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5 Min Read
Taylor's Impact Lab (Liveable Urban Communities)
Kedah’s Lembah Bujang (or Bujang Valley) complex of archaeological sites with rich architectural remains are remnants of Southeast Asia’s oldest civilisation, but archaeologists barely know its complete history. Carbon dating has placed the oldest of Lembah Bujang’s cluster of nearly one hundred sites, as older than Angkor Wat (12th Century) in Cambodia and Borobudor (8th Century) in Indonesia. Unlike the Angkorean temples of Cambodia, the ancient Wats of Thailand, and the remnants of the Majapahit empire in Indonesia, however, very little is known about the bygone civilisations that once thrived in this valley.
Many reasons have been given for this knowledge gap. Amongst these are a lack of political will; a disconnect between Kedah’s modern socio-religious context and its ancient belief systems; low levels of community interest; and the fact that the monuments are comparatively small and dispersed over a very wide area, making them difficult to visit. All these reasons have been identified as impediments to the promotion of Lembah Bujang as a premier heritage site in Southeast Asia.
Years before the Taylor’s University Impact Labs were created, Keith Tan was a young architect lecturing at Taylor’s. He decided to bring a group of second-year undergraduate students of Architecture on a visit to Lembah Bujang for their third-semester design studio. Having read about the historical monuments from various sources during his primary school days, he was looking forward to giving young Malaysians who were also promising future architects some valuable exposure to the “origin point” of Malaysian, and consequently, Southeast Asian architecture.
What he and the group experienced during that fateful visit were monuments that were well-cared for but lacked comprehensive and engaging explanations for visitors to thoughtfully connect with. This convinced him that Lembah Bujang would benefit from academic input on how it could improve its visitor experience and engagement; and build more public affinity with its various sites. Keith felt that this was especially important for interested local and international visitors who were unable to engage knowledgeable local guides to explain Lembah Bujang’s complex history.
When the Taylor’s Impact Labs were launched in 2022, the now not-so-young lecturer, Associate Professor Dr. Keith Tan was appointed as Hub Leader of the Cultural Heritage Hub under the Liveable Urban Communities (“LUC”) Impact Lab. He felt the Impact Lab presented a golden opportunity for the Taylor’s University staff and student body to contribute towards the conservation and promotion of the still undervalued Lembah Bujang monuments.
Armed with a cultural economy catalytic grant from Think City, Dr. Keith together with team members Dr. Camelia Kusumo, Ar. Chang Yan Yee, Mr. Azim Sulaiman, and Mr. Gooi Lian Junn (a Taylor’s alumnus now working with Universiti Malaysia Kelantan) pored over related historic literature to draw out relevant information. They then worked closely with 21 undergraduate students of Architecture and Tourism at Taylor’s University to use this information to create, test, and make public a series of audio guides in Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin, and Tamil that would better convey to visitors the significance of these ancient monuments. Draft versions of the audio guides, written primarily by Dr. Keith and Ar. Chang Yan Yee were tested on-site by the students in late 2022. This process also involved the administering of a survey questionnaire to ask the 21 students for their opinions on how the team could refine the guides before they were professionally recorded.
Some encouraging responses given by survey respondents include those listed below:
“The audio guide gave me a lot of information and background to the site. It helps me understand the site more clearly.”
“As an architecture student, it is interesting to know the different structures and shapes of bricks. It was also interesting to know about the activities (previously) done there. I’m not a reading person, so the audio guides were suitable for me.”
Constructive criticism was also provided, where some respondents commented on how the recordings were “too soft”, were “too lengthy”, were “cut off” at some parts and inconsistent in the voices used (switching between female and male narrators). This feedback was taken on board during the development process to improve the audio guides.
Students and visitors testing out the draft audio guides at Lembah Bujang in October 2022
The ARC 61204 (Architectural Conservation & Tourism) undergraduate elective module brought both architectural and tourism students together under Module Co-ordinator, Mr. Azim Sulaiman. Mr. Azim led the group in designing an attractive visitors’ booklet containing several suggested walking trails within the ancient site. This visitors’ booklet includes printed QR codes linked to the audio guides so that visitors can listen to the guides as they interact physically with the monuments on site. Meaningful input was provided by the academic team members who guided the students on this project.
Image showing an extract from the visitors’ booklet.
With the support of a grant from Think City, 1,000 copies of this booklet were printed, and given free of charge to the Lembah Bujang Archaeological Museum and the Think City office in KL for dissemination to visitors. The completed audio guides explain the myths and legends associated with Lembah Bujang, as well as the colonial and post-colonial discoveries that have been made and documented there. The language used is entertaining but also informative, so that cultural tourists as well as casual visitors will both be able to appreciate these wonders that once existed in ancient Kedah. Visitors to the site who have used the audio guides like Mr. Richard Engelhardt, former UNESCO Regional Director of Asia Pacific, and Dr. Matt Benson, Senior Director of Think City, described the guides as “amongst the best they have used so far”.
Useable QR codes linked to the izi.travel website hosting the Lembah Bujang Audio Guides (from left to right) in BM, English, Mandarin, and Tamil.
These audio guides for Lembah Bujang have created a free resource for the Lembah Bujang Archaeological Museum to use in actively promoting the various rich narratives relating to the ancient monuments to visitors from Malaysia and around the world. The Taylor’s LUC Impact Lab is proud to have been able to play a part in promoting cultural tourism within Malaysia and helping to showcase our country’s cultural diversity and its wealth of heritage sites.
This meaningful project is closely aligned with the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 11.4 that aims to “Protect the world’s cultural and natural heritage”. The Taylor’s University Liveable Urban Communities Impact Lab continues to seek synergies with like-minded industry partners and external experts who can work together with motivated students and dedicated academic staff at Taylor’s University to develop solutions that help to create more liveable urban communities. Contact us to explore how you and your organisation can work with us on similar initiatives.
