For the sixth monthly online Wacana Warisan Series (WWS) organised by the Malay Heritage Foundation (MHF), Dr. Azhar conducted an almost 2-hour webinar on the topic of “the father of modern Malay literature”, Abdullah Munsyi: A Man of Letters as Historical Witness of an Epoch of transition.
Saturday, 26 June 2021 – Dr. Azhar Ibrahim is an academic from the Department of Malay Studies, at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Vice-Chairman of the Malay Heritage Foundation’s (MHF) Board. This time round, he delivered his lecture on Abdullah Munsyi in English.
Dr. Azhar began the webinar by sharing one of Abdullah Munsyi’s syair (rhymed narrative) before a proper introduction to his humble beginnings as a writer. It was known that Abdullah only began his productive career as a writer when he came to Singapore in the 19th century, even though he was a Malaccan. Dr. Azhar stressed that literati such as Abdullah, are easily forgotten, hence the aim of the webinar was to provide an ‘introductory expose’ of a man of letters who was present during the early days of the founding of modern Singapore.
Moving forward to the next slide, Dr. Azhar emphasised the need for affirming endogenous sources. This is because most of us have the tendency to look for exogenous sources such as colonial materials to understand our history. Although they may just be as important, Dr. Azhar categorises writers such as Abdullah Munsyi and Tuan Simi’s work as endogenous because they are local people, writing about their lives, what they see, and what they witnessed.
The webinar continued to explore the identity of Abdullah in his early days. Interestingly, Abdullah was actually working much like a freelancer. For instance, in 1838 he was deployed by European businessmen and Peranakan taukes (boss) to work as a negotiator in Kelantan, Malaysia to retrieve several goods that were held back because of a civil war. He was also a language teacher to Stamford Raffles and several Christian missionaries. In the same year, he wrote a book titled, Dawa’il-Kulub after his daughter’s passing and since then, a strong didacticism can be seen in all his works.
Dr. Azhar shared an image of Abdullah’s son, Mohamed Ibrahim Munsyi who worked for a family of a Temenggong in Telok Belanga and went to school in Singapore. Carrying his father’s legacy, Mohamed Ibrahim wrote his own voyage similar to Abdullah’s book, “The Voyage of Abdullah” where he travelled to the west coast of the Malay Peninsula whereas his father went to the east. Dr. Azhar noted, however, that Mohamed Ibrahim did not have the same recognition as his father, because of the lack of controversy in his writings.
Described as a man with a colourful character, Dr. Azhar proceeded to list more facts about the iconic writer. Abdullah Munsyi, also known as Abdullah bin Syeikh Abdul Kadir, is a Peranakan with a family of Tamil and Arab ancestry. He was born in 1796/7-1854 in Kampong Pali Malacca. His son, Mohamed Ibrahim recalled that his father was fond of traditional music, singing, joget and pantun. Dr. Azhar added that Abdullah often travelled to and fro Singapore and Malacca for his work and family as well.
At the peak of his career, Abdullah Munsyi was witnessing an epoch of transition due to the early phase of colonialism in Singapore. During this time, Abdullah saw the crumbling of Malay feudalism, described Dr. Azhar. Abdullah witnessed changes to the Malay state politically, culturally, intellectually and socially. It was also roughly the time when the Malay population was declining due to the rise of immigration.
Dr. Azhar briefly showed webinar participants some of Abdullah Munsyi’s known work, including his editing of old manuscripts, school textbooks and even the editing and translation of the New Testament when he worked with Christian missionaries. Intriguingly, Abdullah’s collaboration with the missionaries contributed to his knowledge of new printing technology at that time. Abdullah passed the skill to one of his students, Ibrahim bin Husayn, who became the first Quran printer in the region. This then led to the mass production of the Quran for the region.
Moving on, Dr. Azhar began to cite more of Abdullah Munsyi’s works which include his criticism of language neglect. In Abdullah’s book, “Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah” (The Voyage of Abdullah), he lamented how Malay children study the Quran but not Malay. To add on, Abdullah also wrote about his observation of the tyranny of some Malay rulers. They behaved poorly, ate opium, kept slaves amongst many other activities. Abdullah’s writings eventually upset the Malay nationalists because they believed that he favoured the British and always looked down on the Malays. His criticisms of Malay rulers, in particular, has been read as vilification against the Malays and their culture.
Dr. Azhar explained further how Abdullah was accused of being a betrayer by Malay nationalists. They condemned him as a colonial lackey and called him Paderi Abdullah (Priest Abdullah) due to his translation work for the New Testament. It was known that Abdullah was in fact aware of these criticisms against him during that time.
To sum up, Dr. Azhar concluded that Abdullah Munsyi’s work is imperative towards the contribution of literary and culture, social and cultural commentaries, an advocate of reforms and also documenting the life and events of the early 19th century Singapore. Dr. Azhar ended the webinar by recounting Abdullah Munsyi’s final days. He passed away during this pilgrimage to Mecca. Abdullah documented his journey in his diary until the last week before his death. Dr. Azhar shared Abdullah’s syair (rhymed narrative) that summed up his exuberance as God’s guest to the city.
As usual, the WWS webinar had a closing Q&A section, where Dr. Azhar addressed several questions from the virtual audience who tuned in via Zoom and Facebook live. More than 60 participants tuned in to the video webinar.
WWS is a series of lectures that aim 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 facts 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 register and attend via Zoom for at least 10 sessions will be given a Certificate of Attendance. WWS lectures will mostly be delivered in Malay.
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