Visiting The Burning National Museum, Megawati Wants To Check The Conditions Of Her Favorite Collection

Megawati Soekarnoputri At The National Museum/STIMEWA PHOTO

JAKARTA - The fifth President of the Republic of Indonesia, Megawati Soekarnoputri, visited the location of a former fire at the National Museum or Elephant Museum on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta.

For about an hour, Megawati went around looking at the condition of the historic object placed in the museum, including the room that had been on fire since last Saturday, September 16.

Dijelaskan Direktur Jenderal Kemendikbudristek Hilmar Farid, Megawati turut mempertanyakan kondisi koleksi favoritnya sejak puluhan tahun lalu di Museum Nasional saat ini.

"This mother (Megawati) has a memory in the 80s, has taken care of the collection here. So earlier you asked about the collection. We discussed a lot about the history of museum governance and so on," said Hilmar, Tuesday, September 19.

When checking the museum, Megawati reminisced about her role as a volunteer team for ancient ceramic nurses from a number of dynastics, from China to Vietnam for the National Museum to display.

"Panjang I told you about past experiences and I think it is an inspiration for us that this is the time for us to work together in a disaster," said Hilmar.

On that occasion, Megawati also advised the Ministry of Education and Culture to immediately cooperate with the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) to secure collectible objects that could still be saved from fire.

"Friends from archeology, especially historical archaeological research organizations will soon be involved. Later we will hold a meeting soon. This Friday we will start, close down, whatever the agenda is, we will definitely update it," he said.

During her visit to the National Museum this afternoon, Megawati was accompanied by PDIP Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto. Minister of Education and Culture Nadiem Makariem and Head of the Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Laksana Tri Handoko, Deputy Head of BRIN Vice Admiral Amarulla Octavian, and Historian total Triyana who welcomed Megawati.

It is known that the National Museum caught fire on Saturday, September 16. Acting Head of the Museum and Cultural Heritage (MCB) Ahmad Mahendra explained, as many as 817 collections and historical objects were also burned.

"The affected collections and historical objects are collections of bronze, ceramics, city, and wood as well as collections of miniatures and replicas of prehistoric objects found intact and lightly damaged to severe," said Mahendra.

There are 817 collections affected by the fire out of a total of 194,000 collections and historical objects stored in the National Museum of Indonesia.

After the fire that occurred, he said, several steps and actions had been taken, such as forming a cross-unit investigation and evacuation team, closing six affected rooms, and closing limited to one affected room for further investigation.