Lim Kah Hoe, Curator of the Malaysia Chinese Museum:Malaysian Chinese Diasporic Memory Echoes Dunhuang’s Silk Road Heritage

In a recent interview with China-ASEAN Observation, Lim Kah Hoe, Curator of the Malaysia Chinese Museum, reflected on the cultural threads linking Dunhuang’s Silk Road civilization with the diasporic history of the Chinese community in Malaysia. He also discussed how overseas Chinese communities preserve their cultural heritage while becoming rooted in local society, the unique contribution museums can make to China-ASEAN cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and the new possibilities the digital era offers for cultural heritage conservation.

For many years, Lim has focused his work on the history and culture of Southeast Asia’s Chinese communities, the Maritime Silk Road, and cultural exchanges between China and ASEAN. At the same time, he has devoted himself to preserving the cultural heritage of Malaysian Chinese communities and promoting the digital transformation of museums. Under his active mobilization, the Malaysian museums have expanded their internal engagement and developed partnerships with numerous museums and cultural institutions across China. Lim also spearheaded the creation of the Maritime Silk Road Overseas Chinese Museums Alliance. The alliance now comprises between 30 and 40 member institutions from China, Singapore, Indonesia, and other countries and regions. Through co-curated exhibitions, museum-to-museum exchanges, and other cooperation initiatives, it is helping the history and collective memories of overseas Chinese communities reach audiences far beyond national borders.

---

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/19adcc_294bcdaf0524412d9f239ec6118260a8/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Dunhuang was a major hub on the ancient overland Silk Road, while Malaysia was a vital port of transit along the Maritime Silk Road. Both carry the historical legacy now associated with the Belt and Road Initiative. Where, in your view, do Dunhuang’s Silk Road memory and the diasporic memory of the Malaysian Chinese community resonate most deeply?

Lim Kah Hoe: The Malay Peninsula has, since ancient times, been a crossroads of commerce between East and West. Chinese civilization left a lasting imprint on the region, as did Indian civilization arriving from the West.

Malaysia was an important way station on the Maritime Silk Road, just as Dunhuang was one of the most vital junctions on the overland Silk Road. Together, they form part of the key historical and cultural roots of what we know today as the Belt and Road Initiative.

Their greatest commonality lies in their role as connectors.

From the Han Dynasty onward, officials from the Central Plains and merchants from the Western Regions met and moved freely through Dunhuang. Their encounters helped link the different sections of the Silk Road into a network. In modern times, the Chinese communities of Southeast Asia, and the Malaysian Chinese in particular, performed a role not unlike that of Zhang Qian.

Many of the early Chinese migrants who sailed to Southeast Asia came from humble and impoverished backgrounds. Through hard work and perseverance, however, they made remarkable contributions to the region’s economic growth over the course of only one or two centuries. They were particularly important in sustaining commercial ties between China and the Western world. During some of the most challenging decades of the 20th century, overseas Chinese associations, chambers of commerce, and trading networks also served as crucial bridges between China and the rest of the world.

The collective memory of the Malaysian Chinese community therefore mirrors, in many ways, the story of Dunhuang two millennia ago, a story about openness, exchange, and integration.

Overseas Chinese culture often has to navigate the relationship between carrying forward Chinese traditions and becoming part of the local society. What role can museums play in maintaining a balance between the two?

Lim Kah Hoe: History has shown that the long continuity of Chinese civilization owes much to its openness and its extraordinary ability to integrate different cultures.

When our ancestors began migrating to Southeast Asia in large numbers, one or two hundred years ago, they carried with them cultural traditions from southern Fujian, Guangdong, and other regions of China. Some cultural friction was perhaps inevitable when these traditions first encountered local cultures. Over time, however, the inclusive character of Chinese culture allowed it to rapidly adapt to and blend with local traditions.

This process began much earlier than many people realize. Cultural exchange and integration were already taking place during Zheng He’s maritime expeditions. Malaysia’s Baba Nyonya culture is one of the representative examples. Born from encounters between Chinese and local traditions, it has developed into an integral part of Malaysia’s multicultural identity.

This is one of the most admirable qualities of Chinese culture, as it has traveled beyond China. It does not define itself by excluding other civilizations. Instead, it seeks to respect, understand, and embrace them, allowing different cultures to coexist and flourish together.

Museums should therefore move beyond telling the story of any culture in isolation. They should reveal how different cultures have encountered, exchanged, and integrated with one another, shaping the diverse societies we enjoy today.

In the context of China-ASEAN relations, what can museums contribute that official diplomacy and commercial exchange cannot?

Lim Kah Hoe: I have been greatly encouraged by the recent museum boom in China. For many young people, a museum has become one of the first places they visit when they arrive in a new city. We see the same trend among Chinese visitors to Malaysia. Many of them come to the Malaysia Chinese Museum as their first stop, which is tremendously encouraging for us. It reminds us that people come to know another country not only through its cuisine and landscapes, but also through the stories preserved and interpreted in its museums. In this sense, museums can become powerful cultural bridges between nations.

Each ASEAN country possesses its own history, distinctive cultural traditions, and an abundance of valuable intangible cultural heritage. These resources have enormous potential to connect with the growing public interest in museums in China. Through such exchanges, we can raise the international profile of Southeast Asia’s heritage while also helping younger generations rediscover the deep connections linking the cultures of our region.

This trend has also enabled me to visit China on many occasions and participate in cultural exchange events. The more I engage in such exchanges, the more strongly I feel that museums can play a vital role in strengthening cultural and people-to-people ties between China and ASEAN.

What inspiration did you draw from the Digital Exhibition Center of the Mogao Caves? How does the Malaysia Chinese Museum intend to advance its digital transformation?

Lim Kah Hoe: Dunhuang was among the earliest places in China to explore the digital preservation of cultural heritage, and it has also developed some of the country’s finest examples of digital display.

Its experience is extremely valuable to us. Museums in many ASEAN countries are less developed than their counterparts in China, and their approaches to exhibition tend to be more conventional. Yet digitalization is especially important for Southeast Asia. Many countries in the region went through periods of colonial rule, during which much of their indigenous cultural heritage was damaged, dispersed, or lost. Digital technology now gives us an opportunity to reconstruct and bring that heritage back into public view. In doing so, it can help restore missing chapters of history while making traditional culture more accessible to younger generations.

Archaeological research in many Southeast Asian countries also remains limited because of constraints in funding and professional expertise. For this reason, combining digital technologies with museum exhibitions will be one of the most important directions for the future. Learning from Dunhuang’s experience was therefore a central purpose of our visit.

What message would you like to share with young Malaysian Chinese about the importance of cultural heritage?

Lim Kah Hoe: I would like to tell young Malaysians that we are extremely fortunate. For hundreds of years, the cultural roots connecting us to our heritage have never been severed. Nor do we have to choose between our cultural heritage and our identity as Malaysian citizens. The two are not contradictory. We can remain connected to Chinese cultural traditions while contributing to Malaysia’s vibrant and multicultural society.

In the 21st century, we should harness new technologies to preserve and pass on traditional culture in more scientific and modern ways. Traditional culture does not stand in opposition to popular culture. What matters is how younger generations use new technologies and new forms of storytelling to give tradition a fresh expression, allowing it to remain understood, valued, loved, and carried forward.

Finding ways to achieve this is a shared responsibility for all of us today.

(If you have specific expertise, or would like to share your thoughts, please send us your writings at CAobservation@outlook.com)