The Telegraph Museum

The Taiping Telegraph Museum is the first museum showcasing the history of the telegraph in Southeast Asia. It is located beside the Taiping Municipal Gallery and behind the Taiping Post Office. There is space for parking available in the Telekom Malaysia office building beside the Museum, and along Jalan Barrack.

The Taiping Telegraph Museum has been closed since the Covid-19 Movement Restriction Order began on March  18, 2020. It has yet to reopen. The courtyard is still accessible to the public, as well as the local community Internet center beside it.

History of the Taiping Telegraph Museum

Established in 1876, the Telegraph Office, or PWD103 was at the terminus of the Taiping-Port Weld railroad. It was built under the instruction of the Governor of the Straits Settlements of the time, Sir Frederick Weld, who wanted a telegraph line connecting Taiping and Penang to be set up. postal services were added some time later, and the Posts & Telegraph Department was born. The double-storey stone structure housing the Post & Telegraph Office began construction in 1883 and was completed in 1885 and still stands to this day. The Post & Telegraph Office was the first building in the Malay States to offer telegraph, telephone, postal, and banking services to the general public

In 1899, postal services were relocated to the current site of the Taiping Post Office, and telegraph services continued to function in the PWD103 building.

When Malaya came under Japanese occupation, the Posts & Telegraph Department were separated into two units, one for postal services, and one for telegraph, radio, and communications services. Upon surrender of the Japanese to the British in Malaya, the two units were reunited, but this was short-lived. In 1946, when the Malayan Union was formed, the Posts & Telegraph Department was finally separated into the Malayan Telecommunications Department and the Postal Services Department. The PWD103 continued to serve as an office for the Malayan Telecommunications Department, which later became known as Jabatan Telekom after Malaysia’s independence in 1957.

The building continued to be used post-independence and was once the Jabatan Telekom Club Office and Telekom Malaysia Technical Operations Office. Locals would have memories of the building used as storage for telecommunications equipment and infrastructure, with large cable reels lining the small road beside the building.

The Taiping Post & Telegraph Office Building, 2011

In the early 2000s, the building began to fall into disrepair.  Restoration works were eventually carried out to preserve the building’s unique architecture and historical value. In 2018, the building began servicing the public again as the Telegraph Museum.

The Taiping Telegraph Museum is stop number 28 on the Taiping Heritage Trail.