City Government Collects Historic Items From Buffer Islands Complete Collection Of Batam Raja Ali Haji Museum

The officer explained the collection of the Batam Raja Ali Haji Museum to visitors, some time ago. (ANTARA/HO-Batam City Government)

BATAM - The Batam City Government, Riau Islands collects historical items from the buffer islands to complete the collection of the Batam Raja Ali Haji Museum.

"We have explored the island and so on to get museum collections. We are also gathering historical activists," said Head of the Batam City Culture and Tourism Office Ardiwinata in Batam, Antara, Monday, March 14.

From the buffer islands, his party found a lot of historical evidence of the development of the city opposite Singapore. However, only a few can be brought to the museum, including cannons from the island of Behindpadang. He hopes that people who store historical relics will be willing to hand them over to the museum manager.

Ardi stated that the museum, which was built in the former XXV National MTQ building, summarizes the history of Batam since the days of the Riau Lingga Kingdom, Dutch colonialism, the leadership of Tumenggung Abdul Jamal, the Japanese occupation, the Riau Islands Regency government, the Batam Authority, the leadership of BJ Habibie until now.

According to him, relics of the past are important, to be used as lessons for today's generations to know the history of the region.

"From history, we know that there will be advancement, because history needs preservation. Thank God the museum is now a center for learning the history of Batam City and has been visited by thousands of tourists and students," said Ardi.

The History Lecturer at the University of Riau, Monika Sari, encourages the manager of the Batam Raja Ali Haji Museum to continue to add collections and facilities, as well as improve the quality of service for visitors.

He also hopes that the government will include Batam history lessons in school lessons.

"Local culture becomes a lesson in an area, the government's role is important in making local regulations so that past history can be included in the local content of school education," he said.