The Muzeum Perak in Taiping is the oldest museum in Malaysia, founded in 1883 by the British colonial Resident Hugh Low. The collection covers the state's natural history (stuffed Malayan tiger, Sumatran rhinoceros, hornbills) and the ethnography of its peoples — including substantial material on the Orang Asli aboriginal communities of the upland forests, who form the longest continuously settled population in the peninsula.
The building itself is a classic late-Victorian colonial museum — long brick block, columned veranda, deep eaves to deflect the rain. The labelling is dated but the displays are quietly affecting. A good complement to a morning at the Lake Gardens; allow an hour.