'Museums can be great places to learn'

The Jakarta Historical Museum, or Fatahillah Museum, has successfully applied innovative programs, ranging from fun bike rides to night tours, to attract more visitors. The Jakarta Post asked a number of people if they found it interesting to visit museums.

Pierre, is a visitor to the Fatahillah Museum in West Jakarta. He is from France but lives and works in Jakarta:

It is interesting to visit a museum like this one. Sometimes I visit several museums on my days off.

I think it's important to know the history of a city by observing the historical artifacts and happenings as displayed here.

As to the number of visitors, maybe the people prefer to spend their time in shopping malls than in museums. Basically it is the same here as in European countries. It's not really the case that Europeans are more interested in visiting museums.

I haven't seen all the museums in the city but I think this one is quite good.

Perhaps your government needs to work harder to complete the collection with a better range of artifacts and books, as well as other things. There is so much that could be done to improve the museum's condition. Of course, it would need to be prioritized and would take a lot of money.

Takashi Kumano, is a Japanese tourist from Tokyo who visited the Fatahillah Museum in West Jakarta recently:

I visited the museum to learn the history of Jakarta. Actually, I was engaged in both sightseeing and learning history during my holiday here.

I'm interested in learning about the history from the artifacts and replicas displayed in the museum.

I cannot say if the museums in Jakarta are in good condition as I haven't seen them all.

In general, I don't think many people are interested in visiting museums. Even in Japan, you couldn't say that the Japanese are more interested in museums than Indonesians.

I think that museums only attract people who are really interested in history. What happens here is similar to Japan.

Alfi, 29, is an employee with a company in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta. She lives in Tangerang with her family:

It surprised me to find out that Jakarta still has so many historic artifacts. It surprised me even more to see that they are kept well.

I appreciate that the museum management has been applying innovative programs to attract more visitors. This is necessary as many museums in the city are dingy and dull. So, there are not many people interested in visiting them.

But I also realize that many people do not understand the importance of museums. They don't know that museums can be great places to learn about our history.

I'm interested in visiting our other museums. I like the atmosphere and it is very relaxing to spend one's time in museums.

I'll bring my son to the museums to encourage him to learn history in a simple way before he starts out in school.

-- Leo Wahyudi S.