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THE WONDER FOOD MUSEUM STORY: CELEBRATING MALAYSIA’S FOOD
CULTURE AND CULINARY HERITAGE
ShawHong SER
Faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University
email: shaw.h@chula.ac.th
Received Date
Accepted Date
Published Date
:
:
:
27-10-2020
26-11-2020
30-11-2020
ABSTRACT
Although thematic museums centered around food culture and culinary heritage have been
around for decades, the concept of food museum is still fairly new in Southeast Asia. Only in
2015, the first food-oriented museum – “Wonder Food Museum” was established in Penang,
Malaysia. Since its establishment, the museum has received positive feedback from both
local and international visitors. From 2017 to 2019, the museum has been selected as the
recipient of the Certificate of Excellence by international well renowned Travel organization TripAdvisor Inc. Meanwhile, the museum’s contribution to the state’s cultural and tourism
development has also been recognized by the state authority. In 2017 and 2019, the museum
was awarded the ‘Top Museum Award (Unique Concept)’, and ‘Best Tourism
(Museum)Award’ by the INPenang International Awards respectively. By and large, Wonder
Food Museum is currently one of the most outstanding museums in Malaysia and a wellknown attraction in Penang. In this paper, to response on the research scholarly interest in
museum tourism in Southeast Asia, the researcher has made an attempt to document the
development of Wonder Food Museum from 2015 to 2019. The museum’s curatorial concept,
exhibits production, exhibition planning and its overall management will be discussed and
analyzed. As the aforementioned this paper will provide insights into an understanding of food
museum’s development in Malaysia.
Keywords: Food museum, food culture, culinary heritage, Malaysia’s museum, museum
tourism, interactive museum
INTRODUCTION
According to Tove Danovich (2015), a global enthusiasm for food museums seems to
have sprung up almost overnight. Since 2010, museums dedicated to the wider world of food
have gotten underway in Brooklyn, Prague, London, Chicago and etc. Danielle Oteri (2019)
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also mentioned that, in recent years, “food” has been a hot topic in the field of arts and culture.
For instance, in 2015, Milan Expo’s exhibitions focused on food culture and culinary heritage
were well received by the public. Meanwhile, exhibitions concerning food such as “Our Global
Kitchen: Food, Nature and Culture” organized by American Museum of Natural History in
2012, and “Eat, Drink and Be Merry: Food in the Middle Ages and Renaissance” by the Getty
Center in 2015 at Los Angeles have also been massively celebrated by audiences. In 2019,
a wonderful array of exhibitions on food culture have been presented by museums in Europe.
For example, “Feeding History: The Politics of Food” by British Museum (London), “Food:
Bigger than the Plate” by Victoria and Albert Museum (London), “Feast of Fools: Bruegel
Rediscovered” by Gaasbeek Castle (Lennik), and “Café Europe: Food Ties” by Museum of
European Cultures (Berlin). To put it succinctly, today’s museums have increasingly been
highlighting food, culinary, and dining history in their exhibition schedules (Sarah Peters
Kernan, 2019).
In the Asia-Pacific region, the cultural and social aspects of food also contribute to many
nations’ museum exhibition agendas. For instance, in 2013, an exhibition celebrates
Australian culinary history, “Eat Your History: A Shared Table” was presented by Museum of
Sydney. In 2015, an exhibition to celebrate 50 years of normalization of diplomatic ties entitled
“Food Culture in Korea and Japan: The Tastes of Nanum and Omotenashi” was presented
by National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka and National Folk Museum of Korea in Seoul. In
2017, a food-themed exhibition, “Taberu wo kaku (Drawing Eating)” was organized by Ghibli
Museum in Tokyo. In 2020, a special exhibition, “WASHOKU -Nature and Culture in Japanese
Cuisine” was presented by National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo. In Taiwan,
“The Testimony of Food” exhibition was organized by Taipei Fine Arts Museum in 2015. In
2014, Hong Kong Heritage Museum presented an exhibition “More Than Just Food” at Hong
Kong International airport. In India, an exhibition on India’s ancient food culture “Historical
Gastronomica - the Indus Dining Experience” was held at the National Museum (New Delhi)
in 2020. In 2019, an exhibition titled “Packaging Matters: Singapore's Food Packaging Story
from the Early 20th Century” was presented by National Museum of Singapore. Meanwhile,
according to Fuchsia Dunlop (2014), in recent years, China has developed a new passion for
food museums, and such excitement has spawned a crop of new museums all about food,
for example, opened in 2012, the Hangzhou’s Cuisine Museum is one of a growing number
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of food museums in Zhejiang Province that fully funded by the city government to promote
gastro-diplomacy.
The concept of the food-themed exhibition might sound new, yet the relationship
between “Food and Museum” is certainly not a new phenomenon. Since 1985, the world’s
first food museum – the Alimentarium Food Museum was established in Switzerland to
showcase a global and independent view of the many aspects of the human diet (AFM, 2020).
Meanwhile, over the last three decades, many countries had also devoted much appreciation
to the food culture in their museums. AS reported by Maria Lotfi (2019), currently, there are
various types of food and beverage museums around the world, and these museums did not
merely educate people about the food’s history and culture, yet they also bring a pleasant
experience to visitors as food always makes people happy. Joey Haverford (2019) also
mentioned that food museums from over the world emphasizing different themes, and each
museum focuses on a certain food or kind of food to delve into its respective world. Thusly,
each food museum has its distinctive uniqueness and specialness.
Currently, there are lists and directories of best food museums around the world made
available by experts in the field as references for visitors. For instance, in 2015, Tamara
Hinson (CNN Travel Journalist) reported the world’s top food Museums to visit as follow,
Colman's Mustard Shop and Museum (United Kingdoms), York's Chocolate Story (England),
Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum (Japan), Udon Museum (Japan), Frietmuseum (Bruges,
Belgium), Dutch Cheese Museum (Netherlands), Kimchi Museum (South Korea), Currywurst
Museum (Germany), Southern Food and Beverage Museum (United States), Canadian
Potato Museum (Canada), and Museum of Olive Oil Production (Greece). In 2018, National
Geographic as well listed the world’s top ten museums dedicated to food and beverage as
follow, the Bramah Museum of Tea and Coffee (England), Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate
(Belgium), Alimentarium (Switzerland), Colman's Mustard Shop and Museum (United
Kingdoms), Museo del Peperoncino (Italy), Pick Salami and Szeged Paprika Museum
(Hungary), Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum (Japan), Ben & Jerry’s Museum (United
States), World of Coca-Cola (United States), and Museum of Bread Culture (Germany). Yet,
no matter one’s agreed or not with these selections, the agreement upon the fact that these
museums are significant establishments that delve into the history, culture, art and
technological development of food culture around the world is unquestionable.
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By and large, food museums and exhibitions celebrate food, exploring its history,
heritage, and cultural influence. Following the establishment of the world’s first food museum
in 1985, in this day and age, an enormous number of food-oriented museums have been
developed over the world. As concluded by Tove Danovich (2015), food museums is now a
worldwide phenomenon, and the age of the food museum is clearly upon us.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOOD MUSEUMS IN ASIA
Oishimaya Sen Nag (2019), as a home to some of the world’s oldest civilizations. Asia
has a vast wealth of historical and archaeological treasures that are protected and exhibited
in many museums distributed in its many countries. Meanwhile, with its richness and diversity
of dietary culture, it is not surprising to learn that the world’s food-oriented museums’
fascination has been well celebrated by people living in this continent. Historical research has
shown that, established in 1986, Museum Kimchikan or the Kimchi Field Museum located in
Seoul, South Korea is currently one of the oldest food museums in the world. The museum
is
a
well-known
cultural
and
educational
center
dedicated
to
preserve
and
promote kimchi culture, and its exhibition features the historical and cultural significance of
kimchi in Korean culture and gastronomy (Museum Kimchikan, 2020). In 2002, Tteok
Museum (Korean Rice Cakes Museum) is another food museum that opened in Seoul to
celebrate Korean culinary heritage.
Lucy Dayman (2017), given to Japanese serious love for dietary, it should not be
surprising to know that Japan is the food museum capital of Asia. Currently, there are at least
14 food-oriented museums in Japan, namely Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum (Yokohama),
Cup Noodle Museum (Yokohama and Osaka), Kewpie Mayo Museum (Tokyo), Shimizu Sushi
Museum (Shizuoka), Fake Food Museum (Tokyo and Yokohama), Kirin Beer Village
(Yokohama), the Sapporo Beer Museum (Hokkaido), Tottori Nijisseiki Pear Museum
(Kurayoshi), New Ginger Museum (Tochigi Prefecture), Odaiba Takoyaki Museum (Tokyo),
Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum (Kobe), Food and Agriculture Museum (Tokyo), and etc.
In sum, Japan’s thriving food culture has been the catalyst for foods museum boom
throughout the country in recent decades. Meanwhile, in Taiwan, many food museums have
been established over the years. Generally, the Yilan Distillery Chia Chi Lan Wine Museum
in Yilan City (opened in 1998) is recognized as the oldest food museum in Taiwan. From 2000
to present, there are at least 7 food-oriented museums have been established in Taiwan,
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namely, Wu Tao Chishang Lunch Box Cultural History Museum in Taitung opened in 2002,
Taiwan Salt Museum in Tainan opened in 2002, Teng Feng Fish Ball Museum located
in Tamsui opened in 2004, Spring Onion Culture Museum in Yilan opened in 2005, Taiwan
Sugar Museum in Kaohsiung opened in 2006, Kuo Yuan Ye Museum of Cake and Pastry
in Taoyuan City opened in 2011, and Taiwan Mochi Museum in Nantou City opened in 2011.
In addition to Japan and Taiwan, the mainland China has also developed a strong
enthusiasm in developing food museums. As reported by Fuchsia Dunlop (2014), many new
museums concerning food culture and culinary arts are opening in the mainland China, for
example, the Hangzhou’s Cuisine Museum is currently one of the most outstanding food
museums that fully funded by the city government to promote China’s gastro-diplomacy.
Meanwhile, since 2011, Chengdu in Sichuan province has been honored as a city of
gastronomy by UNESCO. A such, Chengdu Sichuan Cuisine Museum has been given a very
significant roles to preserve and promote Sichuan Cuisine. In 2005, Hong Kong also
welcomed its first food museum, the Tao Heung Foods of Mankind Museum in Fan Ling (the
museum was relocated to Shatin in 2008). In 2018, the first culinary museum of Indian
was established in Manipal by WGSHA educational institution to showcase the beauty and
greatness of Indian food culture. In 2015, Wonder Food Museum was opened in Penang,
Malaysia as the first and only food museum in Southeast Asia.
In summary, among the countries in Asia, South Korea is the country with the oldest
food museum established in 1986. Japan is the country with the highest number of food
museums, and Taiwan is another state that many food museums have established in the last
two decades. Apart from these two leading states, mainland China is catching up with an
expansion of food museums to showcase its affluent food culture and heritage. Meanwhile,
in Southeast Asia, Malaysia is the only country with a food museum established in 2015.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
For the purpose of the research, the qualitative research method is employed to obtain
the picture of food museum phenomenon and the development of Wonder Food Museum.
Data collection was gathered through both primary and secondary sources. Primary data
sources included key informants’ interview and researcher’s on field observation. Secondary
data sources mainly covered academic journals, government document, and newspaper
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articles related to food museum phenomena in Asia. For primary data collection, two research
instruments have been utilized: (1) participant observation (2) Semi-structure Interview.
(1) Participant observation. According to Barbara B. Kawulich (2005), participant
observation, over the years, has been a hallmark of both anthropological and sociological
types of research. Catherine Marshall and Gretchen Rossman (2016) also mentioned that
observation as the systematic description of events, behaviors, and artifacts in the social
setting chosen for the study. In brief, observation as a data collection instrument supports the
researcher to catalog, penetrate and analyze existing situations. Therefore, to learn about the
operation and atmosphere of the museum, participant observations have been undertaken
by the researcher at the museum during his visit in September and November 2019.
Meanwhile, an informal discussion with groups of visitors was also been put into effect to
obtain visitors' opinions of their experience at the museum.
(2) Semi-structure Interview - Shazia Jamshed (2014) describes the interview as one of
the most common formats of data collection in qualitative research, and this data collection
method serves as a type of framework in which the practices and standards are not only
recorded but also achieved, challenged and as well as reinforced. M. Easwaramoorthy and
Fataneh Zarinpoush (2005) also defined interviews are data collection methods when there
is a need to collect in-depth information on people’s opinions, thoughts, experiences, and
feelings. For this the reason, on April 10, 2020, a qualitative interview has been organized to
collect primary data to realize the research objectives. A semi-structured interview was
conducted through Skype conference meetings with two key informants. A set of
predetermined questions concerning the planning, development and current situation of the
museum have been instrumented to collect primary research date from (i) Mr. Sean Lau
(Museum Founder and Director), and (ii) Ms. Cheryl Ng (Co-founder of the Museum).
For secondary data collection, with the advent of the Internet, secondary data collection
has been undertaken through online platforms. Sources of secondary data related to food
museum development in Asia and Malaysia include books, journal, newspaper article, and
website have been identified and accessed to generate a deeper and wider scope of
understanding of the research subject.
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The Wonder Food Museum, Penang, Malaysia
The Wonder Food Museum is located in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. It was a
private museum established in November 21, 2015. Situated inside Georgetown’s colonial
architecture built in the 1940s, the museum is the only one of its kind in the world
that celebrates diverse Asia dietary. Meanwhile, with a focus on showcasing Malaysia's food
culture, the museum is a great place to discover Malaysian culinary heritage. According to
Sean Lau (Museum Founder and Director), Wonder Food Museum’s mission is to document,
preserve, and promote Malaysia’s unique food culture which reflects the multiculturalism of
the nation. Meanwhile, the Museum’s additional, yet not lesser mission is to research, exhibit,
and publicize the rich culinary heritage of Asia for the benefit of local residents and
international visitors. In sum, Wonder Food Museum is a new kind of museum in Malaysia
that delicate to showcase Malaysia’s food culture with exhibits that allow visitors to “plean”
(play + learn) with. It is an “edutainment” museum that incorporates elements of entertainment
and interactivity into its exhibitions to maximize visitors’ experiences. As said by Sean Lau,
“Wonder Food Museum is a food museum plus wonderland that aims to provide a rich
educational experience on food culture, and inspire creativity and curiosity within every
individual.”
Figure 1: Wonder Food Museum (Sources: Wonder Food Museum)
Although still fairly new to the museum scene, Wonder Food Museum has achieved a
great milestone in its development. Currently, the museum is recognized as one of the 10
outstanding museums in Malaysia by culturaltrip.com in 2017 and listed among the top 7
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Museums in Malaysia by traveltriangle.com in 2019. Meanwhile, in 2017, the museum has
been awarded the “Top Museum (Unique Concept) Award” by the INPenang International
Awards. In 2019, another honor was granted by INPenang International Awards to celebrate
the museum as “Best Tourism (Museum)” in Penang, Malaysia. Furthermore, since 2017 to
present, the museum has also been selected as the recipient of the TripAdvisor Certificate of
Excellence for three consecutive years. Undeniably, the Wonder Food Museum has now one
of the most celebrated museums in Malaysia.
The Museum’s Location
George Town, the capital city of the state of Penang is the third most populous city in
Malaysia (Usman Haji Yaakob & Nik Norliati Fitri Md Nor, 2013). In 2008, the historical core
of George Town was honored by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. For decades, George
Town has been one of the most well-known destinations of cultural heritage tourism in
Malaysia, and a top travel destination in Asia (CNN Travel, 2017). In recent years, the city
has also been listed by various publications as a great destination for culinary tourism. For
instance, Lonely Planet placed Penang as No.1 food destination in the world in 2014, the
Culture Trip named Penang as one of the best 15 cities in the world for food in 2016, and
CNN Travel recommends Penang as one of the greatest street food cities in 2017. With these
international accolades, the city is now one of the popular destinations of culinary tourism in
Asia.
As George Town’s earned its reputation as a gastronomic paradise, and well-known
for its multicultural heritage. Sean Lau sees the town as a perfect location for the food
museum. After attentive research on location, Lebuh Pantai of George Town is considered a
strategic location for Wonder Food Museum. Housed in a distinctive colonial architecture built
in the 1940s, the museum is neighbor with many popular attractions, such as Georgetown
UNESCO Historic Site, Pinang Peranakan Mansion, and Penang Little India. In brief, the
museum it centrally located and easily accessible for visitors.
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Figure 2: Location of Wonder Food Museum (Sources: Wonder Food Museum)
The Museum’s curatorial concept
According to Sean Lau, the idea of opening a food museum was conceived in 2012, yet to
make Wonder Food Museum become a reality is a challenging journey. It took the team nearly
four years to overcome all challenges and have the museum opened in November 2015. The
first and the biggest challenge was, there is no food museum in Malaysia and neighboring
countries to serve as a reference, and most of the food museums the team has research and
learn about did not able to satisfy their interest. As such, to arrive with the concept of a
“wonderland” comes only after months of research and discussion. As said by the co-founder,
Cheryl Ng “we want to position this museum as a food wonderland for visitors to engage and
enjoy their visit, it is a participating museum that engage visitors in both mental and physical
interaction. Therefore, the overall exhibition design and exhibits production are centered
around the wonderland’s curatorial concept, and title the museum Wonder Food Museum”.
The Museum’s exhibits
All hyper-realistic replica foods exhibited in the museum are handcrafted by the creative team
led by Cheryl Ng, who was trained professionally in the art of “shokuhin sampuru”. As said by
Cheryl Ng, “my role as the leader of exhibits production is to lead the team to create the most
hyper-realistic replica foods with the highest-level of deliciousness. It took the team nearly
two years to research and produce close to 200 types of exhibits”.
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Figure 3: Wonder Food Museum’s exhibits production (Sources: Wonder Food Museum)
Shokuhin sampuru (food sample), a widespread Japanese art of replica foods was
invented by Takizo Iwasaki and Suzu in 1932 (Iwasaki Co., Ltd., 2011). Since then, the culture
of using Shokuhin sampuru has become a popular practice by many Japanese restaurants
to display their signatures’ dishes on shop windows to attract customers. Today, as times
have changed, the roles of replica foods have evolved from just dish samples for restaurant
promotion to art that pursuit of reality. As reported by Jared Lubarsky in the New York Times
(1985), the craftsmanship of replica foods has been raised to an art form. Japanese plastic
food models by the Maizuru Company were exhibited at London’s Victoria and Albert
Museum in 1980. Meanwhile, in addition to its traditional roles, replica foods are also being
used in many ways, for instance, decoration display for restaurants and grocery, props for
movies, television shows, and theatrical plays. In the 20th century, models of foods and
dishes were also used for nutrition education and consumer research (Tamara Bucher et al.,
2012). In brief, over the years, replica foods have developed from being fake foods made
from plastic, silicone, and resin. They are now cultural artifacts with a global presence that
developed alongside with Japanese gastro-diplomacy.
The Museum’s exhibition design
For exhibition and gallery design, Sean Lau mentions that the exhibition team developed
the exhibition design planning alongside exhibits production. Based on the curatorial concept
of a wonderland, the museum’s exhibition is divided into three different zones, namely (1) Info
Zone, (2) Wow Zone, and (3) Educational Zone.
(1) Info Zone, the space is dedicated to showcasing Malaysia multiculturalism through the
nation’s vibrant food culture. More than 100 types of Malaysian foods are exhibited with
a highlight of presenting traditional food from Malays, Indians, Chinese and Baba Nyonya
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culture. In short, the Info Zone is a gateway to the food wonderland with a grand
presentation of Malaysia’s culinary heritage.
Figure 4: Info Zone’s exhibition (Sources: Wonder Food Museum)
(2) Wow Zone is where the “food wonderland” and its fantasy takes place. Different sections
such as ‘Multi-colored foods’, ‘Colorless foods’, ‘Weightless foods’, and ‘Giant displays’
are designed to stimulate visitors’ interaction with foods. For instance, under the giant
display section, Malaysia’s well-known dishes such as Cendol, Laksa, Curry Mee, Rojak,
Char Kuey Teow and etc were made in a gigantic size to excite visitors and challenge
their perceptions about foods.
Figure 5: Wow Zone’s exhibition (Sources: Wonder Food Museum)
(3) Educational Zone, this zone aims to bring together the politics and pleasure of foods, and
proposed questions to raise visitors’ awareness of food’s production, consumption, and
environmental sustainability. Thereupon, at the end of the visit, an image of a helpless
child crouched over leftover food on the floor against a red backdrop with the message,
“Food is precious, don’t waste” is the highlight of the educational zone.”
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Figure 6: Educational Zone’s exhibition (Sources: Wonder Food Museum)
By and large, the Info Zone is devoted to showcasing the wonder of Malaysia’s cultural
diversity through its food heritage. The Wow Zone is a food wonderland designed to inspire
visitors’ participation, and the Educational Zone is dedicated as the zone of enlightenment.
An interactive museum
Andrew Pekarik et al. (2002), in recent years, museum visitors have come to expect a
high level of interactivity in museum exhibitions, especially non-art exhibitions Kalina
Nedelcheva (2019) also describes that, interactive exhibitions have the power to pull the
audience closer to artworks and created a more memorable experience. Museums with
interactive exhibition design are now in the trend. Therefore, it is not surprising to see that
many
museums
nowadays
integrate
interactivity
into
their
exhibition
design.
The interactive exhibit is a hit, yet the interactivities and interactive design are an open-ended
concept, the conceptualization and practice of an interactive exhibition have therefore been
interpreted differently accordingly to one’s exhibition design objective. For instance, an
interactive exhibition could be spaces with exhibits designed to encourages visitor’s physical
participation. It could also be an exhibition with a physical or virtual presentation that involved
multi-sensory interactive design. In sum, interactive exhibitions blurred and blended the fine
line between education and entertainment experience in a dynamic way. It is a change that
shifted the global museum practices (ShawHong Ser, 2019).
According to Sean Lau, “exhibitions nowadays have moved away from the passive
display to dynamic edutainment installation. Therefore, a museum with a physical interactive
design is what interests him. Consequently, a food museum with a wonderland’s theme that
engaged visitors’ in series physical interactions was designed as specialness of Wonder Food
Museum”. As a museum embraces the idea of interactive exhibitions, in each zone’s
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exhibition, there are exhibits for display, and exhibits serve as “prop” to bridge visitor’s
engagement. For instance, in Wow Zone, visitors are allowed to “play” with exhibits, it is an
exhibition area that stimulates visitors’ participation through the freedom to create and
explore. In addition to physical interaction design, exhibits and spatial planning of the museum
have also been designed as a kind of “Pop-up Museum” to cater to visitors’ interest,
particularly on young audiences’ passion for the selfie phenomenon. According to Manuel
Charr (2019), millennials are new generation that constantly searching out the perfect selfie
moment and cultural experiences to enrich their social media feeds. With such a change in
the contemporary cultural landscape, the concept of pop-up museums is growing popular
worldwide. Emre Cetin (2019) also mentioned that pop-up museums as interactive and
“Instagrammable” creative spaces are becoming a new phenomenon.
Figure 7: Interactive exhibition design at Wonder Food Museum (Sources: Wonder Food
Museum)
Compared with the “no photo” policy of the traditional museums due to art-works’
protection and copyrights issue. The pop-up museum engages visitors to experience and
have their photos taken and share on social media. With such a feature in its nature, a popup museum’s concept has been integrated into overall exhibition planning of Wonder Food
Museum. As said by Sean Lau, “to ensure our exhibition is able to stimulate visitors’
intellectually and emotionally, we engage their interests through a series of physical
interaction design. Moreover, the exhibition’s interactivity is not limited to physical interaction,
a cross-cultural content interaction, as well as presentation in interactives, have also be
implemented”. By and large, Wonder Food Museum is an interactive museum that requiring
visitors’ involvement in activities that will maximize their visit. The museum offers freedom of
navigation in their visit by allowing visitors to explore information to match their interests. It is
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a museum that combines innovative formats and playful activities in its overall exhibition
concept.
The development of Wonder Food Museum (2015 – present)
According to Cheryl Ng, since its opening to present, the museum received positive
feedback from the public and the media. In term of visitor numbers, from 2015 to present, it
shows a steady growth of visitor arrivals each year. In 2015, the museum welcomed nearly
5,000 visitors in the first month of its operation. In the following year, the museum received a
total number of 90,000 visitors. With around 30% in visitor number increment annually. In
2017, the number of visitors increased to 110,000, in 2018, the museum received 140,000
visitors, and in 2019, 170,000 visitors have visited the museum. In terms of visitor profile, the
museum visitors consist of local and international tourists from different age groups
and demographic cohorts. Yet, the number of millennials visitor is the highest. As a private
museum, the sustainability of the Wonder Food Museum is heavily dependent on the museum
ticket sell. In the past five years, with stable growth in visitor numbers, the museum is able to
sustain its operation, and hopefully, such growth will be continued to ensure the long-term
development of the museum.
Cheryl Ng also mentioned that most visitors were satisfied with their visit, and provide
positive feedback by sharing their pictures and comments on social media. Meanwhile, many
local and international bloggers have also written interesting articles about the museum.
Moreover, the story of Wonder Food Museum has also been widely reported by local media
as well as media in overseas such as CCTV in China, Dong Seng News channel in Taiwan,
and other TV programs in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Hong Kong, Russia, South Korea and
USA. In addition to the many accomplishments mentioned above, in 2019, the museum
has achieved another great milestone in its development. The Wonder Food Museum as a
“brand” was franchise to China, Thusly, the very first overseas Wonder Food Museum was
established at Kulangyu Island in Xia Men. This success is unprecedented in the history of
museum in Malaysia.
In sum, although as a small and young museum, the Wonder Food Museum is a
museum with great accomplishment. Currently as one of the most celebrated museums in
Malaysia, the museum is considering doing well in its overall development, particularly on its
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achievement in contributing new ideas and perspectives to museum tourism development in
Malaysia.
Areas to be improved for the Museum
Arrived in 2020, and a whole lot is changing in the museum industry. Museums need to
determine how they fit into the fast-changing museum environment and anticipate the
changing expectations of their visitor and member base. At this moment, the Wonder Food
Museum no doubt is doing well, however, looking to the present and the future, here are four
aspects for the management team to take notice of to ensure the ongoing success of the
museum, (1) Museum website, (2) Museum’s membership programs, (3) Museum education
programs, (4) Museum Shop and souvenirs development.
Museum website
Raubi Marie Perilli (2019), small business seems to be believed that a Facebook page
is enough for an online presence, however, the truth is, a great small business website is the
best channel to showcase business venture. Currently, the official communication channels
of the museum are mainly relying on its Facebook page and Instagram. These two channels
are no doubt a workable platform for the museum’s marketing and promotional related
activities. However, an official website (with its own IP address) is still needed to position the
museum with a more professional outlook and enhance the museum’s branding. Moreover,
in today’s competitive digital marketing landscape, it is very important to build a professional
website to showcase the museum's credibility and gain full control over its online destiny.
Museum membership programs
The best visitor is one who becomes a member. Therefore, to build perennial visitors
and long-term memberships is an important strategy that cannot be overlooked by any
museums. For the Wonder Food Museum, to develop a membership program is another
significant mission that needs to be realized. The museum needs to build up a strong
community that can contribute to the museum’s sustainability. Most substantially, the
membership program is not merely to generate financial support for the museum, it is also an
effective channel to cultivate museum’s ambassadors who will spread the word about the
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exhibitions and programs they love and brings even more visitors and potential members to
the museum.
Museum Education programs
Apart from the museum accomplishment in promoting Malaysia culinary heritage and
food culture, and contribute to museum tourism. The role of the museum in education is
another aspect that requires the museum management team to pay attention to. Other than
the permanent exhibition and scheduled education tour. There is a lot more need to done to
enrich the museum’s education programs. For instance, education programs or activities such
as special exhibition, public lectures on food culture, culinary heritage, and local history might
be a good initiation to consider. Furthermore, cooking workshops or classes that involve local
community participation will be another possibility to grow the museum’s educational
programs as well as interesting outreach activities for audiences’ development.
Museum Shop and souvenirs development
According to Micaela Marini Higgs (2018), gift shops contributing up to as much as a
quarter of museum revenue, and yet their contributions are not merely economic. These retail
zones are also helping to educate visitors, build the museum’s brand, and sometimes serve
a highlight of museums. For the case of the Wonder Food Museum, the museum’s gift corner
and souvenir items are sections that need to be improved. Ideally, unique souvenirs inspired
by the museum’s collections or Penang’s history should be available, this will contribute to
the museum’s unique destination offer.
CONCLUSION
Food museum, as the name suggests, is a museum dedicated to preserve and present
the history, culture, and evolution of human dietary. For instance, the official mission of the
world's oldest food Museum - “the Alimentarium Food Museum” is to create and develop a
museum in Vevey of human food around the world, and contribute to awakening public
interest in past and present issues concerning human food (Alimentarium Food Museum,
2020). Currently, there are dozens of specialized food museums opened throughout the
world, and thematic museums and exhibitions centered around different food cultures are
increasingly popular since the early millennium. In 2015, the first food museum celebrates
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Malaysia’s food culture and culinary heritage - “Wonder Food Museum” was established in
Penang. Based on the curatorial concept of “food wonderland” and interactive exhibition
design approaches, the museum takes its collections to celebrate Malaysia’s multicultural
foodscape. At the moment, as the first of its kind museum in Malaysia, the museum has then
become one of the nation’s most celebrated museums, particularly by millennials visitor.
By and large, as a young museum dedicated to preserve and promote Malaysia’s food
culture and culinary heritage to the world, the Wonder Food Museum’s achievements are
remarkable. However, to ensure the museum’s sustainability in the dynamically shifting
museum and tourism environment, there is still a lot of work to be done to continue its
success. As concluded by Sean Lau (Museum Founder and Director), “the management team
acknowledges on limitation and challenges of the museum, yet the team will work strategically
to ensure the sustainable development of the museum”. Hopefully, the Wonder Food
Museum’s success story will be continued and keeps its special fascination for visitors from
all around the world.
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