Minister Of Education And Culture Affirms National Museum Collection Must Be Duplicated Due To Theft In Today's Memory, September 12, 2013

Portrait of the National Museum which has many historical artifacts of Indonesia. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA Memories of today, 11 years ago, September 12, 2013, the Minister of Education and Culture (Mendikbud), M. Nuh prepared security measures for the collection of National Museums or Elephant Museums in Jakarta. This security measure focuses on making collection duplications to prevent theft.

Previously, the theft of four gold artifacts at the National Museum brought a stir. The collection is a relic of the Ancient Mataram Kingdom which was made in the 10th century. The government is also confused about finding the perpetrators.

The theft of artifacts at the national museum is not new. In the past, the legendary criminal Kusni Kasdut had shocked the whole of Indonesia by robbing gold and diamonds at the National Museum in the 1960s.

The success of the robbery made the government wary of museum artifacts that have high value: from history to price. This appeal can make people tempted to steal or have a collection.

Recently, news of the theft of artifacts in museums, especially the National Museum. However, in that calm the government actually conceded. Four collections of six from the National Museum disappeared on September 11, 2013.

The gold is each Mendekam Berinskipsi Dragon Plate, Beraksara Crescent Plate, Closed Vessel (Cepuk), and Harihara Plate. The four artifacts are relics of the Ancient Mataram Kingdom and were made in the 10 AD century.

Kehebohan also appeared on September 12, or the day after the gold artifact disappeared. People began to criticize museum and government managers who were considered negligent in guarding historical objects. Security related to the object is called the leveling style.

The four of them were only placed in a glass cupboard in the Kasana room on the second floor. The Ministry of Education and Culture did not remain silent. They began to look for the four missing artifacts. They tried to coordinate with all parties.

Mainly, they approach the ancient goods collector community. The goal is that they can provide information if they see the stolen gold.

"Yesterday the National Museum lost four collections, in the form of gold plates found in the 18th century by the Netherlands. All of them are relics of the Ancient Mataram Kingdom in the 10th century AD," said Acting Director General of Culture, Kacung Marijan, quoted on the Kompas.com page, September 12, 2013.

Minister of Education and Culture M. Nuh was furious. The collection that was lost was valuable to Indonesia. He also tried to prepare security measures on September 13, 2013. The security measure was in the form of an attempt to duplicate a museum collection.

As a result, in the future the objects on display do not have to be original. The goal is that the theft of various gold artifacts at the age of 1,000 does not make you wary. The rest, he asked the security forces to immediately trace the thieves from the missing artifacts.

"First, we continue to save lost assets by conveying information on theft to auction halls and collector associations, essentially wanting to secure the lost assets. Second, for special matters related to cultural heritage, we must have the duplication. So the duplication on display does not have to be the original to avoid anything happening," said M. Nuh as quoted by the BBC Indonesia website, September 13, 2013.