Executive Summary of Asian Heritage Museum Project

Background

A unique and diverse collection of Asian & geological artefacts was legally secured via a KL High Court order in 2010 in lieu of large debts owed to our group from an US explorer. Our museum company, instead of selling off the artefacts to make a quick gain or recovery of money owed, decided to set up an INNOVATIVE & WORLD CLASS museum in KL.

What's so special about our artefacts?

We only have about 2,000 pieces (not many by museums' standards) but several of our artefacts, are world class or "one-of-its-kind" in the world. Examples are:

- largest antique drums in the world, 300-year old and 12-ft tall Malay/Muslim drums

- 2 large antique South East Asian sailing ships

- shipwrecked recovered 500-kg Spanish Mission Bell, made in the Philippines, dated 1784 (a legacy of  Christopher Columbus) which was designated for a mission in California, where the history of the state started,

- extremely old and rare Chinese jade, bronze and ceramic artefacts  including a 7.5kg Han jade Pixiu, 4.4kg Shang jade urn, 53kg unique Ming Buddha, 29kg Shang bronze cauldron and an Eastern Chou/Warring States bronze sword with gold inlaid.

Our collection of artefacts is priceless. The images of most of our artefacts are also available via our website at: http://terrazenenterprise.blogspot.com/

In May 2010, we made a public donation of 28 pieces of our artefacts to our National Museum (Muzium Negara) on the request of the Federal Government as a philanthropic gesture of goodwill. This act also shows that our collection of artefacts must be legal and authentic.

Objectives of project

The objectives of the government-supported project are to promote multi-culturalism, regional heritage and peace (which many companies and people just take for granted). The project also aims to promote the tourism industry and make KL the cultural-heritage centre of Asean and Asia.

Special objective - Promoting Peace 

We also intend to establish a Heritage & Peace Council (HPC) of eminent local and international personalities to use cultural heritage to prevent or minimise conflicts and promote peace in the region. There would be regular forums and talks at the museum in this respect.

People involved

Tunku Zain Al-'Abidin Muhriz (Negri Sembilan) is the Executive Advisor, Director and shareholder. KK Tan is the CEO, Director and a shareholder and Hamidon Taib is the Co-ordinating Adviser & a stakeholder.  The Honorary Advisors are Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (Deputy Home Minister), Tan Sri Michael Chen and Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam.  Azmi Anshar (formerly from the new Straits Times) is our new Media Advisor. Other VIPs are also involved in various roles including advisory.

We also have a team of competent management personnel and have secured the special expertise needed for the project such as world-class British Curator Dr Louise Tythacott (former Curator of Liverpool National Museum and now with the School of Oriental & African Studies, London), museum ID specialist (Impact Design Associates), artefacts' experts and our Malaysian Nuclear Agency (scientific testing of age of artefacts).

Project location (Malacca)  

We're targeting foreign and out-of-state tourists (about 15 million last year) and we only need 500,000 per annum to be financially viable. Malacca State Government is keen to locate our museum there to boost the state economy via tourism and other spin-offs. We would like to show the world, via a "mock-up living model" that our special and innovative museum works, can attract a large and regular crowd, is extremely viable and it can send positive shock waves to the region and world.

What's so innovative or special about our museum project?

It's a story-based and research museum with 7 galleries (initially) telling interesting historical stories and events of Asia. We are using multimedia as much as possible to tell the stories in an interesting and interactive manner. To further make the museum more appealing (and unlike other museums), we would allow visitors to touch and feel certain large artefacts, as long as it is safe and secure to do so. This would generate excitement with many visitors touching (and taking selfies of) certain iconic and priceless artefacts.

We intend to expand later on into an Asian Heritage VILLAGE project to promote other heritage items which Asia is famous for such as martial arts, food, costumes, building & architecture, arts & crafts and music & dances.

Secrets of success of our project

It's a blue ocean strategy project with no real competitors in the country, region and perhaps anywhere in the world. It has great CSR public interest objectives. The other 2 trade secrets are:

- our gift shop merchandise (good profit margins due to Intellectual Property control by us of our artefacts' design and images) 

- local tourist guides, who are crying out for high quality tourist products in KL and would love to support and promote our project to their tourist clients.

Current project status & funding required

To start a world-class museum from scratch can cost more than USD500 million (mostly on building and purchasing artefacts), that is provided, there are even enough museum quality artefacts available to purchase. We have spent much time, effort and money to develop this project for the last 5 years or so to this stage, where all the main components of the project are ready.

We only need a suitable building at a strategic location and some nominal funds (which we have already secured) to kick start the project on a “Field of Dreams” (movie by Kevin Costner) concept.

September 2015

Corporate Information on Asian Heritage Museum Sdn. Bhd.

Asian Heritage Museum Sdn Bhd (AHM) is a special museum services’ company incorporated in Malaysia recently to develop, set up, manage and operate a world-class Asia Pacific Heritage Museum to exhibit and display in an interesting and meaningful manner, a large and diverse collection of Asian and geological artifacts.

The government-supported museum project, to be located at a suitable venue in Kuala Lumpur, has high CSR value of promoting multiculturalism, regional heritage and regional peace and understanding. The museum is expected to commence operations sometime in 2014.

It is a story-based museum, with 7 diverse galleries so far, using video and other multimedia to complement the unique artefacts and tell the stories in an interesting manner. It is also a research & discovery museum with periodic announcements of new information about the artefacts being uncovered. Therefore, it would be able to attract large crowds of foreign and local visitors. It would be entertaining yet educational to tell interesting historical stories and events.

The future plan is to expand the project into an Asian Heritage Village with the promotion of other heritage items that Asia is famous for such as martial arts, food, fashion & costumes, arts & crafts and music & dances.

A strong CSR case for the museum in promoting Asean integration, economic or otherwise, can be found in the article (from The Sun enclosed) entitled: "Asean - the case for cultural heritage."

There is so far, no such Asian or regional museum anywhere in the world that is so unique, diverse and innovative and using video/multimedia to tell interesting global stories. The closest comparison of a world-class story-based museum would be the Imperial War Museums of London and Salford and the Great War Museum in Paris. However, these museums only focus on the stories about the 2 world wars.

MANAGEMENT

Executive Advisor

Y.A.M. Tunku Zain Al-`Abidin Muhriz

Founding President of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), newspaper columnist, author and trustee of several foundations

Chief Executive Officer

Mr K.K.Tan

Former CEO of a multinational corporation, former CEO of a GLC, current CEO of a strategic consultancy & think-tank firm based in Kuala Lumpur, author of a best-selling book (The Great Software Debate) and a newspaper columnist (The Sun)

Co-ordinating Advisor

Hamidon Taib 

Food & Cafe Operator

Media Advisor

Azmi Anshar

Award winning journalist and former editor of The New Straits Times

Cultural Associate

Kok Kee Boon

Financial Associate

Ivan Tee

HONORARY ADVISORS

Y.B. Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment

Y.Bhg. Tan Sri Michael Chen

Former Cabinet Minister and former President of the Senate (Malaysia)

Y. Bhg. Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam

Former senior civil servant (Secretary-General), former President of Transparency International Malaysia and currently corporate leader and chairman of a public policy think tank in Malaysia

PROFILE OF CEO (KK Tan) of Asian Heritage Museum

He is a 60-year-old low-keyed but highly experienced PR, think tank and management analyst and strategist who has gained a wide exposure handling some of the most difficult issues of all time.

In the early eighties, he made history of being the only overseas student to be elected president of the British Students’ Union over other British candidates in a red-brick university (Sheffied) in UK. Just before that, he was also the president of the national overseas students’ body in UK. His in-depth knowledge of many global issues was acquired from his interaction with student activists from all over the world who were studying in Britain at that time and from his interest in reading, observation and research.

In the late eighties, he was the CEO (one of the youngest at that time) of a European MNC based in Shah Alam, so he understands the high standards of corporate management.

In the early nineties, he was the CEO of a federal government council, dealing with forestry and environment issues. He was managing a fund (from timber levy) of more than RM300 million. He was also the chief co-ordinator and strategist for the government in countering the negative boycott campaign and perception in the West on the use of tropical timber, culminating as the strategic adviser to the government at the Rio Earth Summit of 1992. Environment was a highly politicised issue at that time and he managed to propose a comprehensive plan for the government to effectively deal with it.

In 1994, he set up his own management training, special PR and consultancy firm and it developed an extensive data-base of information until today on many issues locally and globally. The firm undertook some consultancy assignments with some large corporations and government bodies. He was a regular writer on global issues in The New Straits Times from 1995 to 1998 and he also organised and lectured an in-house training about the politics of environment to journalists of The New Straits Times.

In 2002, he helped to bridge some issues of understanding between Bill Gates and then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Microsoft’s interest to invest significantly in the MSC Project. His consultancy firm had since been engaged as a strategic consultant by Microsoft for several years. 

He was the author of an international best-selling book, published in 2003, about the politics of open source software entitled “The Great Software Debate”. The book was the first of its kind in the world to explain comprehensively the emerging ICT controversy.

The firm also acted as a trouble-shooting consultant for other big clients and it also developed innovative projects such as CIM or computer integrated manufacturing, dyslexia project (to help children with learning difficulty), Cyberim (in-house Internet content filtering project) and training on BCP or business continuity plan to help large organizations to be prepared at any time in dealing with epidemics such as the bird flu.

In November 2008, he started a column in The Sun called “Beyond Race” focusing on promoting racial understanding in Malaysia and overseas. In 2011, the column was changed to “Beyond The Wall” to highlight other local and global issues. All his articles in The Sun can be accessed from his web-blog here:

http://kktansundailyarticles.wordpress.com/

He was also a columnist with the monthly business magazine “Public Listed” writing on critical issues which affecting the corporate sector. His balanced and analytical press articles on many local and global issues have won him critical acclaim from many people.

He is currently the initiator and developer of the proposed government-supported Asian Heritage Museum, an innovative and world class CSR-driven project in Kuala Lumpur to promote tourism, multiculturalism, heritage and peace in the region.

His strategic consultancy and think tank firm has just been appointed the local partner and representative of the world renowned Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Headquartered in London and New York, the EIU is the world’s leading market research and risk analysis organization covering political, economic and business developments in 203 countries and has 450 full time analysts spread across the globe.

December 2014