The Malays had an intellectual culture that did not merely take ideas from Indians and Arabs and old manuscripts can prove it, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said today.
Speaking at the launch of an exhibition of some of these original manuscripts written in Jawi before the advent of printing, Muhyiddin said that they showed Malays had copied scripts on religion, civil society, traditional medicine, astronomy and local culture.

“Malay intellectualism can be traced back to the 13th century, when the Jawi writing system was introduced to replace Pallava or Kawi.

“At that time, Arabic vocabulary was absorbed and this generated debates on rational theology, philosophy and the metaphysics of Islam,” Muhyiddin said at the National Library where about 100 such manuscripts will be on show in a ship-like gallery dubbed the ‘Pinis Globel’.

The exhibition primarily showcases Malay knowledge on shipbuilding and navigation and will go on until August as part of the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 tourism programme.

Muhyiddin said that sadly, only 30 percent of some 10,000 known Malay manuscripts have been carefully perused, as cost was a key factor.

“Among the places that keep Malay manuscripts are Leiden University in Holland, The United Kingdom National Library, and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and other higher learning institutions of ex-colonisers.

“Because of that, Malay cultural experts have to go to Europe if they wish to study Malay manuscripts.”

Muhyiddin said he hoped that other manuscripts that were kept by private bodies and individuals would also soon be made be accessible to the public.

This way, Muhyiddin said he hoped more scripts can join notable Malay literature of the past, such asTun Sri Lanang’s ‘Sejarah Melayu’ and ‘Hikayat Hang Tuah’.

The latter has been recognised as a national heritage document, as noted by the Unesco in 2001.

Tourism and Culture minister Nazri Abdul Aziz (left) jointly launched the exhibition, which is also aimed at attracting tourists.

He agreed with Muhyiddin that the manuscripts need closer study so that a new interpretation of Malay culture and literature can emerge.

“To uphold Malay civilisation, we have to make new interpretations towards any cultural and literary aspect that have been wrongly spun, misinterpreted or perverted by Western minds,” he said.

This is very important to for Malay identity now and in future, he added.

Since 1985, the National Library has collected 4,663 old Malay manuscripts, from 13th to the 19th century in various genres but not many are aware of them.

This collection has an estimated worth RM100 million and is now displayed for the first time as a “knowledge tourism” product to draw visitors, Nazri added.