Guidance Behind Criticisms: The Good Parenting as Portrayed in the First Malay Autobiography

Rahimah Hamdan,Arba’Ie Sujud

doi:10.5539/ass.v15n2p116

Abstract

This paper was aimed at identifying the guidance to parenting that emerged in the first Malay autobiography, the Hikayat Abdullah, and subsequently, to analyse those instructions on parenting in the context of the traditional Malay society of the 19th century. The recognition accorded to Abdullah Munshi as the Father of Modern Malay Literature has attracted various reactions from scholars. Some scholars regard Abdullah Munshi as the one who brought renewal to Malay literature through his courageous criticism of the customs and culture that had been in practice for generations. On the other hand, there are scholars who disapprove of that recognition being given to him and who consider Abdullah Munshi’s criticisms in his works as a deviation from the reality expressed in previous works. Nevertheless, not a single study has suggested that perhaps Abdullah Munshi firmly emphasized those criticisms with the intention of providing some sort of guidance. Hence, by analysing certain texts in the Hikayat Abdullah and by reviewing the evidence from the perspective of Swettenham (1895), who objectively evaluated the thinking and culture of the Malay community, this study was able to rectify the image of Abdullah Munshi, who, all this while, was considered to be pro-British because of his harsh criticism of the Malay community. Moreover, those criticisms were meant to provide guidance for the family institution, especially for parents. This indirectly proves that Abdullah Munshi took a serious view of parenting and believed that improvements were necessary to produce a dignified and civilized generation. In conclusion, the autobiography, the Hikayat Abdullah, was not just a new form of writing that deviated from the conventions of traditional Malay literature, but was the fruit of the wisdom of the author that was meant to benefit his readers.

Highlights

This paper was aimed at identifying the guidance to parenting that emerged in the first Malay autobiography, the Hikayat Abdullah, and subsequently, to analyse those instructions on parenting in the context of the traditional Malay society of the 19th century
The question is, is it true that Abdullah Munshi’s Hikayat Abdullah is a ‘non-literary’ work? Is not ‘literature’, according to the conventions of Malay writing, ‘something that can be of benefit to its readers?’ Moving on from these views, this study examined Abdullah Munshi’s criticisms of the community in his magnum opus, i.e. the Hikayat Abdullah (2008)
This study examined the criticisms in the Hikayat Abdullah, especially with regard to the family institution, and proved the truth behind his criticisms based on the perspective of Swettenham (1895), a colonial scholar who closely observed the culture and thinking of the Malay community

Summary

Introduction

This paper was aimed at identifying the guidance to parenting that emerged in the first Malay autobiography, the Hikayat Abdullah, and subsequently, to analyse those instructions on parenting in the context of the traditional Malay society of the 19th century. By analysing certain texts in the Hikayat Abdullah and by reviewing the evidence from the perspective of Swettenham (1895), who objectively evaluated the thinking and culture of the Malay community, this study was able to rectify the image of Abdullah Munshi, who, all this while, was considered to be pro-British because of his harsh criticism of the Malay community Those criticisms were meant to provide guidance for the family institution, especially for parents. The period from the 17th to the 19th century saw the spread of Dutch and British colonialization into the Malay World, which led to a clash of cultures and thinking between the East and the West It was during this time that the colonialists started to collect the local literary works and to study them in order to facilitate their management of the communities in their conquered colonies. Abdullah Munshi’s name was introduced, and he was bestowed with the title of “Father of Modern Malay Literature’ for his courage in challenging the literary conventions that had been passed down for generations (Hamdan, Sujud, & Radzi, 2016)

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