment we are trying lah, to divert and change to something that make us
closer to tourists and visitors with museum artefacts, because we can see that this
decade is the era for that, the decade where if we go to the museum in Singapore, the
museums in Singapore already shifted to those direction. So it is the high time for us...
not only museums in Malacca, but also museums all over the country. Ok, no more
static exhibition lah, more interactive, more into engaging with our visitors and the
artefacts and displays.
At the same time, PERZIM wants to actively involve the local people in the tourism industry,
particularly around Malacca city, to improve their income. With help and support from the state
government, there are many plans involving the locals that are going to be implemented to
give them exposure on the positive potential of tourism products and services. This is the
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future creative economy development plan that the organisation and state government have in
order to generate better income for the locals.
PERZIM has planned to develop their products and services in line with creative economy
development in Malaysia. Not only they will keep preserving the cultural elements, but they will
also keep on introducing new products and services to provide good experience for their
visitors. At the same time, PERZIM is encouraging more local people to get involved in small
businesses relating to cultural tourism sector, using workshops and seminars. Culture and
tourism remain the basis for new ideas to attract the younger generation to visit PERZIM’s
museums. This expansion plan involves culture, tourism and various engaging activities to
offer a better and different experience to their visitors. PERZIM is one of a few museum
corporations in the country and region to have such a progressive plan.
However, even there changes are perhaps thirty years behind those of museums in developed
countries. I argue that new technology is needed for the museum sector to attract the younger
generation, but as a country that has significant cultural features, Malaysia also should focus
on this strength. Not only does new technology require a lot of investment and financial
assistance, but to compete with the advanced countries, modern museums might be too
difficult for PERZIM and Malaysia regardless. Hence, let the advanced countries play to their
technology advantage while Malaysia continues to promote cultural strength with some
modern applications whenever necessary. Developing countries like Malaysia lack the modern
applications and technology that are strengths for developed countries. Thus, museums in
Malaysia should concentrate on their own strengths like unique culture, rather than on their
limitations.
Organisation’s Mission
According to the curator of MMM, Mohd Shukry, MMM follows PERZIM’s mission and
objectives, as the museum is part of the corporation’s entity. The main objective is not to make
money, but more to educate their visitors, particularly the younger generation. They are totally
committed to the International Committee of Museums (ICOM) statement, which defines a
museum as a research institution and a place for exhibitions. Thus, the programs and
activities organised under PERZIM’s museums are more to educate, encourage R&D, and be
family-oriented. However, they still charge minimal fees to their visitors, and the museums
under PERZIM have been a main contributor to state income.
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With decreasing visitor numbers to traditional museums for the last decade, PERZIM is trying
to reinvigorate the museum in Malaysia. They constantly organise programs and activities
according to special themes, which are normally chosen according to the federal and state
government mission. Among the activities and exhibitions organised by them in 2009 were the
Multiethnic Food Festival, Ancient Currency Exhibition, and Malay and Islamic World
Convention and Exhibition. These activities and exhibitions were organised to educate and
expose visitors to the artefacts, and give visitors firsthand experience and knowledge of the
collections.
Apart from that, PERZIM’s latest role has been expanding to include preservation of the
state’s culture and heritage. The General Manager (GM) of PERZIM explains, the job’s scope
and their objectives and mission of their organisation:
Now, our scope of work today is a little bit different, lah, compared to other museums
in other states because PERZIM is the secretariat, lah, for heritage and preservation
enactment. Hence, we have to look at all aspects involved, we had repaired around 51
traditional houses located in the state of Malacca so that these people can maintain
their traditional houses, as well as encouraging them to get involve in tourism activities,
lah. And at least while we help them to maintain their houses beautifully, we also help
to preserve the architecture, preserve the culture, they also are encourage to receive
tourists domestically and internationally. So we gave them basic courses on how to
entertain these tourists, gave them necessary information, and other related stuff...
The staff noted that the longer they worked for PERZIM the more they could relate to their
organisation’s mission and objectives. Staff who worked for more than ten years with PERZIM
explained that they are more connected to the museum in their everyday activities.
The corporation is shifting their focus from being a traditional museum to incorporating other
roles according to the ICOM definition of museum (refer to ICOM website 2010). These
changes have been applied by many museums in developed and developing countries. In
Malaysia, PERZIM became among the first few museums to introduce significant new
changes, and receive a positive response from the public and tourists. Nevertheless, the
number of visitors is still low compared to other tourist attractions in the state and Malaysia.
With other tourism attractions aggressively marketing for their products, museums in Malaysia
remain unpopular among the public. The decreasing number of visitors to traditional museums
is not only happening in Malaysia but all over the world, thus more traditional museums are
shifting to become modern museums particularly in developed countries. New changes
undertaken by PERZIM are seen to have potential in attracting the Malaysian public and
tourists back to the museums. However, to remain sustainable and competitive in the museum
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sector in the country and region, they need to adopt new changes such as interactive areas
for visitors in order to foster a different experience.
Creative/Experience Industries/Cultural Tourism Development in Malaysia
PERZIM management realises the importance of adding new applications such as interactive
features and hands-on experience to their products and services in order to make them
competitive in the global market. The curators and GM of PERZIM are fully aware of the rapid
changes taking place around the world, with interactive elements being adopted by many
museums. PERZIM is also following the trend by adding these elements in their products and
services to give the best possible experience to their visitors. The museums under PERZIM
are among only a few museums in Malaysia to implement these features. According to the
MMM curator, vandalism problems meant that there is no immediate plan to add more
interactive elements to MMM. Even at the federal level, only two museums—the National
Museum in Kuala Lumpur, and the Culture Museum in Negeri Sembilan—are doing
incorporating these elements. Besides, PERZIM’s main focus is on displaying the actual
artefacts, rather than depending on the technology and ICT aspects.
The GM’s responses to the question about implementing engaging and interactive
components in their museums, and about the development of the creative economy sector in
Malaysia, was more positive and clearer than answers given by others, particularly in terms of
the creative economy sector:
We just had a discussion... discussion with one company from KL, lah... about... if this
project to take off... it will take place by middle of next year. We want to turn the whole
complex to become... more towards like Disneyland, lah. Disneyland with our main
focus on history... Malacca history and other related history... because we want to
introduce this as a new component for tourism... and other related industries, right... to
get involve many local people ok, in... in this sector, lah...
PERZIM has other new approaches to attract more visitors to their museums. These new
products and services make their museums different and unique from the other museums in
the country. Their 2009 program, Sleepover @ Museum (at MMM and Malacca Sultanate
Palace museum) was inspired by a similar program in Europe. A Light and Sounds show is
planned to be relaunched in April 2010. PERZIM has designed these new attractions and
programs by PERZIM to offer a different experience from those offered by other museums in
Malaysia and in the rest of the region. Also, these new attractions and programs are designed
to encourage R&D practices among Malaysians, and to educate high attendance rates.
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Visitors who took part in the European version of the Sleepover @ Museum program did not
sleep much in the museum. For the most part, visitors took the opportunity to do in-depth
research about the displayed artefacts and collection inside the museum from various
aspects. However, this study’s interview revealed that Malaysian visitors were looking for
different experiences compared to European visitors; normally, most of them slept for the
whole night during the program. Some joined the program hoping for a mystical experience
such as meeting with ghost. Further, the museums occasionally would add more artefacts and
collections, and rearrange them with a different style and position so that the visitors would not
get bored with the same collections if they visited the museums later.
With their new additional products and services in the museums, PERZIM is hoping to offer a
different experience and attract more visitors to their museums. Their museums are among
the only museums in the Malaysia region to offer different products and services to visitors.
However, offering different or non-traditional products and services can be risky, and different
markets may look for different experiences, as the Sleepover @ Museum program showed.
Document analysis reveals that the program received different comments from two journalists
who joined. One discussed superstitious belief—about the possibility of encountering ghosts in
the museum (Kosmo, 2009)—while the other expressed the excitement at the experience of
joining a new program (Johan, 2009). This demonstrates that in the experience industry each
visitor has different experiences, and often seeks different experiences with new products and
services. Unfortunately, research about the behaviour and experiences of museums visitors is
lacking, particularly in Malaysia.
According to Goulding (2000) there is little research that examines the actions and voices of
museum visitors, but what museum curators and related official bodies are good at is
collecting numbers. This may lead to misunderstandings about the needs and wants of
museum visitors compared with what the museums are offering them. In addition, not all
changes are well accepted by the public. Some changes implemented by PERZIM prompted
argument among and criticism by the locals. For example, the building of the replica of Flor de
Lama had been promoted as supporting and promoting colonisation. This dilemma is normal
in postcolonial countries like Malaysia. The sixteen museums currently operating under
PERZIM have different collections and themes that attract a different market of visitors.
Further, since the experience industry involves intangible products and services, it is crucial
for the producers to make their products and services more tangible to their visitors. Thus
more museums are establishing shops to sell souvenir items that could make their products
and services more tangible experience to their visitors. However, at present there are no
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museum shops at any of PERZIM museums, although there are museum souvenirs produced
and sold by local people around the state and country.
6.4 RQ2: What is the development path for the Malaysian creative
economy enterprises?
The development of the experience industry in Malaysia is not new, as it is similar to the
concept of service industry. At present, the Malaysian public is more aware of the term,
service industry than the term, experience industry. Recently, the museum sector has become
considered as part of the experience industry, because it offers experience to its visitors. With
the new roles of museums today, museums in Malaysia have shifted their scope as well. This
transformation is slowly taking place in Malaysia, following a general shift in the function of
museums towards offering a better experience to their visitors. PERZIM’s experiences in
developing their cultural tourism products and services can be identified as a transformation
from traditional activities to engaging activities, and involve two phases.