KUCHING (July 24): Greater public understanding of Sarawak’s heritage is essential to ensuring its long-term preservation, as people must first appreciate the state’s historical treasures before they can protect them, said Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

The State Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts said documentaries could play an important role in making Sarawak’s heritage more accessible to the public.

“Heritage that is not understood is heritage that is eventually lost. A young Sarawakian who has never been told what Niah Cave represents cannot be expected to protect it, let alone take pride in it.

“Television remains one of the ways to close that gap, and I commend TVS for using its platform for precisely this purpose,” he said in a speech read by the ministry’s permanent secretary Datu Dr Rashidah Bolhassan during the premiere screening of The Human Odyssey documentary at the Borneo Cultures Museum here.

Abdul Karim said documentaries such as The Human Odyssey served a purpose beyond entertainment by bringing the story of Niah Cave to audiences who may never have the opportunity to visit the Unesco World Heritage Site themselves.

“Sarawak’s founding moment, in the truest sense, predates all of those by tens of thousands of years, and it lies in a cave outside Miri.

“When Unesco inscribed Niah Cave as a World Heritage Site in 2024, it was not merely adding a name to a list.

“It was formally recognising what Sarawakians have long sensed instinctively: that this land holds one of the most important records of the human story anywhere on Earth,” he said.

He said July 27 would mark the second anniversary of Niah Cave’s Unesco recognition, with the documentary premiere being among initiatives held to commemorate the milestone.

Abdul Karim also highlighted the recent fire at Niah National Park as a reminder of the need to safeguard heritage sites.

“It is a reminder that heritage, however ancient, is not indestructible. If anything, that incident has sharpened our resolve in protecting our heritage and history,” he said.

He said Sarawak’s conservation efforts extended beyond Niah Cave, citing Gunung Mulu National Park, the Sarawak Delta Geopark and the Old Kuching Smart Heritage initiative as part of the state’s wider efforts to preserve cultural and natural heritage.

“I mention these not to draw attention away from today, but because they explain why an occasion like this matters to us: heritage, in our view, is never one site or one anniversary.

“It is a continuous undertaking, and Niah’s story today is simply one chapter within it,” he said.

Abdul Karim also thanked TVS, Sarawak Media Group (SMG) and the Sarawak Museum Department for collaborating on the production, saying it demonstrated how different organisations could work together to preserve and promote Sarawak’s heritage.

The six-part documentary explores Southeast Asia’s role in early human migration, the story of Malaysia’s earliest inhabitants, the Unesco World Heritage-listed Niah Caves, the discovery of the iconic Deep Skull, Neolithic communities in the region, and how modern archaeological discoveries continue to reshape understanding of human history.

It highlights Borneo as one of the world’s most significant archaeological landscapes.

The Human Odyssey premieres on TVS on Aug 3 and will air every Monday at 9pm. It will also be available for live streaming and on-demand viewing via the TVS website and TVS Inspire app.