Dr. Sa’eda Buang, a Senior Lecturer under the Asian Languages and Cultures Academic Group, National Institute of Education, was invited as the next guest speaker by The Malay Heritage Foundation (MHF) for the fourth session of the Cendekiawan Lestari Series (CLS) in 2022. She spoke and shared her perspectives on the topic of “Memburu Nashkah Nadir di Tengah Kota Singa” (Hunting Rare Texts in the Heart of the Lion City)
MHF Assistant General Manager, Mr. Muhammad Fadli Idris, gave a brief welcoming address to audiences on-site and those who tuned in via FB Live and YouTube before handing it over to MHF Board Member, Mr. Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim, to introduce the speaker. This season’s CLS is supported by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) and Rohan · Mah & Partners LLP (RMP).
Saturday, 3 September 2022 – Dr. Sa’eda Buang, who has extensive experience working in the education sector, especially with the Ministry of Education, kicked off the session by providing a background of her research study. She shared that her research, “Reinstating Malay manuscripts as cultural heritage through locating personal manuscripts collections and re-discovering the art of manuscript recital of the Malay community in Singapore, ” spanned two years. Dr. Sa’eda, whose research interests include literature and cultural studies, Jawi manuscripts, and curriculum reformation, opined her research is necessary because of the diminishing number of people who can read Jawi.
Due to rapid urbanisation, many people relocated from the relatively spacious village and city houses to flat units. This means less space for rare manuscripts/manuscript collections. She highlighted back in the 16-19th Centuries, the Jawi book was a powerful ‘travelling’ tool for conveying thoughts and pedagogy for the rebirth of Malay culture (cultural reproduction). Dr. Sae’da mentioned that the total number of Jawi manuscripts published in the Malay islands, including Singapore, from 1800 to 1999, currently stored in the National Library Singapore, is 515, in addition to the collection of 164 stories and poems. Hence, this brought up one burning question: Are other rare manuscripts kept in private collections in the homes of the Malay community in Singapore?
Dr. Sa’eda said that her research aimed to achieve two objectives. Firstly, to collect data on old manuscripts/rare texts kept at home by families and individuals. Secondly, to obtain information on specific/special skills required or known by the Singapore community to read/sing manuscripts (tales and poems). She highlighted that the rare manuscripts in her research comprise written works in original manuscripts or printed until the beginning of the 20th century about stories, poems, books, law, genealogies, and all aspects of Malay life and civilisation. Interestingly, almost all of the rare manuscripts collected are in Jawi writing.
Dr. Sa’eda next touched on the research methodology adopted – qualitative, semi-ethnographic, or “ethnographic perspective” (Green & Bloome 1997: 183). Field research includes interviews, recording of the reading of stories/poetry readings, collecting research artefacts such as photographs of rare manuscripts and personal libraries, and borrowing rare manuscripts belonging to respondents for annotation purposes. She added that the interview questions focused on respondents’ experience in reading, storing and sharing knowledge about manuscripts. Respondents’ knowledge about rare manuscripts and the Singapore Malay community, both past and present, were also considered. One hundred respondents were involved in the research study to acquire the necessary data. They are individuals of Malay descent, aged 21 years and above, and possess a collection of rare manuscripts. Dr. Sa’eda stressed that the ability to read Jawi is not a primary criterion.
Nevertheless, almost all respondents can read Jawi. According to her, the target group was identified through weekly religious classes, contacts, recommendations from other respondents, and social media networks. Dr. Sa’eda discovered that nearly 80% of the respondents belong to the 50-89 age group. The percentage of females to males is 55% to 45%. A significant number of respondents (69%) are HDB 3-room, 4-room, and 5-room dwellers. Surprisingly, those staying in 1-room and rental homes are also trying their best to keep their Jawi manuscripts. Dr. Sa’eda shared that, in the case of the latter, these manuscripts were found under the bed and kitchen cabinet. She expressed concern and said heavy cooking oil fumes could damage the copies. These respondents were advised on how to store the books safely, and the next stage of this research study would include helping them to preserve the manuscripts.
Most of the respondents are diploma, degree and master’s degree holders. They acquired the skill of reading Jawi through Malay schools/madrasahs, weekend religious classes or religious centre, or self-taught/taught by parents. More than 80% of the respondents can read Jawi fluently. Dr. Sa’eda revealed some of her research findings. For instance, two respondents donated 90% of their collection to government agencies on a philanthropic basis as reference material for researchers, students, and society at large. The rationale for holding on to the rare manuscripts consists of the following reasons: cultural heritage/values high aesthetics, sentimental value (gift, heritage family, special memories), content value (knowledge still relevant, useful, for reference), pragmatic use (presentation, source of income) and hobby/collector. Dr. Sa’eda shared an anecdote of Nek Mutiara (not her real name), who underwent a transliteration project of MS Qisas ul-Anbiya (Stories of the Prophets) from Jawi to Malay, especially for her grandchild. The project, comprising three books, took her three years, from September 2015 to September 2018. Dr. Sa’eda also observed that three different handwritings were found, meaning three copyists could be involved in this project.
Dr. Sa’eda dived deeper into the research questions. One of them is “Why keep the manuscript?”. Dr. Sa’eda shared some anecdotes. One of the respondents answered that the manuscript was a gift from her father. She added that it may be beneficial for her children and is something that must be appreciated, not be seen as a burden. Besides, acquiring a copy like the manuscript is rare and vital in preserving it for future generations. According to the respondent, “Jawi is part of our culture and heritage”. Another respondent mentioned an interest in collecting Jawi manuscripts and reading them to know the secrets. The respondent, who is a member of XX/XX Tradition (reading circle) and has been reading Jawi for the past three years, added that it was the scholars who wrote these books. Dr. Sa’eda next showed a list of rare manuscripts (264 copies in total and some have the same title) as a private collection.
The majority of the manuscripts are of religious and literary genres. The main types of these sacred texts are Tasawuf (Sufism or mystics in Islam), Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence), Tauhid (unification or oneness of God in Islam (Allah s.w.t), and Ibadah (Worship). Dr. Sa’eda also shared the images of these rare manuscripts with the audience. Almost all respondents, except for two, agreed that the practice of preserving and reading rare manuscripts should be continued and encouraged for the following reasons: cultural heritage/pride, cultural and religious identity, enabling the use of Malay preservation and re-introduction of history from the perspective of the Malay community itself (alternative history), preservation of Jawi as an intellectual tradition and also, as evidence of Malay/Islamic civilization.
Towards the end of the lecture, Dr. Sa’eda pointed out that the respondents generally consider that the effort to read and preserve rare manuscripts is a laborious, ‘quiet’ but satisfying self-effort and should be carried out nonetheless to safeguard the nation’s treasures that are becoming extinct. Also, although the size of living quarters is shrinking in Singapore, the Malay community is still willing to keep a collection of rare manuscripts to preserve cultural and religious treasures. However, there is a concern that most would throw away old copies when they shift house. Ultimately, Jawi and its manuscripts are considered part of the Malay’s identity, cultural history (cultural memory) and intellectual tradition.
A Q&A segment followed the presentation, with Dr. Sae’da Buang answering several questions posed by the attendees on-site and those tuning in via Facebook Live. CLS is one of our initiatives to provide a discursive platform for featuring ideas and perspectives from prominent figures and key thought-leaders in the Singapore Malay community. Close to 30 participants attended the fourth CLS session in 2022, and more than 300 people were reached via FB Live.
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