Our Story
Records work as a quiet, long-term commitment
Vellum Row was founded in Kuching because families here needed a local service that understood both the climate's effect on paper and the particular shape of Malaysian estate records.
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Why Vellum Row exists and what it does
Vellum Row began when two families in Kuching ran into the same difficulty within a few months of each other: papers spread across multiple locations, personal effects with no written record of what they were, and institutions asking for documents that nobody could immediately locate. The problem was not legal or financial — it was organisational. Nobody had made a catalogue.
The practice was set up specifically to address that gap. We work within a descriptive and clerical scope. We do not assess, value, advise, represent or advocate. We organise, describe and index — and we do it carefully, using archival materials suited to Sarawak's humid climate, and plain language that any family member can follow without specialist knowledge.
Our office is in Wisma Bukit Mata in Kuching. Most of our clients are Sarawakian families managing estates of varying complexity, though we also assist families based elsewhere who hold records or effects in the state.
Our Approach
A narrow scope, done well
Descriptive only
We describe what exists and what is known. We do not form views about what should happen to any item, document or holding.
Archival materials throughout
Acid-free folders, buffered tissue, and archival boxes chosen specifically for tropical conditions — not whatever is locally common.
Plain-language indexing
Every entry uses language a non-specialist can navigate. The index is designed to outlast our involvement with a family's records.
Defined engagements
Each service has a fixed duration and a written deliverable list. There are no open-ended arrangements with unclear scope.
The Team
The people who manage your records
Siti Lim Hui Mei
Principal Archivist
Oversees all cataloguing and indexing work. Background in library and information management with particular experience in physical collections held in tropical conditions.
Razif Nordin
Records Coordinator
Manages the gathering, sorting and scanning stages of consolidation engagements. Coordinates document logistics between client sites and the Kuching office.
Yolanda Chin Siew Ling
Client Liaison
First point of contact for all new enquiries and custodianship programme clients. Manages quarterly family meetings and the handover process at engagement close.
Working Standards
How we manage the work and protect what you entrust to us
Archival Storage Materials
We use acid-free, lignin-free folders and boxes from archival suppliers. Tissue and interleaving materials are buffered where contact with items warrants it.
Photographic Documentation
Items are photographed from multiple angles under controlled lighting. Images are stored in open formats alongside the catalogue entries and included in both print and digital deliverables.
Document Security
Original documents are held in our Kuching office for the duration of the engagement only. Nothing is shared with third parties without the client's explicit written direction.
Preparation Logs
Every item passing through the office is recorded on receipt and on return. The preparation log is delivered to the client as part of the final handover.
Dual Media Delivery
Digital deliverables are provided on two separate media. File formats are open and do not require proprietary software. Print and digital sets are included in consolidation and custodianship engagements.
Access Protocols
The custodianship protocol names who holds access to the archive and how changes to access are authorised. The family decides; we implement the documented instruction.
Our Context
Estate records work in Sarawak: a particular set of conditions
Sarawak has its own land and property framework, its own patterns of land tenure and customary holding, and its own institutional landscape. Families working through estate matters here encounter a combination of documents that can span multiple generations and several different recording systems. Land titles, bank correspondence, insurance papers, lease agreements, personal letters that contain relevant information — these do not sort themselves into a usable archive on their own.
The climate adds a separate problem. Paper, photographs and certain textiles deteriorate at a pace that surprises people accustomed to temperate conditions. Documents stored in cardboard boxes in a warm, humid room for a decade may be significantly damaged. Heirloom textiles can suffer from mould and insect activity if stored in sealed containers without appropriate materials between layers. A catalogue made today of what a family holds is more complete and more accurate than one made after another five or ten years of storage in unsuitable conditions.
Vellum Row operates from Kuching because this is where our clients' records are. We understand the local institutional landscape well enough to prepare copy sets in formats that particular offices tend to accept, and we understand the climate well enough to choose materials that address its specific demands. The work we do is clerical and organisational — we are not specialists in law, finance, valuation or any regulated field — but within that scope, we work carefully and with close attention to what actually persists in the long run.
Families in Sarawak who have reached a point where the organisation of their holdings matters — whether because an estate is being administered, because key documents are no longer easily findable, or simply because a generation has passed and the next one does not know what the family holds — will find that a straightforward engagement with defined deliverables is often the most useful first step.
Ready to begin organising your family's records?
Send a brief note about what you hold and we will describe which engagement suits your situation.
Start an Enquiry