Hadijah Rahmat

Antologi ini merakamkan puisi-puisi dalam bahasa Melayu dan Cina, yang memaparkan karya-karya yang mewakili suara 30 penyair Cina dan Melayu yang terkenal. Profesor Leo Suryadinata (Mantan Pengarah Pusat Warisan Cina NTU) dan Hadijah Bte Rahmat (Ketua Kumpulan Akademik Bahasa dan Budaya Asia, NIE), editor bersama buku, telah mengenal pasti 15 penyair penting Cina dan Melayu dan karya mereka yang merakamkan perubahan Singapura dan rasa cinta penyair terhadap tanahair.

A/P Hadijah Rahmat, Deputy Head of ALC, was invited to give a talk on "Building Intercultural Understanding and Appreciation Through Literary Dialogues: Chinese in the Malay Classical Literature" organized by Tropical Literature & Art Clubs on 23rd October 2016. She discussed the role and significance of literature in building inter-cultural understanding, the significant of developments of Malay literature and contribution of classical authors such as Tun Sri Lanang who promoted the cultural and political understanding between two ethnic groups and countries.

The traditional Malay literary heritage is valuable and aplenty but is yet to be explored and fully utilized for the beneficial development of society, nation and mankind at large. This article discusses the Malay literary heritage in America which was brought there in the early 19th century through two major American historical voyages to South East Asia: the Christian Missionary Movement from the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions or A.B.C.F.M (1834-1843) and the Wilkes Expedition, (the first American Scientific Expedition 1838-1842) which made a stopover in Singapore in 1843. This is some early research findings by the author when she was there under the Fulbright Visiting Scholars Program from November 2002 until May 2003, to do research at the University Berkeley, California, the Houghton Library, University Harvard and the Library of Congress, Washington USA. These research findings are important as it depicts the early historical ties between the United States and Southeast Asia, the development of the Malay language together with early Malay publications, and the involvement of the Christian missionaries in the history of literature and education in Singapore and Southeast Asia in general.

Karya dan sumbangan Masuri S.N. sering dilihat dari sudut sastera dan sosial. Kertas ini membincangkan nilai karya Masuri dari jendela pendidikan, khususnya dalam konteks kurikulum bahasa Melayu yang baru di Singapura. Karya-karya Masuri pernah dijadikan teks sastera di sekolah Melayu pada tahun 1960-an dan 1970-an. Tetapi sejak penutupan sekolah aliran Melayu pada tahun 1980-an, karya beliau kurang diberi perhatian dan tidak mendapat tempat sewajarnya dalam kurikum dan pengajaran di sekolah. Karya-karya Masuri, khususnya sajak, perlu dinilai kembali, dipilih dan digolongkan mengikut tahap kesesuaiannya untuk mengisi visi dan keperluan kurikulum bahasa Melayu di Singapura dan diajar di sekolah dengan menggunakan pendekatan dan teori pendidikan yang terkini. Ini memerlukan perancangan program pendidikan bahasa, sastera dan budaya yang dinamik, teratur dan menyeluruh. Untuk memulakan usaha pembinaan program pendidikan karya Masuri yang disarankan, contoh-contoh rancangan pengajaran berdasarkan sajak-sajak pilihan beliau disediakan untuk membantu guru menggunakan pendekatan dan kaedah mengajar yang berkesan bagi mengisi matlamat kurikulum bahasa Melayu, visi Arif Budiman.

This paper discusses selected poems by three generations of Malay writers in Singapore from the first generation poets who received their vernicular education during British colonial period, before Malayan Independence in 1957; to second generation writers who received Malay education when Singapore was part of Malaysia, 1957-1965 who established their poems in 1970s; and the third generation writers who received bilingual education who began to make impacts when Singapore become a Republic in 1980s. These iconic poems embody the easthetic as well as the cultural and political values of Malay society. It is an early attempt to define and search for canon of Singapore Malay poetry.

This paper discusses selected poems by three generations of Malay writers in Singapore from the first generation poets who received their vernacular education during British colonial period, before Malayan Independence in 1957; to second generation writers who received Malay education when Singapore was part of Malaysia (1957–1965) who established their poems in 1970s; and the third generation writers who received bilingual education after Singapore become a Republic in the 1980s. These iconic poems embody the aesthetic as well as the cultural and political values of Malay society. It is an early attempt to define and search for the canon of Singapore Malay poetry.

Dr. Liaw Yock Fang, a scholar of Malay studies, passed away on 23rd April 2016. Dr. Liaw wrote an article on Malay language and literature in Chinese which was published in series in the Nanyang Siang Pau newspaper. He had also written in English about Malay and Indonesian literature in the magazine, Kesusasteraan Nanyang. Dr. Liaw Yock Fang taught at Nanyang University of Singapore from 1966 till 1981 and at the National University of Singapore from 1982-1996. After his retirement, Dr. Liaw continued to be active in studying literature and writing and produced more than 20 books and hundreds of papers, articles, book reviews or academic and general writings in the field of Malay and Indonesian studies. His writings and contributions are most prominent in three fields: classical literature studies, grammar studies, and Malay language textbook compilation for schools and reference books on Malay and Indonesian language for adults. The late Dr. Liaw Yock Fang was admired and respected by society and has left a wealth of valuable Malay works and materials.