Malaysian Museums lose a pioneer

The Passing On of The Former Director General of Department of Museums Malaysia Former Director General of the Department of Museums Malaysia, Dato’ Dr Adi Taha, 60, died after a long battle from cancer at his house in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur on 4  February 2012.  Born on Aug 3, 1951 in Kodiang, Kedah, Dr Adi leaves wife, Wan Aminah Wan Yusof and six children. Dato’ Dr Adi joined the museum as a curator of archaeology in 1975 after graduating from the National University Malaysia with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Sociology.  In 1981, he enrolled at the Australian National University, Canberra, for his Masters and later obtained his Doctor of Philosophy from the same university in 2001. During his tenure with the Department of Museums Malaysia, Dato’Dr Adi had held several positions before culminating in the position of Director General in 2002, a position he held until his mandatory retirement in 2007. Dato’ Dr Adi had pioneered museum work and research on prehistoric human artifacts, the Bujang Valley civilisation and the establishment of new museums in Malaysia and several block buster exhibitions. He was also very enthusiastic on international collaboration and the department of museums was involved in several ASEMUS projects during his tenure as the Director General. Dato’ Dr Adi was very supportive for the establishment of the Museum Volunteers programme at Muzium Negara in 2006, which eventually led to the official launch of 25 volunteers on 19 April 2007. During his tenure with the museum department, Dato’ Dr Adi had attended many ICOM general conferences and assemblies, presented papers at international seminars and workshops abroad and locally, the last being the Shanghai ICOM2010.  Among his social and professional involvement were; Vice President of the Association of Malaysian Archaeologists (1997), President of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association (2002-2004), President of the Museums Association of Malaysia (2002-2009) and President of ICOM Malaysia (2002 – 2010) Although retired from the museum, Dato’ Dr Adi’s zeal and passion for the museum did not falter. He joined the University Malaysia Kelantan as a principal fellow in the Faculty of Creative Technology & Heritage and continued to contribute to the field of museology, history and culture. His expertise on museums and history was often sought after by museum’s curators, academicians and individuals. Dato’ Dr Adi had also written several books and articles on the prehistory of Malaysia. Malaysia will miss the eminent and affable Dato’ Dr Adi Taha, R.I.P.