24/05/2026

theSunday Special II ON SUNDAY MAY 24, 2026

Statues of the Buddha from the 17th to 19th centuries, all from Southeast Asia, with one of goddess Kuan Yin made of Blanche de Chine procelain. – SUBHADRA DEVAN/THESUN

Rich tapestry of Malaysian lineage and identity A whole shelf is devoted to the history of Malacca with artefacts from 1511. – SUBHADRA DEVAN/THESUN

BY SUBHADRA DEVAN newsdesk@thesundaily.com

N ESTLED amid a row of shops sits a treasure trove of Malaysia’s history, gathered by an affable Henry Bong. Walking by the Pucuk Rebung Royal Gallery-Museum, your eyes are drawn to huge jars, old rusty iron boxes and a huge wooden arch all together in a corner that looks like it once belonged to a zamindar ’s mansion or should be gracing the entrance of a millionaire’s home. You walk in, trying your best to avoid knocking something precious over, through a narrow entrance filled with artworks, centuries-old artefacts, pottery and jewellery in glass cases. Silver bracelets, silver waistbands, diamond-studded Nyonya and Malay-world ornaments, and books on the histories of Malaysia, the Silk Route and the Malay Archipelago greet

Avid collector unravels the forgotten bonds among people from across the Nusantara region

the eyes in nooks and corners. Amid all these treasures sits Henry, an art historian and artist, who smiles cheerfully at visitors. Through black-framed spectacles, the 73-year-old Sarawakian is happy to explain the history behind each and every piece and their connections to one another.

It is Sunday morning, when Bangsar’s Lucky Gardens enjoys more than its share of market-goers, shoppers and food wanderers. “We are all part of the Nusantara. We are not built in isolation, we are built with many, many layers of influences from the peoples who have come here, to this tanahair of ours between Malaya and the Borneon Sarawak and Sabah territories,” he says. Old Peranakan lineage As we talk about Nusantara history, a young couple come browsing through. They are taken by one artefact, and Henry explains its history, cultural value and detailed work. “It’s not some old object but a living legacy really of our history,” he tells the young Malaysians. “It’s an occupational blessing really, this place that I have in Lucky Gardens. It lets you get to know so many people,” adds Henry, who is ably helped at the gallery by Terence Tay. Henry comes from a centuries-old Peranakan line. His maternal side stretches from Shanghai to Singapore to Borneo. In between showing old, black-and white photographs of his mother's line, pointing out the twisted gold jewellery heirlooms, and of his family parties in Kuching, Henry reveals that he has a degree in agriculture from Universiti Malaya decades ago, although that field of study wasn't his first choice. “It’s strange, but in all my life I never

seem to get my first choice. I was in Singapore, chosen for an Asean Scholarship. Went through all the interviews, got inoculated and at the end, was told there were funds for only two places. And guess who got them? The two Singaporeans, of course- lah .” Henry posing beside a photograph of his parents taken at the Basilica of St Bernadette in Lourdes, France, in 1959. – COURTESY OF HENRY BONG