🏛️ Portal to Sabah’s Soul: Sabah State Museum

#kotakinabaluguide

Background
Sabah State Museum (Muzium Sabah), located at Bukit Istana Lama in Kota Kinabalu, is the state’s premier heritage and culture museum. It first opened in 1965 in a shophouse along Gaya Street, built from the Woolley Collection—photographs, diaries, artefacts from colonial times.  In 1984 it moved to its current 42-acre site, on land that was formerly the Old Government House and State Assembly building. 

The complex includes several galleries (ethnography, archaeology, natural history, ceramics & brassware, Islamic civilisation), the Sabah Art Gallery, a Science & Education Centre, an ethno-botanical garden, and a Heritage Village featuring replicas of traditional homes from Sabah’s many indigenous ethnic groups. 

Why It’s Worth Visiting
Sabah State Museum offers a wealth of experiences in one sprawling site. Inside, the exhibits take you from deep history (archaeological finds, Stone Age tools) through natural history to cultural life: traditional arts, costumes, rituals, and stories of indigenous groups. The Heritage Village is especially engaging—walking among full-scale traditional houses, seeing materials, designs, and objects built by ethnic groups themselves. 

The museum’s gardens and ethno-botanical zones add sensory richness—plants used in daily life, ritual, and medicine of Sabah’s people are displayed. The Science & Education Centre, and occasional cultural performances and demonstrations, give both education and context. Even the architecture itself—styled after longhouses of Sabah’s Rungus and Murut peoples—adds authenticity. 

My Impression
Visiting the Sabah State Museum felt like stepping into a living narrative of Borneo—its land, people, and history. Wandering through the galleries, I was struck by how diverse Sabah is: so many indigenous stories, plants, animals, crafts, all in one place. The Heritage Village was a highlight—not just for seeing traditional houses, but for appreciating the wisdom in their design and lifestyle, how people lived in relation to nature. The sense that the museum doesn’t just display objects, but helps us understand how they fit into daily life, made the visit meaningful. It’s a place where time and place converge—lessons of past and pride in present.

Post by Pingging | Oct 10, 2025