Night Safari Programme

A new programme called Night Safari, designed to educate on the traditional livelihood of natives and the State's history by experience, is in the making by the State Museum.

In spite of its activities still on the drawing board, a total of four Night Safaris have been held which, according to its Director Joanna Kitingan, were made available for group participation like families and students. She said future programmes would also include bead and handicraft-making sessions. "The idea to introduce this programme came after I took part in the 'Night at The Museum' activity organised by Melaka Museum in March this year. "I and a group of others spent the night in a Portuguese galleon ship, a replica of the Flora Del La Mar, the ship which sank off the Melaka Straits, and is now Maritime Museum," she said, after a Night Safari programme was held on Saturday night.

So far, the Night Safari programme consists of a quiz, whereby participants need to answer questions from gathered information, which is on display inside the Museum Gallery. They have to do it in the dark as the lights will be turned off and torchlight will be the only light source, she said. After the quiz session, the group would be taken for a hike into the Heritage Village Phase II, which is inside the Museum's extended property, located in the former Kota Kinabalu Old Folks Home land.

Bamboo huts have been erected ever since, to allow visitors and Night Safari participants to stay for the night in the area. "During the hike, participants will be made to listen to a recorded natural ambience, as if they were in a jungle. It is a blast from the past experience, a time when electricity is still foreign," she said, adding that it is a back-to-basic affair. Finally, participants would be entertained with traditional performances while supper is served before turning in for the night in the village.

Meanwhile, a total of 17 participants from Australia's Koonung Secondary School took part in the Night Safari programme, after they had completed their volunteer project to build a tower in the Heritage Village II. They were the second group to be in the Museum, after the first group had completed their programme, building a small bridge weeks ago. On another note, interested groups could contact the Museum, to partake in the programme, Joanna said.