Latest Event Updates
BWM Members’ Trip: Discover Sentosa Janda Baik
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DISCOVER SENTOSA JANDA BAIK
Date : 22 November 2025
Time : 10.00am
Location : 121 & 260, KG Sum Sum Hulu, Kampung Janda Baik, 28750 Bentong, Pahang
Fee : RM 180 (BWM Member) or RM 250 (Non Member)
(Minimum 10 pax, inclusive with lunch)
Badan Warisan Malaysia is pleased to organise a visit to Sentosa Janda Baik. Enjoy the lush greenery of ground in Janda Baik and discover the magnificent work on the restoration of this ensemble of traditional Malay houses. A day trip blending the nature, culture, art and heritage.
The owner, Omar Ariff will be our guide and share the highlights of the 3 different traditional houses and beautiful garden.
• Islamic Gallery – Hand-carved Cengal wood house showcasing Islamic art of the Nusantara.
• Great Grandfather’s Gallery – A traditional Pahang house with family heirlooms and everyday artefacts.
• The White Gallery – A restored Kelantan house turned contemporary exhibition space.
Itinerary
10.00am: Meet at Sentosa Janda Baik (Self-Drive)
10.30am: Guided tour by Omar Ariff
12.30pm: Lunch at Rasa Sentosa Cafe
2.00pm: Departure
Click HERE to register
The Traditional Malay House Showcase: Culture & Nature in Harmony
We’re excited to announce the launch of the Traditional Malay House Showcase: Culture and Nature in Harmony, taking place from 1 – 15 November 2025.
This special programme celebrates the wisdom and beauty of traditional Malay architecture, exploring how design, craftsmanship, and the natural environment come together in perfect balance. The showcase aims to deepen public appreciation for the Malay house as a living heritage that reflects both cultural values and sustainable principles.
Throughout the two weeks, visitors can look forward to a mini outdoor exhibition and two spotlight talks highlighting the history, form, and relevance of the Malay house in today’s context.
Event Schedule:
| Date | Events | Registration |
| 1 – 15 November 2025, 10AM – 4PM | Exhibition: The Traditional Malay House Showcase: Culture & Nature in Harmony | FREE Admission |
| 1 November 2025, 10.30AM | BWM Talk Series: From Land To Legacy by Omar Ariff | Click HERE |
| 15 November 2025, 10.30AM | BWM Talk Series: Stilt Houses — The Floating World of Kampung Baru by Leon Leong | Click HERE |
BWM Talk Series: From Land to Legacy
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Date : 1 November 2025
Time : 10.30 am
Location : Badan Warisan Heritage Centre, No. 2 Jalan Stonor, Kuala Lumpur
Fee : RM30 per person (non-members), Free for BWM members
Light refreshments will be served.
Click HERE to register.
About The Talk
Sentosa Janda Baik was founded by two eccentric souls, Kamarul and Frances, who built the property’s gardens and homes from imagination and heart, a lifelong act of love to preserve Malaysian culture through nature, art, heritage and shared community.
The property was never built with profit in mind. From the start, our journey with Sentosa Janda Baik has been about staying true to what this space was always meant to be, meaningful, rooted, real, and a place where people could come to learn something new.
For us at Sentosa, it was never about changing what was originally built but about continuing the vision and making it more vivid and accessible to all. We refined what was already there, improving the gardens, restoring the houses, and shaping the property so it could welcome everyone, regardless of ability. Small comforts like a new pool and jacuzzi have been added to Rumah Sentosa, not to alter our kampung house’s essence, but to make it comfortable for the modern world.
Our work at Sentosa has always been guided by a deep sense of purpose, keeping the spirit of our family’s estate alive while opening it up for others to experience and learn from.
Through this talk, Omar Ariff reflects on how Sentosa Janda Baik continues to grow as a living space for Malaysian heritage. He shares the ways we have chosen to preserve culture through connection. Every part of Sentosa carries an intention to teach, to spark curiosity, and to remind visitors that culture is not just something to be seen, but something to be lived and shared.
About The Speaker
Omar Ariff is a self-taught photographer and diver whose work is rooted in curiosity, observation, and a deep respect for nature. His journey began beneath the surface as a licensed diving instructor, where he first discovered his love for photography through capturing the quiet beauty of marine life. Over time, his lens moved from the ocean to the land, documenting people, places, and cultures that tell stories of connection and heritage.
He has travelled widely across the world, from Africa and Russia to China, Europe, and Southeast Asia, photographing landscapes and everyday lives that reflect the beauty and diversity of human experience. These journeys strengthened his urge to share stories, to teach, and to create spaces where learning and community come together.
At Sentosa Janda Baik, Omar and his family continue their legacy of preservation and storytelling. Through their work, they have shaped the estate into a living space for Malaysian heritage, a place where nature, art and culture meet, and where people can experience what it truly means to connect with place and story.
Meet The Author: Rose Gan & Book Launch ‘Legacy’ (The Penang Chronicles IV)
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Badan Warisan Malaysia is delighted to welcome back Rose Gan to discuss the final novel of the Penang Chronicles quartet, ‘Legacy’. There will be book reading session and a book signing session by the author.
Date : Saturday, 25 October 2025
Time : 10.30am
Venue : Badan Warisan Heritage Centre, No. 2 Jalan Stonor, Kuala Lumpur
Price : Free for BWM members, RM20 per pax for non-members.
Click HERE to register!
PROGRAM
10.00 am: Registration
10.30 am: Introduction
11.00 am: Book reading session ‘LEGACY’ and Q&A session
11.45 am: Book signing and Refreshments
12.00 am: End of program
ABOUT THE BOOK
In the years following the death of Francis Light, his family faces an uncertain future. As Penang heads inexorably towards colonial rule, Martinha struggles to claim her rightful inheritance, encountering corruption, prejudice and heartbreak in equal measure. Scattered across the world, her children are forced to negotiate the British establishment alone as best they can with little but their father’s name and reputation to sustain them. From Britain to the Peninsular War, from the social pretensions of Bengal to the court of the Pasha of Egypt, from the new city of Adelaide to Java and Singapore in the company of Raffles, the next generation makes its way, its roots firmly planted in the beautiful island of their home.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
British by birth, Rose Gan has been based in South East Asia for many years with her Malaysian husband and family, having lived in Bangkok, Penang and Jakarta before settling back in Kuala Lumpur in 2012. With an academic background in Ancient and Medieval History and Classical languages, Rose worked for many years as a teacher both in Malaysia and the UK, and then later as a volunteer docent at various museums in Malaysia and Indonesia. Rose has also contributed to museum publications in Indonesia and Malaysia as a writer and editor.
In 2021, Rose published her first novel in the Penang Chronicles series entitled ‘Dragon’, followed by two others, Pearl and Emporium in subsequent years. The initial trilogy re-creates the life and times of Francis Light and Martinha Rozells set against a background of life in the 18th century Straits, published by Monsoon Books, UK. The companion novel, Legacy, which continues the story of Martinha and her children, particularly William Light who designed the city of Adelaide, was published in the UK on 1 September 2025. It will be available in Asia from 15 October 2025.
BWM Garden Day 2025
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Badan Warisan Malaysia is delighted to present Garden Day 2025!
In conjunction with Garden Day and the soft launch of our Heritage Kampung Garden, situated around our gazetted Rumah Penghulu Abu Seman, we are excited to organise an event filled with vibrant activities. We are proud to maintain an essential green space located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur city centre, and to create opportunities to connect people with our local flora and native biodiversity.
Register and enjoy a welcome drink, join a guided garden tour and take part in potting a plant to bring home. You can also discover a food demonstration featuring traditional local herbs harvested from our own Heritage Garden. Don’t miss the chance to sample a special dish, kerabu bunga kantan.
Date: Saturday, 11 October 2025
Time: 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Venue: No. 2 Jalan Stonor, Kuala Lumpur
Entry Fee: RM30 (Members) | RM50 (Non-Members), (50% off for child below 12 years old)
Click HERE to register.
Funds raised from this event will be used for the upkeep of our Heritage Kampung Garden.
Participants are encouraged to dress comfortably and wear sun protection for outdoor activities. Come and be part of the celebration, let’s make this Garden Day a memorable one together!
BWM Talk Series: ‘Silk, Spices and Qur’an Manuscripts: Maritime Trade Networks Across The Malay World’ by Dato’ Dr Annabel Teh Gallop
Organised by Badan Warisan Malaysia
Date: Saturday, 27 September 2025
Time: 2.30pm
Location: Badan Warisan Heritage Centre, No. 2 Jalan Stonor, Kuala Lumpur
Admission by minimum donation:
BWM members RM25
Non-Member RM50
Light refreshments will be served.
Click HERE to register.
About the Talk
The silk roads of sea, which stretched across the Indian Ocean and through the Malay archipelago transporting rich cargoes of silks and ceramics from China to the Middle East and further west, saw increased traffic from the 16th century onwards with Europeans in search of the spices of the Maluku islands. But there were also other, lesser known, maritime networks meeting the demand for other forms of luxury goods such as paper and books. In the middle of the 19th century, during the reign of Baginda Omar (r. 1831 briefly, then 1839-1876) the Malay kingdom of Terengganu rose to prominence as home to the best Islamic calligraphers and the finest illuminated Qur’an manuscripts ever produced in Southeast Asia. There is evidence that these Terengganu Qur’an manuscripts were soon in demand from royal households throughout the Malay world, from Palembang to Pontianak, and it is these previously unknown trading networks of beautiful manuscripts that will be explored in this talk.
About the Speaker
Dato’ Dr Annabel Teh Gallop is head of the Southeast Asia section at the British Library in London. Her main research interests are in Malay manuscripts, letters, documents and seals, and the art of the Qur’an across the Indian Ocean world. Recent publications include Malay seals from the Islamic world of Southeast Asia (2019), a catalogue of over 2,000 seals from Southeast Asia inscribed in Arabic script, and ‘In praise of the Prophet: illuminated Kitab Mawlid manuscripts from Southeast Asia’, in Oceans that speak: Islam and the emergence of the Malay world (Kuala Lumpur: IAMM, 2024). She was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2019, and in 2022 was a recipient of the Merdeka Award.
BWM Book Fair 2025
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We are pleased to announce that we will be organising a Book Fair that will be held on 26 and 27 September 2025. This event will feature mostly preloved books and aims to raise funds for the repair and upkeep of our Heritage Centre and our newly gazetted Rumah Penghulu Abu Seman.
In conjunction with that, we would like to invite fellow members and friends of Warisan to donate for this good cause. We accept books in good condition, regardless of their genres and materials, new or old.
Do you have books you no longer need? Gather them all and send it to us at No. 2 Jalan Stonor, 50450 KL, between 2 September until 13 September 2025.
Interested in donating but can’t make it in time? Reach us out at 03-2144 9273 and we’ll arrange a suitable date for you!
BookFair2025 #LetsDonate #BooksForAll #PreLoved
Meet The Author: ‘The Turban Imaginary’ by Rajinder Singh
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Meet The Author: ‘The Turban Imaginary’ by Rajinder Singh
Moderated by Eddin Khoo
Badan Warisan Malaysia is delighted to welcome Rajinder Singh to share his newly released book, “The Turban Imaginary”. As part of BWM’S ongoing Talk Series, the event will consist of book reading and book signing sessions by the author as well as a Q&A session moderated by Eddin Khoo, the Founder of Pusaka.
Date: Saturday, 16 August 2025
Time: 10.30am
Venue: Badan Warisan Heritage Centre, No. 2 Jalan Stonor, Kuala Lumpur
Fee: RM20 per person (non-members), Free for BWM members
Click HERE to register!
Programme
1. Arrival of guests
2. Light refreshments
3. Introduction by Eddin Khoo
4. Book reading
4. Q&A session with Rajinder & Eddin
ABOUT THE BOOK
Rajinder Singh’s “The Turban Imaginary,” published in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, profoundly explores the turban, transforming it into a vibrant subject of art, ritual, and cultural performance. The book itself is crafted to be experienced like the intricate tying of a turban, with each chapter mirroring the “quiet prayers” and “incantations” of this ancient ritual.
From an arts perspective, Singh views turban-tying as an “embodied choreography” and a “living installation” that merges personal identity with public cultural display. He envisions its potential to inspire “soft ritual-centered fabric-based choreographies” and “sculptures” that are inhabitable spaces for the body. The work highlights the turban as a “medium for action” and “a site of choreography,” where each fold embodies cultural resilience and serves as an “aesthetic and political act.” Described as a “creative play” filled with expressive folds that are both devotional and delightful, “The Turban Imaginary” ultimately presents the turbaned body as “social choreography,” a powerful, wordless expression of identity, protest, and ritual.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rajinder Singh is a Malaysian artist/choreographer/writer/poet who lives and works in London. He has written two poetry books and has shown his art widely around the world. His poetry and art practice are often focused on the power of ritual action in the construction of the social body as he explores the human body as an interface between space, object and movement, and prepares the ground to orientate the body towards politics, towards its capacity for resistance.
BWM Talk Series: ‘The Restoration of Rumah 1916′ by Dato’ Zahim Albakri
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Organised by Badan Warisan Malaysia.
Date : 9 August 2025
Time : 10.30 am (fully booked), new slot added: 2.00pm
Location : Badan Warisan Heritage Centre, No. 2 Jalan Stonor, Kuala Lumpur
Fee : RM20 per person (non-members), Free for BWM members
Light refreshments will be served.
Click HERE to register.
About the Talk
This presentation traces the personal journey of Dato’ Zahim Albakri, Deputy President of Badan Warisan Malaysia and an award-winning actor dan director, to restore Rumah 1916, the century-old family home of his great grandparents, Toh Seri Amar DiRaja Haji Sulaiman and Datin Hajjah Andak Jijah, in Batu Gajah, Perak Darul Ridzuan. Known as the Royal English School Batu Gajah since it became the home of the educational institution in 1970, Rumah 1916 was inherited by Dato’ Zahim and his siblings from their father, renowned Malaysian architect the late Dato’ Ikmal Hisham Albakri through his mother, Datin Seri Puteh Sawifah binti Haji Sulaiman. After many earlier attempts to conserve the heritage building, restoration work on Rumah 1916 began in early 2024 and is now in its last stages before completion. Dato’ Zahim will take you through the history of his family and Batu Gajah as well as the process of the restoration of this unique example of Malaysia’s built heritage.
About the Speaker
Dato’ Zahim Albakri is an award-winning actor, theatre and film director, and the artistic director of Dramalab. A founding member of Instant Café Theatre, he has worked across stage, screen, and television for over two decades. His acting accolades include Best Actor (Anugerah Skrin, Odissi) and Best Solo Performance (Boh Cameronian, The Smell of Language). As a director, he’s helmed acclaimed productions like Puteri Gunung Ledang The Musical, Gold Rain & Hailstones, and Spilt Gravy on Rice, winning multiple Boh Cameronian and National Arts Awards. He directed the film adaptation of Spilt Gravy, which won Best Film at FFM 2022. Zahim is a life member and currently Deputy President of Badan Warisan Malaysia.
BWM Talk Series: ‘SENTUL GEMS” – Hidden Treasure of the East’ by Gunasegaran Ramachandran
Organised by Badan Warisan Malaysia
Date: 19 July 2025
Time: 10.30 am
Location: Badan Warisan Heritage Centre, No. 2 Jalan Stonor, Kuala Lumpur
Fee: RM20 per person (non-members), Free for BWM members
Light refreshments will be served.
Click HERE to register
About The Talk
The Central Workshops, located in Sentul of the Federated Malay States Railways (FMSR) was initially set up by the Colonial British Administration in 1905 as a stand-alone “One-stop Centre” to provide the engineering support to keep the railways as a well-oiled mode of transport to transport the raw materials that Malaya produced i.e. rubber and tin via the ports of the Straits Settlement (primarily Singapore and Penang) to the epicenter of the Empire – London, England to produce the goods and services that can be re-exported to the colonies to sustain the Empire.
Fast Forward to circa 1997, the 4pm siren sounded, and the tradesmen and staff started to leave the workshop that had provided the support for the Malayan railways to run its system smoothly with minimal interruptions (except for the war years) for the better part of 90 years of the 20th century. The doors finally closed at the workshops, and an eerie silence pervades the environs of the complex today.
Gunasegaran will share content from his book to document the various “shops” that constituted the workshop, so that future generations would know about the importance and historical value of the site, and its contribution to the economic development of Colonial Malaya and subsequently the Federation of Malaysia. The evolution of Sentul as a Railway town for the better part of the 20th century was because of the existence of the workshop.
About The Speaker
The author was born in Sentul in 1954 to a second generation railway family, his father and grandfather worked in the Railway workshop complex in Sentul. He completed his early education in La Salle Sentul and left to the UK in 1972, then graduated with a Chemical Engineering degree in 1978 at the University of Bradford in West Yorkshire, UK. He subsequently worked in the field of Industrial Water and process treatment in the downstream sector of the Oil, Gas and Power industries in the UK, Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and East Asia that spanned 40 years. He retired in 2020 and keeps busy volunteering for two charities. For relaxation, he enjoys a game of golf regularly. He is married to Rani, has two daughters – Suba and Veenah – and resides in Petaling Jaya.
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