Ship and Sha’ir: Hamzah Fansuri’s House and Heart
The term bayt in Arabic basically means “house,” and the unit of poetry (shi’r) is called a bayt - the house of verse. The Arabic...
Resting Place of an Idea: The Power of Sunan Kalijaga
The blurb at the back cover of the paperback describes Java’s pilgrimage culture as a dense, batik-like pattern of contradictions: seriousness collides with laughter; curiosity...
Politik Melaka: Rumah siap pahat berbunyi
Rumah siap pahat berbunyi - Itulah bidalan paling tepat menggambarkan politik Melaka mutakhir ini. Bunyi tersebut dilakukan oleh mereka yang jelas mencemburui suasana pentadbiran Negeri...
Flying Lizards, Tigers and Moyang: Aslian Tales
Stories sustain societies. There is a galaxy of such rich narratives transcending cultures. Take the example of flying lizards. The Orang Laut believe that flying...
The World View of Harun Aminurrashid, Creator of Panglima Awang
HARUN Muhammad Amin was of the few influential lecturers at the Sultan Idris Training College (SITC) in Tanjong Malim. Harun was of course Harun Aminurrashid of...
Religious Periodicals in Malaya: Pengasoh, The Modern Light and Similar Genres
In a few of my previous columns, I mentioned the monthly al-Imam (1906-08). Regarded as “the first radical Malay newspaper”, Al-Imam embodied the spirit of...
Memahami tugas pengamal media
INSIDEN kekecohan yang berlaku antara pengamal media dan golongan lain bukanlah perkara baru. Ia seringkali berlaku, cuma yang terbaru ini melibatkan ‘sentuhan’ fizikal. Kejadian pada...
Textbooks, Bookstores and Malay History: Abdul Hadi Haji Hasan’s Sejarah Alam Melayu
THE teaching of history and geography with a clear “Malay-orientation” has been argued to have contributed towards students developing a Malay ethno-national consciousness. Narratives tell us...
Malay Journalism, Berita Malai and the Singapura Years: Said Zahari on A. Samad Ismail
Said Zahari first knew A. Samad Ismail in 1953, after Samad’s release from his first political detention. He rejoined Utusan Melayu. Said learnt much about...
Ali Wallace of the Malay Archipelago
News of the British naturalist’s “Malay assistant” has been around among scientific and academic circles for decades through learned journals and university bulletins. Writings on...