Sibu museum keeps memory of pioneering hospital alive

The Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum is a tribute to a cherished former hospital and the respected philanthropist behind its establishment.

Established in 1936, the Lau King Howe Hospital was Sibu’s first modern medical facility. It remained the region’s only one until 1994, when a new General Hospital opened in town.

It, therefore, played an important role in the lives of generations of local residents for close to six decades.

Lau King Howe was born the son of a pastor in 1869, in China’s Fujian province. After studying at the Methodist Anglo-Chinese College in Foochow, he trained as a teacher in the Philippines and later became principal of the Philippines Chinese School.

He returned to China in 1914 and, after a period in government service, went into business in Shanghai.

In 1916, at age 47, Lau moved to Sibu in search of better opportunities. He established a rubber plantation and went on to make his fortune there.

Towards the end of his life, concerned by the limited medical facilities available in Sibu, he proposed to the Rajah Brooke government in 1930 that a new hospital be built, with the cost shared between himself and the government.

Rather than leave all his wealth to his sons, whom he feared might squander it, Lau believed some of it would be better used to build a hospital for the community.

Construction began in 1931. Alas, Lau did not live to see the hospital completed, though it was named in his honour.

After the General Hospital opened in Sibu in 1994, Lau King Howe Hospital closed. Much of the original complex was subsequently demolished, but the outpatient clinic, pharmacy and emergency departments were preserved and converted into the memorial museum.

The exhibits offer a glimpse into the wide range of services once provided by the hospital, from maternity care and dentistry to pharmacy and emergency treatment.

One photograph shows nurses caring for Siamese twins, while another display traces the changing styles of nurses’ uniforms over the decades.

Among the smaller details is an ornate Sarawak brass belt buckle once worn as part of a nurse’s uniform.

The pharmacy section is particularly interesting, with stories about the once-familiar “KK” tablet (paracetamol), as well as the practical ways medicines were dispensed in earlier decades.

Liquid medication, for example, was sometimes given out in repurposed ketchup or beer bottles!

Visitors can also learn how iodine was added to Sibu’s salt supply in an effort to reduce cases of goitre.

Together, these small objects and stories offer a fascinating glimpse into an era when medical care looked very different, while preserving the memory of an institution that served Sibu for almost 60 years.

The Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum may be small, but it packs in plenty of local history and intriguing details about healthcare in Sarawak.

It is air-conditioned, admission is free, and donations are welcome.

Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum
Jalan Lau King Howe,
96000 Sibu, Sarawak

This article was originally published in Malaysia Traveller. Read more articles here.

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.