Jawi Peranakkan

History of the Jawi Peranakan
Indian immigrants steadily streamed into Singapore from the time Singapore was founded in 1819. The late arrival of women migrants into Singapore (which happened from 1860s onwards) however created a shortage of brides for the Indian Muslim migrants, and this was filled by local Malay women as they shared the same faith. Their children made up for a new class or race known as the Jawi Peranakan. Jawi Peranakan families were found throughout Malaysia and Singapore, and they gained prominence in the civil service and mercantile circles. The Jawi Peranakan sought to be accepted as Malays regardless of their blood origins. When Malay independence movement after the war pushed the race factor to the forefront, the Jawi Peranakan, with their mixed origin, compared unfavourably with Malays of pure Malay parentage. As a result, until today, the Jawi Peranakan no longer distinguish themselves as a separate race, rather they register themselves ethnically as Malays, and sometimes as Indians.

Jawi Peranakkan newspaper
The Jawi Peranakan were successful merchants and landowners. By the late 19th century, they had accumulated considerable wealth and status and were contributing significantly to the country's economic growth. Being English-speaking, the Jawi Peranakan also found it easy to get jobs in the colonial government. Their wealth and high level of literacy contributed favourably towards the release of a publication that sought to address the needs of the Malay community, which they considered themselves to be a part of. In 1876, a group of prominent Jawi Peranakan spearheaded the first ever non-missionary Malay newspaper in Malaya, self-titled the Jawi Peranakkan. Its first editor was Munshi Muhammad Sa'id bin Dada Muhyiddin, a south Indian Muslim who remained as editor until he died in 1885. Munshi Mohammad Alie bin Golam Al-Hindi took over as editor of the paper which closed in 1895. The newspaper proved to be a big hit with the Malay literati. The paper was the most successful, longest enduring Malay newspaper before 1941. A possible cause leading to the demise of the publication could have been the dearth of capable editors.

Description
The Jawi Peranakkan was a weekly paper published every Monday in the Jawi script. Jawi script is the Arabic script adopted for the Malay language. The paper was the only Malay language newspaper in the whole of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia at that time. The newspaper's initial circulation was limited to around 250 copies as only the elite were literate then. Its readers included the Arabs, Babas or the Malay- speaking Straits-born Chinese, Indians and Malays. The contents relied on international news from the contemporary English-language media. The paper also carried official government notifications, letters from readers, an editorial column and syair (Malay verse or poetry) corner. The Jawi Peranakan also used the paper to advance reformist ideas, supposedly discussing the weaknesses of the Malay community. The newspaper was so popular that it sparked off a host of other Malay language publications. Notwithstanding the competition, the Jawi Peranakkan held its own and was considered a prestigious newspaper.


Author
Naidu Ratnala Thulaja



References 
LePoer, B. L. (Ed.). (1991). Singapore: a country study (p. 28). Washington, DC: The Division.
(Call no.: SING 959.57 SIN)

Nagata, J. A. (1984). The reflowering of Malaysian Islam: Modern religious radicals and their roots (pp. 14, 186, 249). Vancouver:
University of British Columbia Press.
(Call no.: R 297.09595 NAG)

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(Call no.: RSING 338.4730223 TAN)

Turnbull, C. M. (1989). History of Singapore: 1819-1988 (pp. 99, 118). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 TUR)

Digitising Singapore history. (2002, June). Access : Asia's newspaper on electronic information products & services, 7.
(Call no.: RSING 621.3805 A)

Jeman Sulaiman. (1988, November 7). The rise of Malay newspaper. The Straits Times, p.6. 

Johan Jaaffar. (2003, January 18). Reclaiming Malay intellectual history. The New Straits Times (Malaysia), p. 10.

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Further Readings
Lyons, K., & Sarwal, A. (Eds.). (2001). The encyclopedia of Malaysia (Vol. 7, pp. 12-127). Singapore: Archipelago Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.5003 ENC)

Jamae Mosque preservation guidelines (pp. 7-9). (1991). Singapore: Preservation of Monuments Board.
(Call no.: RSING 363.96095957 JAM)

Lewis Micro-publishing. (n.d.). Baba beginnings. Retrieved on July 14, 2003, from www.lewismicropublishing.com/Publications/Peranakan/PeranakanBeginnings.htm

Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. (2002). The press. Retrieved on July 14, 2003, from www.sg/flavour/fact_press.asp

Padmanabhan, A. (2002, April 19). 217,000-strong diasporas origin in city-state dates back to 1819. News India-Times in Print & Online. Retrieved on July 14, 2003, from www.newsindia-times.com/2002/04/19/tow-19-city.html

Tan, L. E. (2002, April). Conjunctures, confluences, contestations: A perspective on Penang history. Retrieved July 14, 2003, from www.penangstory.net/docs/Abs-TanLiokEe.doc

Subject
Arts>>Literature>>Peranakan (Straits Chinese) Literature
Newspaper publishing--Singapore
Singapore--History--1867-1942
Business, finance and industry>>Industry>>Communication and media
People and communities>>Social groups and communities

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