Spirit of Wood : Art of Woodcarving

Author:

By Farish A Noor, Eddin Khoo, David Lok

Spirit of Wood – the Art of Woodcarving in the Northeast Malay Peninsula.

The Spirit of Wood is perhaps the most comprehensive book on Malay woodcarvings from the Northeastern Peninsular states of Pattani, Kelantan and Terengganu that has ever been researched. Drawn from the collections of two of Malaysia's foremost master woodcarvers, the late Nik Rashidin Nik Hussein and his protégé, Norhaiza Noordin, it explores the origins, history and art of traditional Malay woodcarving by taking motif as the focal point. By examining how these motifs evolved over time, the book illustrated the dynamic interplay of native Austronesian motifs with Hindu-Buddhist, Islamic and Chinese influences.

The book also explored the traditions, techniques and philosophy of traditional woodcarving and placed them within the wider context of Malay civilisation. The artefacts featured in the book were carefully chosen to illustrate the materials used, the types of objects made, and the concepts, beliefs and cultural aesthetics that shaped Malay woodcraft.

Artefacts ranged from the everyday - cake moulds and tackle boxes - to architectural elements from mosques and palaces, to luxury and ceremonial items such as weapons, sireh sets and birdcages. In addition to antique artefacts, the book also showcased the works of the regions top craftsmen working today.

The Northeastern states of the Malay Peninsula represent a unique sub-grouping of the Malay World with its own cultural, artistic and historical heritage. Centred on the city of Pattani and rooted in the ancient Hindu-Buddhist kingdom of Langkasuka, the Northeastern Peninsula was periodically an important crossroads for trade passing across the Isthmus of Kra between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. During these periods of prominence, in particular between the 2nd and 8th centuries as well as the 12th through the 16th centuries, traders, scholars and religious pilgrims from across the region and around the world flocked to Lankasuka and to its successor, the Sultanate of Pattani. As a result the area reflects a characteristic blend of indigenous and foreign influences that is at once unmistakably Southeast Asian and uniquely Langkasukan.

It is indeed a worthy book to be read, refer, and understand on wood, wood-carvings, patterns and etc.  culture of the Northern Malay Peninsula!

 

Why wait? ^_^ Branding your references now!

101 Puteri Dunia Melayu

101 PUTERI DUNIA MELAYU: SEJARAH DAN LAGENDA

Author: 

Nisriwani Yahaya

Publisher: 

Jabatan Muzium Malaysia

Year Published: 

2003

 

 

 

This book tells the story of the princess and the most prominent women in history, myths and legends of the Malay world. The book is complete with a picture of his time and environment but also show heritage, culture, arts and literature of the Malays. The information content in a bilingual book.

 

Read this book and get yourself closer with the princess whose also plays important role in our Malay society.

The coronation of the Sultan of Kedah as the 14th Sultan

On Dec 12, 2011, the country of Malaysia has a history in which the appointment of the Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah as President of the King of the 14th at the new National Palace. This is also a historic moment in which the monarchy instituition time he was appointed to the second as that of King. The first time he was appointed on 21 September 1970 to 20 September 1975 as the Agong to-5.

He received his early education in the Malay School and the School of Alor Malay Red Titi Gajah before continuing studies at the Sultan Abdul Hamid College (KSAH) Alor Setar from 1946 to 1949 as well have sat in the boarding school.

He loved science so he went on to study at Wadham College, Oxford University in England in February 1949 to explore the field of Social Science and Public Administrator. While in England, he was crowned as the Raja Muda Kedah on August 6, 1949.

He graduated in England in 1955 and set out to return home. He served at the District Office Kota Setar and State Treasury Office.

As of March 1956, he met with Almarhumah Majesty mate Sultanah Bahiyah. Almarhumah is the eldest daughter of President of the Negeri Sembilan, Tunku Abdul Rahman Muhammad, who is also the first President of the General Federation of Malaya.

The royal couple was blessed with three daughters that Tunku Soraya, Tunku Sarina (died) and Princess Tunku Datuk Seri Intan Shafinaz. On March 9, 1957, he was appointed as acting Sultan as his father, the late Sultan Badlishah leaving for overseas on 12 March to July 1957.

On February 20, 1959, he was officially enthroned as the 28th Sultan of Kedah and Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah installed as Sultanah Kedah. He was also appointed as Chancellor of Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) on April 7, 1994 to date.

Date August 26, 2003 is a sad moment for him when Sultanah Kedah, Tunku Sultanah Bahiyah has died at the Palace Kuala Chegar, Child Hill.

Date January 9, 2004, last full ceremonial pomp permasyuran Honourable Mrs. Che Haminah Hamidun as new Kedah Sultanah the title of His Majesty Tuanku Sultanah Kedah. Sultanah Haminah born in Bagan Serai, silver and marry the Sultan Abdul Halim on December 25, 1975.

Daulat Tuanku.

Role of libraries and librarians in managing digital information

What is Digital Information?

 

Before elaborating the role of libraries and librarian in managing the digital information, most appropriately among the libraries' collections itself, defining the digital information might give clearer view of what these discussion for.

 

A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete (discontinuous) values. By contrast, non-digital (or analog) systems use a continuous range of values to represent information. Although digital representations are discrete, the information represented can be either discrete, such as numbers, letters or icons, or continuous, such as sounds, images, and other measurements of continuous systems.

The word digital comes from the same source as the word digit and digitus (the Latin word for finger), as fingers are used for discrete counting. It is most commonly used in computing and electronics, especially where real-world information is converted to binary numeric form as in digital audio and digital photography [1].

Properties of Digital Information

• Synchronization: Since digital information is conveyed by the sequence in which symbols are ordered, all digital schemes have some method for determining the beginning of a sequence. In written or spoken human languages synchronization is typically provided by pauses (spaces), capitalization, and punctuation. Machine communications typically use special synchronization sequences.
• Language: All digital communications require a language, which in this context consists of all the information that the sender and receiver of the digital communication must both possess, in advance, in order for the communication to be successful. Languages are generally arbitrary and specify the meaning to be assigned to particular symbol sequences, the allowed range of values, methods to be used for synchronization, etc.
• Errors: Disturbances (noise) in analog communications invariably introduce some, generally small deviation or error between the intended and actual communication. Disturbances in a digital communication do not result in errors unless the disturbance is so large as to result in a symbol being misinterpreted as another symbol or disturb the sequence of symbols. It is therefore generally possible to have an entirely error-free digital communication.
• Copying: Because of the inevitable presence of noise, making many successive copies of an analog communication is infeasible because each generation increases the noise. Because digital communications are generally error-free, copies of copies can be made indefinitely.
• Granularity: When a continuously variable analog value is represented in digital form there is always a decision as to the number of symbols to be assigned to that value. The number of symbols determines the precision or resolution of the resulting datum.

Role of Libraries and Librarian

The process of retrieval information nowadays, have been changes as the information can be access in either physical materials as well as electronic version. Physical and electronic versions serve different purpose where former may be preferred for embedded graphic objects. However, electronic versions are easier to access as long as there are internet access and its visibility allow access from any location or time. Those electronic version include e-book, e-journal, online database and etc. As the version of information have been developed from time to time, it also effect the role of the libraries and librarian in managing the information. 

It is very challenging for libraries and librarian in order to assist users in providing them with the right and accurate information especially in managing and developing the digital information. In this situation, overall competencies includes knowledge, know-how, skills and attitude is required by the librarian in order to create, store, analyze, organize, retrieve and disseminate digital information.

The librarians should expert in navigation, browsing and filtering the digital reference services and  electronics information resources from variety of digital information sources. Librarian should have an expertise to select and incorporate appropriate information sources to be acquired by users.

Besides that, they also should have knowledge in multimedia search and indexing in order to provide sub-document indexing and summarization techniques. This skills will assist users to retrieve reliable information needs and avoid information overload.

Other than that librarians also should have some knowledge in data mining and discovery of knowledge from digital library to extract unmet information needs of users. Librarian also are required to have comprehensive knowledge in search and retrieval co-ordination in retrieval engines and indexing structure so that they can create information queries with respect to the search system.

Librarian should create users awareness in assist them to retrieve the digital information. So that, users will get accurate and reliable information. There is a variety of information retrieval techniques including metadata searching, full text document searching and others. In knowing what can or cannot be retrieved from digital information sources, librarians should acts as an expert in the acquisition of digital information.

Therefore, librarians and libraries should play their roles in order to make sure that users can retrieve reliable and accurate information not only when they seek for physical materials as well as digital information. 

 

References

 

Miller, L Peters, K Pappano, M & Manuel, K 1999. 'A research view for librarians working with electronic serials and licensing agreements in the age of the Internet and distance education', The Bottom Line: managing library finances, 12 (3), pp113-119.

Sreenivasulu, V. (1997), ``The role of a digital librarian in the management of digital information system     (DIS)", The Electronic Library Volume 18 . Number 1 . 2000 . pp. 12-20

The logical sequence of this is that the librarian, too, becomes a predominantly online worker, supporting the citizen/worker by selling services. Finding relevant information faster than the competitors, faster than a non-information-worker can find it, and surviving on the basis of superior knowledge of the networks and digital

information resources available through them. We already have the words to describe these roles: digital librarian, digital information professional, cybrarian, and information broker (Sreenivasulu, 2000).

Proverbs

Dear bloggers, come and join me, get to know the Malay (Malaysia) Proverbs
As heavy as it looks, it is heavier to the shoulder that he carries the thing.(meaning of proverb: as bad as some one's situation may seem, it is always worse for the person involved)

>>No matter how good a squirrel is jumping, sometimes it will fall(meaning of proverb: no one is perfect,sometimes he makes a mistake)

>>Two multiply five, five multiply two(meaning of proverb: whatever you do, it would give the same result)

>>If you lost at the end of the route, go back to the beginning of the route(meaning of proverb: if you make a mistake or get stuck, you should start over)

>>If it rains stones in our country and rains gold in other people's countries,it is better to live in our country(meaning of proverb: whatever reasons, it is better to live in own country)

>>The right hand shouldn't trust the left hand(meaning of proverb: don't put too much trust in your friends)

>>Just like a dog and a cat(meaning of proverb: two brothers cannot meet, they will fight when they meet)

>>Just like a crab, teaching its young how to walk straight(meaning of proverb: parents advise their children to do the right thing, but they themselves don't do what they say)

>>A turtle lays thousands of eggs, nobody knows; but when a hen lays an egg, the whole village know(meaning of proverb: some people do much things but don't show publicity; others who do small things but do much publicity)

>>Drink water while you swim(meaning of proverb: do two or more jobs at the same time)

>>Don't try teach a duck how to swim(meaning of proverb: don't try to teach a clever person)

Malay World or "Alam Melayu" Definition

There are few definition on Malay World. Here i listed two definitions about Malay World :

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

Any member of an ethnic group that probably originated in Borneo and expanded into Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. They constitute more than half the population of Peninsular Malaysia. They are mainly a rural people, growing rice for food and rubber as a cash crop. Heavily influenced by India, they were Hinduized before converting to Islam in the 15th century. Their culture has also been influenced by the cultures of the Thai, Javanese, and Sumatrans. Malay society has traditionally been somewhat feudal; class distinctions are still marked, and marriages have traditionally been arranged by parents and governed by Islamic law.

Columbia Encyclopedia (Malayan)

Malayan (məlā'ən) or Malay (mā'lā), general term for one of a population of persons inhabiting SE Asia and the adjacent islands. The Malays vary greatly in physical appearance. The term Indonesian, used as an alternative for Malayan, is sometimes applied to the people of interior districts, who are thought to be related to the Pygmies or Negritos (probably the earlier inhabitants of the region). In the coastal districts there has been intermixture with the Arabs, the Chinese, the Indians, and the Thais. Scores of languages or dialects are spoken; they form a group of the Malayo-Polynesian languages. Among anthropologists the term Malayan is used exclusively to describe an inhabitant of the Malayan Peninsula. Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/malay#ixzz1gUEp1t3P

UKM, A REFLECTION

UKM Lembah Pantai
BY NOR ASIAH MOHAMAD

The need for the establishment of an institution of higher learning for the Malays was first brought up at the Malay Rulers’ Durbar (Mesyuarat Raja-raja Melayu) in 1903. Za’ba, a renowned Malay scholar, wrote about the setting up of such an establishment in the Lembaga Melayu (Malay Board), a Malay newspaper in 1917.

Serious discussions and debates on it with Bahasa Melayu as the medium of instruction began in 1923 when Abdul Kadir Adabi, another Malay scholar submitted a memorandum suggesting the setting up of such an institution to the  DYMM Sultan of Kelantan. Unfortunately the suggestion was not given its due because of various factors and especially pressures from the colonial powers. The idea remained on the shelf and only resurrected after the country attained its independence in 1957.

The move to have a national university gained momentum during the 10 years after independence. This culminated with the setting up of a steering committee by a group of Malays scholars in 1968 to seriously work towards the setting up of such an institution. Various discussion groups as well as forums were held to garner support from the people and the authorities for the establishment of such a university to lend greater respectability to Bahasa Melayu through its usage as the medium of instruction in all fields of study and knowledge.

All the efforts and passion of the group of nationalists paid off when Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) was founded on 18 May 1970. The first batch of undergraduate students was registered and enrolled in the first three faculties set up; the Faculty of Science, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Islamic Studies in May 1970.

UKM has since seen tremendous growth in being able to provide an increasing number of places of learning for the people as well undertaking research in various disciplines and fields of study. It now has 12 faculties, a Graduate School of Business (GSB-UKM), as well as 14 research institutes. UKM has also set up the UKM Holdings Sdn. Bhd, operating as a commercial entity to benefit from all the expertise it has while also generating income for the University.

UKM Holdings Sdn. Bhd was founded in 2001 to coordinate the administration of the various sub-entities under its management, namely the Centre of Educational Expansion (PKP), UKM Kesihatan Sdn. Bhd., UKM Pakarunding Sdn. Bhd., UKM Perunding Kejuruteraan dan Arkitek Sdn. Bhd., Akademi Latihan Kebersihan dan Keselamatan Makanan (ALKEM), Food Quality Research Unit (Unipeq), Puri Pujangga and Talent Enhancement Academy. 

The university’s main campus in Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan spans an area of 1,096.29 hectares approximately 35 kilometres from Kuala Lumpur. The campus is situated in a valley surrounded by hills and green areas, providing a serene and conducive environment for learning and knowledge exploration.  The faculties and institutes housed in the main campus are the Faculty of Economics and Business, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Faculty of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Science and Technology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Technology and Information Sciences, Graduate School of Business (GSB-UKM),  Institute of Malay World and Civilisation (ATMA), Institute of Environment and Development (LESTARI), Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), Institute of Occidental Studies (IKON), Institute of Space Science (ANGKASA), Institute of Microengineering and Nanoelectronics (IMEN), Institute of Systems Biology (INBIOSIS), Institute of  Solar Research (SERI), Fuel Cell Institute (SEL FUEL), Institute of Islamic Hadhari (HADHARI), Institute of West Asian Studies (IKRAB), Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), Institute of South East Asian Disaster Prevention Research UKM (SEADPRI-UKM), Centre of Graduate Management, Centre of General Studies, Students Development Centre and other centres of service.

In addition UKM also has a 20 hectares medical campus in Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Kuala Lumpur which houses the Faculty of Medicine (Pre-clinical), Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry and Faculty of Pharmacy. UKM Medical Centre (UKMMC), which is located in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur cover an area of 22.3 hectares, is to meet the needs of medical services education as well as medical research. UKMMC consists of a hospital, the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute of Medical Molecular Research (UMBI).

In its 39 years of existence, UKM has produced a total of 131,259 graduates consisting of 113,975 first degree holders, 15,895 masters graduates and 1,389 PhDs. This is from more than 103 undergraduate and 170 postgraduate programmes offered. There is also an increasing number of foreign students studying at the university lending credence to international acceptance of its various fields of study and research. Currently a total of 2,415 international students from 55 countries are enrolled at the university.

Based on its record of excellence in multi-discipline researches in the past three decades, UKM has been chosen as one of the four research universities in Malaysia in 2006. That recognition has gained further ground when the Malaysia Genome Institute (MGI) and the International Institute of Global Health, United Nations University were set up at the university. Its areas of research were further consolidated and enhanced with the identification of eight niche areas; Challenges to Nation Building, Sustainable Territorial Development, Renewable Energy, Health and Medical Technology, Climate Change, Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Biological Diversity in Biotechnology Development  and ICT: Content Informatics.

UKM is also the recipient of the Prime Minister’s Quality Award 2006, a recognition of its excellent achievements in the academic and management fields. With these strong foundations, UKM aims at not just sustaining but also enhancing its level of excellence via its 2000-2020 (PS2020) Strategic Plan in line with its slogan, ‘Inspiring Hopes, Nurturing The Future’.  All these developments has brought about greater confidence among its staff to continue upgrading their capabilities while enhancing their talents in a conducive, healthy and supportive environment as provided by the university.

Singapore in the Malay World

Dr. LILY ZUBAIDAH RAHIM

Singapore in the Malay World: Building and Breaching Regional Bridges

Abingdon: Routledge, 2009

230 pp. ISBN 978-0-415-48410-7
Reviewed by P.J. Thum, University of Oxford

The Author

In her first book The Singapore Dilemma: The Political and Educational  Marginality of the Malay community, Prof Lily Zubaidah Rahim explained the continuing economic, educational, and political marginalisation of the Singapore Malay community. In this book, she takes her work to the next logical step, by turning her view outwards towards Nusantara, the Malay world. She asks how Singapore’s internal relationship between the Chinese-dominated political elite and the Malay community affects its external position in the Malay world.

Rahim takes a flexible approach to her analysis, not getting tied down in any particular theoretical framework. She sets the table by looking at the role of Malays and Malay culture in Singapore’s dominant historical and political narratives. On this basis, she compares the competing nation-building paradigms of Singapore and Malaysia, detailing how the two paradigms are, in fact, mirror images of each other. This is followed by studies of the security and economic aspects of Singapore’s regional position (mainly with Malaysia). The last part of her analysis focuses on the Singapore-Indonesia relationship. Her writing throughout is well reasoned, convincing, and extremely readable. It makes clear the complex, multidimensional aspects of Singapore’s relationships with its two biggest neighbours.

Yet one is left with the feeling that the title is somewhat of a misnomer. The majority of Rahim’s work deals almost solely with Singapore’s bilateral relationship with Malaysia. In many ways, this is necessary – Singapore’s historical, economic, and cultural links with Malaysia mean that the state looms largest in Singapore’s foreign policy. Yet a work entitled ‘Singapore in the Malay world’ promises a multilateral, regional approach and this book fails to deliver on that promise. Three chapters dominated by Kuala Lumpur and one exclusively devoted to Jakarta sell the Malay world short. Rahim, in an endnote, explains Nusantara as ‘a trans-archipelagic term that corresponds historically to the Indonesian and Malay sphere of influence’. Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, southern Philippines, and southern Thailand all fall in this sphere. However, south Thailand, Brunei, Borneo, eastern Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and the Philippines are absent or referred to only in passing in Rahim’s work. With few exceptions, Rahim’s work is focused on bilateral relations, leaving open the interesting question of how exactly Singapore has affected Kuala Lumpur-Jakarta relations. Exploring Singapore’s position using a multilateral approach would have produced a much more fruitful and exciting study.

Correspondingly, the chapters themselves lack any narrative unity, feeling too much like a collection of separate essays rather than a comprehensive work. In particular, the Indonesia chapter bears little link to the rest of the book, and it is left to the conclusion to draw out tentative threads in an attempt to tie the book together.

This compartmentalisation is further underlined by the difference in her approaches to Singapore-Malaysia and Singapore-Indonesia relations. Singapore-Malaysia is dealt with on cultural, political, and economic grounds, but the Singapore-Indonesia analysis is largely driven by the personal relationship between the two governments, and in particular between Lee Kuan Yew and Suharto. The lack of a strong cultural dimension to Singapore’s relations with Indonesia poses a challenge to assumptions about the Malay world  and how it is perceived by its members. However, the chapter on Indonesia is the best chapter precisely because it is much more narrowly focused on more conventional politics and in particular the relationship between Suharto and Lee Kuan Yew.

The politicisation and contestation of culture is one of the central themes of this book. Rahim’s depth of knowledge and familiarity with Malay culture, its complicated relationship with politics on both sides of the causeway, and the marginalisation and discrimination faced by the Malay community in Singapore, shine through. She marshals her facts on Malay culture and perspective well and writes confidently and convincingly. The same cannot be said about her attempts to break down the PAP’s attempt at the sinicisation of Singapore. It fails to capture the diversity of Singapore’s Chinese community, or its schizophrenic attitude towards Chinese culture and language: simultaneously proud of its heritage, frustrated by the alien tongue of mandarin, and fearful of dominance from China, an alien land to second and third generation Chinese Singaporeans. She occasionally repeats unsubstantiated stereotypes about Chinese attitudes and beliefs. She also perhaps overstates the extent to which the rest of the PAP leadership buy into Lee Kuan Yew’s beliefs on sinicisation when she predicts a new Chinese cultural elite poised to takeover leadership of the country. English educated, western oriented leaders continue to dominant the PAP’s upper echelons and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

The problem is, of course, that she is unable to access the Chinese community’s worldview. Her sources, bar three interviews with Malaysian politicians, are entirely secondary, and generally in English. This no doubt reflects the paucity of work from Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese-speaking academics available in English, but it also suggests the limitations of Rahim’s skillset.

In her introduction, she sets to explore Singapore’s external relations from a historical, multidisciplinary, regional perspective. What she has achieved is an excellent study of Singapore’s bilateral relations with its two closest neighbours using a variety of political approaches, with a specific focus on the mindset of a few select leaders, and from a top-down perspective. This book will be extremely valuable to anyone seeking to better understand Singapore’s foreign policy, but we will have to wait for a work which truly embeds Singapore in Nusantara.