MALAYSIAN FIRST PM'S ARTEFACTS TO BE REDISPLAYED

KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 (Bernama) -- Several artefacts belonged to the First
Prime Minister of Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj will be redisplayed
at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Memorial, said Information Communication and Culture
Ministry Secretary-General Kamaruddin Siaraf.

He said the National Archive was now in the process of inventorying the
artefacts.

"The National Archive will also obtain views from experts as we need to
determine whether some of the items are gold-coated or solid gold," he said.

On July 3, Information Communication and Culture Minister Dr Rais
Yatim announced the content of Tunku Abdul Rahman's safe after instructing the
National Archive to open it.

The box, which was last opened in 1970, contains eight wooden and velvet
boxes.

Inside the wooden and velvet boxes were a wrist watch, two golden keys (one
of which was from former New York City Mayor Robert Wagner), two sets of
cufflinks, a gold coin with a ringgit value from former King Tuanku Ismail
Nasiruddin Shah, a commemorative coin from former Taiwan president
Chiang Kai-shek and a 1970-dated golden plaque from the National Shooting
Association.


The biggest of all was a golden rectangular metal box which contained about
23 gold items such as a Parker pen, a Chinese character that means "long life",
at least two pairs of scissors, keys and a round plaque that carried the number
65.

Kamaruddin declined to comment on the value of the artefacts, saying they
were priceless.

Meanwhile, Kamaruddin said Radio and Television of Malaysia (RTM), a
Malaysian state-owned public broadcaster, would carry out
reports taking into account existing policies and the nature of information it
was airing.

"We carry out the live telecast of parliament sessions based on these
considerations. We wouldn't want to show unsavoury things.

"That is our policy. We are not being one-sided in deciding what to show or
not to show. I think the people should understand this," he said when asked to
comment on claims that RTM did not carry out a full 30-minute live telecast of
parliament sessions and instead did so selectively.

-- BERNAMA