Malay Technology Museum

The Malay Technology Museum on the river at Kota Batu covers how things were actually made and built in Brunei before industrial materials: stilt house construction for Kampong Ayer, boatbuilding, brass casting, silverwork, weaving, fish traps and the processing of sago into ambuyat. Full-size reconstructions and dioramas run through the galleries with the methods shown step by step. It stands on the same riverbank complex as the Brunei Museum and the Maritime Museum, and the three are usually visited together in one trip out from the capital.

History

The museum was built between 1985 and 1987 on a 15-hectare site on the Brunei River at Kota Batu, paid for by the Royal Dutch Shell group at a cost of about 7 million Brunei dollars. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah formally opened it on 29 February 1988 (Wikipedia, Malay Technology Museum).

Highlights

• The stilt house construction - how the water village houses were actually built.
• The boatbuilding - the methods behind Brunei's river and coastal craft.
• The brass and silver work - the metal crafts the sultanate was known for.
• The sago processing - the sequence that turns palm into ambuyat.

When to go

Year round. The museum keeps set hours and closes on some days including Friday middays. Air conditioning makes it a good midday stop.

Before you go

The displays are dated in presentation. Some labelling is in Malay only. It has closed for extended refurbishment periods.

Nearby

The Maritime Museum is nearby, and Kota Batu is beside it.

Key facts