In this inaugural Wacana Warisan Series (WWS) webinar, Dr Azhar Ibrahim shared his insights on the history of Singapore from The Malay Annals. The stories related to Temasek and Singapura can be traced back to the Malay royalties, starting from Bukit Seguntang Mahameru in Palembang. However, this lineage first appeared in Temasek. The opening of Singapore, which saw the reign of five kings until the attack from the Majapahit Empire, as well as the opening of Melaka, is a compact story narrated in the classical Malay text, but laden with symbolism, metaphor and meaning.
Saturday, 30 January 2021 – The Malay Heritage Foundation (MHF) debuted its Wacana Warisan Series (WWS). Dr Azhar Ibrahim, a well-respected lecturer from the Department of Malay Studies, National University of Singapore, and the Vice Chairman of MHF Board, delivered the first WWS webinar “Ceritera Singapura dari Sulalatus Salatin”.
Dr Azhar began his talk with a comprehensive historical background of Singapore in its early days, under the various Sultans who ruled Singapore. He touched on Tun Muhammad bin Tun Ahmad, better known as Tun Sri Lanang, who is largely credited as the author of the Sulalat al-Salatin (Genealogy of Kings), famously known as the Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals). He was a Bendahara (Prime Minister or Grand Vizier equivalent) of the royal Court of Johor Sultanate who lived between the 16th and 17th centuries.
Dr Azhar also shared about the uniqueness of Singapore in the Malay historical text, where it attains a spot in 3 main phases – (1) Temasek before the opening of Singapore, (2) Singapore and its kingdom before Malacca and (3) Singapore during the Johor/Malacca era. He went on further to explain about this significance – the strategic location of Singapore in regional geopolitics (The Malay Archipelago) as well as the collection of Singapore stories.
Dr Azhar suggested two books – Hikayat Siak (Sumatra Malay Version) and Tuhfat al-Nafis (Bugis Version) as recommended reads for those keen to know more about the continuity of Malay History. He also discussed some selected stories of Singapura.
The session concluded with Dr Azhar addressing several questions from the virtual audience. Some questions focused on the tales of Tun Jana Khatib, Raja Bersiong (The King with Fangs) and Dang Anum and the mythical Kuda Sembrani (Flying Horse). Close to 50 virtual audiences tuned in to the video webinar.
WWS, one of MHF’s flagship programmes, is a series of lectures which aims to encourage the development of new and alternative approaches to the understanding of Malay history, economy, politics, society and culture. Beyond the clichés and convenient mainstream narratives lie many lesser-known facets about the Malay community in Singapore. It is a year-long programme (each lecture runs on a monthly basis), comprising 12 sessions from January to December 2021. Participants who attend at least 10 sessions will be given a Certificate of Attendance. WWS lectures will mostly be delivered in Malay.
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