KUCHING, Nov 4 — Borneo Cultures Museum (BCM) has surged to the top of the global online voting leaderboard on the Museum World Ranking website, surpassing the world-renowned Louvre in Paris for the number of votes received.

As of 1.30pm today, BCM held the No.1 position with 4,245 votes, while the Louvre is in second place with 4,027 votes, according to the latest update on museumworldranking.net.

Rounding out the top 10 museums listed under the ‘By Voting’ category on Museum World Ranking are National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico with 4,008 votes; National Palace Museum in Chinese Taipei (3,993 votes); Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain (3,917 votes); Getty Centre in the United States (3,713 votes); Art Institute of Chicago in the United States (3,435 votes); Houston Museum of Natural Science in the United States (3,003 votes); Le Gallerie degli Uffizi in Italy (2,605 votes); and Royal Ontario Museum in Canada (2,352 votes).

BCM’s achievement marks another proud moment for Malaysia’s largest museum and second largest in Southeast Asia, which has rapidly gained international recognition since opening its doors to the public in March 2022.

The five-storey museum showcases Sarawak’s rich cultural diversity through interactive and thematic galleries, making it a top destination for both locals and international visitors.

Since its opening, BCM has drawn visitors from more than 150 countries. As of mid-2025, it recorded over 1.35 million visitors, according to figures released by Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah in June this year.

BCM first appeared on the Museum World Ranking, a global recognition of the world’s best museums this year, placing 305th out of 413 museums worldwide, according to a Facebook post shared by the museum on October 22.

In the post, BCM celebrated being among only three Malaysian museums listed on the global ranking platform, alongside the National Museum and the National Textile Museum in Kuala Lumpur, and encouraged the public to support by casting votes online at https://www.museumworldranking.net/?search=borneo+cultures+museum. — The Borneo Post