SIBU: Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg took a walk down memory lane when he toured the Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum today (July 22).
The visit was part of his programme in conjunction with the Sarawak Day celebration which is centred here.
Abang Johari spent about half an hour viewing the museum’s exhibits and was briefed by its manager John Ting.
Accompanying him were his daughter, Dayang Norjihan; Minister of Transport and Minister responsible for the 2026 Sarawak Day celebration, Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin; Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian; Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah; Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Datuk Michael Tiang; and Deputy Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee.
The Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum, the only museum of its kind in Malaysia, houses 772 exhibits comprising medical apparatus and equipment formerly used at the hospital.
The museum was officially established on Aug 3, 1996 following the conversion of the former Lau King Howe Hospital into a memorial museum.
The privately run museum was gazetted as a heritage building under the Sarawak Heritage Ordinance on Sept 23, 2019.
According to the hospital’s history, Lau King Howe, a Foochow businessman, arrived in Sibu from China in 1916 to establish a rubber plantation.
Recognising the need for improved medical services and facilities, he donated all his assets in Sarawak before returning to China in 1931. His contribution funded half of the total construction cost, amounting to $82,000, for a new and fully equipped hospital in Sibu.
The hospital was completed in 1936.
It served the people of Sibu and the surrounding areas for almost 70 years before closing in 2005, after its functions were gradually taken over by Hospital Sibu from 1994 onwards.
The Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9am to 5pm.
