Museum plans to build RM10 million replica of ‘Mendam Berahi’ vessel

MELAKA: The Melaka Museum Corporation (Perzim) plans to build a replica of legendary vessel Mendam Berahi worth RM10 million, to become the latest tourist attraction in the state.

Perzim general manager Datuk Khamis Abas said the replica would be built next to the Submarine Museum in Klebang here, and was expected to take about two years to complete.

“The work of drawing up plans, models and exhibitions to be placed in the museum (inside the Mendam Berahi replica) is almost complete, and we are just waiting for the RM10 million allocation from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

“The Mendam Berahi vessel will feature the history of Malay Malacca ships in the 14th and 15th centuries,” he told reporters after a ceremony to fete Perzim’s 300,000th visitor at the Royal Malaysian Navy Museum (RMN) yesterday.

Commenting further, Khamis said the Mendam Berahi museum could accommodate between 100 and 150 visitors at a time and was expected to be well received among the younger generation. He said that among the most visited museums were the Maritime Museum and the History and Ethnography Museum in Bandar Hilir; and the Submarine Museum.

Meanwhile, Perzim’s 300,000th visitor Hisham @ Asang Teliban, 57, from Terengganu said he was honoured and happy to be chosen as the lucky visitor.

Hisham, who visited the RMN Museum with seven other family members, said they were in Melaka to visit one of his children and they had also been to the Maritime Museum among other tourist destinations.