Cat statues in Kuching

The local, thinking he was pointing to a cat prowling nearby said "kuching" or cat in Malay.

That is apparently how the capital city of Sarawak in Malaysia's Borneo got its name.

Today Kuching or Cat City--is the home of the world's first and most extensive Cat Museum--a unique treasure-trove of kitty artifacts and feline memorabilia.

The museum is far more than just a collection of artifacts. Material has been collected from, and donated by, countries from all over the globe. It entertains cat lovers but also acts as a useful research centre outlining the history, legends and various beliefs about cats.

Malaysian kids at the Cat museum

There is plenty of cat kitsch among the 2,000 exhibits to amuse, including napping cats, cats in love, teapot cats and even rat-chasing china cats. Kitty stamps are displayed for philatelists, and cat funerals are described for the morbid. There is something for everyone's taste that is if you are cat lover.

One section of the museum is dedicated to the five species of wild cats found in Borneo.

In fact, the museum claims it has the only mounted specimen of the world's rarest cat- the Felis Badia. This cat is only found in Borneo's rain forests, and beside the boneless, rather scrawny stuffed specimen, stands the mounted skeleton of this peculiar animal.

Another gallery has a mummified cat found at Beni Hassan in Egypt sometime between 3000 BC-3500 BC. The feline mummy was bound in different coloured, chemically treated bandages. The face was supposedly found covered with a wooden mask. On the mask, eyes, whiskers and a nose had been drawn.

An information board in the same gallery tells how the grain growing Egyptians were the first people to domesticate cats.

They became revered animals because of their culinary preference for rats and mice.

Anyone who killed a cat was put to death. Ancient Egyptians had a cat goddess named Bastet who supposedly protected crops, made rain and symbolised motherhood.

The cat's significance in music is also noted in the museum. Perhaps the best known musical celebration of our meowing friends, was the stage show 'Cats', but as the museum reveals, these furry felines have also purred their way into a few song titles over the years as well. The Cat Came Back in the late 1800's, and Kitten on the Keys--a jazz classic in 1921, to name a few.

Nearly 2,000 items are included in the museum's cat collection, from cat models on a cat walk and a life-size Cat Woman hanging from the rafters on a rope, to a collage of cat books, posters, figurines and Black Cat cigarettes.

The Cat Museum is under the management of Kuching North City Hall. The cat artifacts displayed in the Cat Museum were previously on show for the first time at National Museum, Kuala Lumpur, in 1987 as one of its gallery.

Later it was brought to Kuching under the care of Sarawak Museum and was put on display for the first time on 1 August 1988, when Kuching was proclaimed as a Cat City. The establishment of Cat Museum was the idea and brandchild of the former Chief Minister of Sarawak, Abdul Taib Mahmud and his wife Laila Taib.