PUTRAJAYA – Efforts to keep the lights on at the Penang House of Music (PHoM) include plans to expand it nationally to become a “Malaysia House of Music.”
Following a visit to PHoM on March 7, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said this is one of the ideas being considered to rescue the museum.
PHoM is scheduled to close and move out of its current premises in Komtar, George Town, Penang in mid-March.
“I want to see if we can find a way to make it national, to establish a Malaysian House of Music, which is why we are talking to MyCreative to assist in the sustainable funding of PHoM,” Fahmi told Scoop on Friday.
On February 13, PHoM announced on its social media accounts that it was ceasing operations, citing the “lack of financial and institutional support” as the reason for the closure.
When contacted, PHoM founder and director Paul Augustin said the museum and its collections were a spin-off from painstaking research and information gathered for a book authored by himself and James Lochhead titled “Just for the Love of It,” which was focused on popular music in Penang between the 1930s and the 1960s.
“Since we started operating in 2016, the collection has expanded and moved beyond Penang to include data, information and artefacts from around the country, including traditional folk music and cultural performances by people from all ethnicities in the country,” he said.
“There is so much information, knowledge and expertise out there, and we want to function as a centre that has the ability to connect everyone from all sectors and genres of the local and regional music industry.
“This was in our long-term plans before the closure.
“The aim was to increase awareness, increase interest and especially to build skills and knowledge on our local and regional music and cultural arts,” he said, adding that PHoM was ready to go national. – March 10, 2024