Sunday February 19, 2012

Wisdoms of the Malay manuscripts

THE best positions to maximise pleasure and improve sexual health (tenaga batin). These are some of the traditional knowledge and wisdoms contained in our bank of Malay manuscripts.

According to former guest researcher of the National Library Dr Harun Mat Piah, the Kitab Tip is one Malay manuscript which is a rich trove of traditional medicine knowledge, including sexual health.

Some of the information in the Jawi manuscript, which he has since translated into romanised script for publication, includes information on diseases, personal hygiene as well as the relationship between dream analysis and astronomy to medicine.

There are some 10,000 Malay manuscripts written in Jawi, says Dr Ding Choo Ming, the principal research fellow at the Institute of the Malay World and Civilisation (Atma) of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

All contain various knowledge from the Malay world of the 14th to the 19th century, such as botany, science and technology, history, politics as well as guides and wisdom on entertainment, education and religion.

“It is important to have young experts who can continue to read and translate these scripts (into Roman script) as it is important for us to understand the culture of the indigenous people and the history of the region. Jawi is the key that can open the door to this wealth of knowledge,” adds Dr Ding, acknowledging the warning made by Pusan University's Prof Dr Kang Kyoung Seok that the knowledge may become lost if interest in Jawi is not instilled in the young.

To attract the young into Malay studies, we do not only need to expose them to Jawi, he says, “You can still learn Jawi at university.”

It is equally important to raise the awareness of the young to the existence of this knowledge as well as instilling a love in the “old” Bahasa Melayu language by introducing them to the old texts, including old Malay literature and other writings such as newspaper articles.

“The manuscripts are written in beautiful, poetic Malay language. The knowledge is not stated in a direct or scientific manner the writing uses figurative language that needs to be interpreted to decipher the meaning. You need an understanding of the historical and cultural context. Although sometimes, you need to use your imagination,” he says with a laugh, before noting that the historical and cultural knowledge is invaluable.

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