BANGSA MELAYU AN AMAZING RACE AND THEIR RACE TOWARDS REFINEMENT. – PART I.
…INTERMARRIAGE AND THE CREATION OF THE MODERN MELAYU RACE, LANGUAGE AND CIVILIZATION.
By Mansor Puteh
THE MELAYU RACE CAN BE DESCRIBED AS A ‘WORK IN PROGRESS’. IT IS A RACE WHCH IS CONSTANTLY BEING DEFINED AND REDEFINED.
THERE IS NO OTHER RACE IN THE WORLD WHICH IS IN SUCH A STATE OF EXISTENCE.
YET, IT IS NOT YET KNOWN INTERNATIONALLY DESPITE ITS SHEER SIZE COMPARED TO THE OTHER RACES WHICH ARE MINORITY RACES, YET WHICH ARE PROMINENT. SOME OF THEM ARE SO FOR THE WRONG REASONS.
The Melayu prefer not to exert themselves that much; but there are there.
Has anyone wondered that the Melayu are one of the unique races in the world, if not the most unique?
There’s no other race in the world where intermarriage between peoples of different races and racial groups in the same Melayu stock has created this unusual race called the Melayu or Bangsa Melayu.
Historically speaking, the Melayu were not supposed to look like what they are today; even the language that they now call their own evolved through time and started only as grunts with few syllables that were hard to decipher.
Most original Melayu words had only one or two syllables! They sound more like baby-speak. The word ‘makan’ evolved from ‘ma’ and ‘kan’, for example. And the first Melayu words mostly for everyday survival that describes food.
Only much later when the Melayu words started to stretch longer and longer to include many more tongue twisting syllables. These words describe more complex imageries and meanings as the worldview and political thoughts and culture. They expanded with the times.
The Melayu in the time of the Melaka sultanate were one of the most open-minded people on earth. They took not only the cultures and traditions of foreign countries and other races, but used them even in the construction of their masjid. This explains why the old masjids in Melaka have Chinese pagodas as their minarets.
Parameswara had built the first masjid in Melaka at the foothills of the St. Paul’s Hill (originally known as the Melaka Hill, a name given by Parameswara) in the fashion of the early masjid that he had seen in Pasai. He only converted to Islam at the age of 74 in 1414 CE or 816 AH after a trip he had made to Pasai in North Sumatra where he had met with the king of Pasai or Raja Pasai.
The Portuguese attacked the masjid and burnt it to ashes – as part of their first mission in Melaka in 1511 CE or 917 AH or 4209 of the Chinese calendar to destabilize the city-state. It was at that time, the center for the spread of Islam and the Melayu culture in the region.
They then proceeded to destroy the palace of the sultan that stood on the Melaka Hill where the St. Paul’s Church now stands. A crude replica of the palace was constructed at the foothills of the St. Paul’s Hills by the Melaka state government.
But later after Parameswara’s first visit to the imperial court of China, he adopted a totally different style and use bricks and concrete instead of wood. It is seen as a symbol of his special bonding with the Chinese Emperor Yong-le and the Chinese people who had been providing him with protection from the Siamese and others in the region. They were bent on destroying what he had built in Melaka as the most important entreport in the region.
When Parameswara died at the age of 84 in 1424 CE or 827 AH or 4122 of the Chinese calendar he was wearing the Arabian turbans and long-flowing robes light green in color and wearing sandals. But his palace officials and subjects were wearing colorful clothes that infused mostly Chinese and Indian designs with Arabic elements as an obligation to fulfill the requirements of the ‘aurat’.
No wonder the syllables in the Melayu language today sound totally different than those of other languages. The early Melayu didn’t have their own set of alphabets so most of the stories were stored in the memories of earlier sages who took with them to their unmarked graves.
Only when Islam came was the Arabic text used and this started the writing tradition of the Melayu. Only after that, the old Melayu stories started to be written and stored for posterity. Many of which are fortunately in our possession today, although many of the original manuscripts written on goatskin and kept in libraries and universities in Europe and England.
The Melayu are therefore unlike the other races such as the Indians and Chinese who had a writing tradition that dates back few thousand years before. Even the ancient Egyptian of the Pharonic times had a way of storing their stories and folklore and history.
They carved on stones and the walls although this was and extension of the artistic skills in sculpture and drawing on walls and papyrus and their fascination with all sorts of tools and ancient gadgets.
The creation of the glorious Melaka Muslim sultanate had resulted in the actual creation of the Melayu race and Melayu language or Bahasa Melayu in the form that we see today. So it is not wrong for historians today to describe the founder of Melaka, Parameswara (which means prince consort) who later converted to Islam and called himself Megat Iskandar shah as the true founder of the Melaka race!
Originally, the Melayu language only existed in the form of a dialect, but through the intermingling of the different Melayu dialectical groups, another more superior language which is now more internationally accepted was created.
Today the Melayu language can boost of a vocabulary of eight hundred thousand (800,000) words; most of these were fashioned or borrowed from the other dominant languages, especially from the invading forces from the East and the West.
Many of these modern Melayu words and phrases were created artificially by using a set formula devised by the language experts at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) and the universities. Most of the early Melayu words, however, originated from the Sanskrit language when the Melayu world was under the influence of Hinduism.
The vocabulary was given a boost with the coming of Islam in the Fourteenth Century which resulted in the infusion of many Arab words that are used mostly in the many religious rituals and practices. This forms the backbone of the Melayu language. Subsequent visits and domination from forces from Siam, China, Portugal and finally England further expanded the vocabulary of the Melayu language.
By Mansor Puteh
THE MELAYU RACE CAN BE DESCRIBED AS A ‘WORK IN PROGRESS’. IT IS A RACE WHCH IS CONSTANTLY BEING DEFINED AND REDEFINED.
THERE IS NO OTHER RACE IN THE WORLD WHICH IS IN SUCH A STATE OF EXISTENCE.
YET, IT IS NOT YET KNOWN INTERNATIONALLY DESPITE ITS SHEER SIZE COMPARED TO THE OTHER RACES WHICH ARE MINORITY RACES, YET WHICH ARE PROMINENT. SOME OF THEM ARE SO FOR THE WRONG REASONS.
The Melayu prefer not to exert themselves that much; but there are there.
Has anyone wondered that the Melayu are one of the unique races in the world, if not the most unique?
There’s no other race in the world where intermarriage between peoples of different races and racial groups in the same Melayu stock has created this unusual race called the Melayu or Bangsa Melayu.
Historically speaking, the Melayu were not supposed to look like what they are today; even the language that they now call their own evolved through time and started only as grunts with few syllables that were hard to decipher.
Most original Melayu words had only one or two syllables! They sound more like baby-speak. The word ‘makan’ evolved from ‘ma’ and ‘kan’, for example. And the first Melayu words mostly for everyday survival that describes food.
Only much later when the Melayu words started to stretch longer and longer to include many more tongue twisting syllables. These words describe more complex imageries and meanings as the worldview and political thoughts and culture. They expanded with the times.
The Melayu in the time of the Melaka sultanate were one of the most open-minded people on earth. They took not only the cultures and traditions of foreign countries and other races, but used them even in the construction of their masjid. This explains why the old masjids in Melaka have Chinese pagodas as their minarets.
Parameswara had built the first masjid in Melaka at the foothills of the St. Paul’s Hill (originally known as the Melaka Hill, a name given by Parameswara) in the fashion of the early masjid that he had seen in Pasai. He only converted to Islam at the age of 74 in 1414 CE or 816 AH after a trip he had made to Pasai in North Sumatra where he had met with the king of Pasai or Raja Pasai.
The Portuguese attacked the masjid and burnt it to ashes – as part of their first mission in Melaka in 1511 CE or 917 AH or 4209 of the Chinese calendar to destabilize the city-state. It was at that time, the center for the spread of Islam and the Melayu culture in the region.
They then proceeded to destroy the palace of the sultan that stood on the Melaka Hill where the St. Paul’s Church now stands. A crude replica of the palace was constructed at the foothills of the St. Paul’s Hills by the Melaka state government.
But later after Parameswara’s first visit to the imperial court of China, he adopted a totally different style and use bricks and concrete instead of wood. It is seen as a symbol of his special bonding with the Chinese Emperor Yong-le and the Chinese people who had been providing him with protection from the Siamese and others in the region. They were bent on destroying what he had built in Melaka as the most important entreport in the region.
When Parameswara died at the age of 84 in 1424 CE or 827 AH or 4122 of the Chinese calendar he was wearing the Arabian turbans and long-flowing robes light green in color and wearing sandals. But his palace officials and subjects were wearing colorful clothes that infused mostly Chinese and Indian designs with Arabic elements as an obligation to fulfill the requirements of the ‘aurat’.
No wonder the syllables in the Melayu language today sound totally different than those of other languages. The early Melayu didn’t have their own set of alphabets so most of the stories were stored in the memories of earlier sages who took with them to their unmarked graves.
Only when Islam came was the Arabic text used and this started the writing tradition of the Melayu. Only after that, the old Melayu stories started to be written and stored for posterity. Many of which are fortunately in our possession today, although many of the original manuscripts written on goatskin and kept in libraries and universities in Europe and England.
The Melayu are therefore unlike the other races such as the Indians and Chinese who had a writing tradition that dates back few thousand years before. Even the ancient Egyptian of the Pharonic times had a way of storing their stories and folklore and history.
They carved on stones and the walls although this was and extension of the artistic skills in sculpture and drawing on walls and papyrus and their fascination with all sorts of tools and ancient gadgets.
The creation of the glorious Melaka Muslim sultanate had resulted in the actual creation of the Melayu race and Melayu language or Bahasa Melayu in the form that we see today. So it is not wrong for historians today to describe the founder of Melaka, Parameswara (which means prince consort) who later converted to Islam and called himself Megat Iskandar shah as the true founder of the Melaka race!
Originally, the Melayu language only existed in the form of a dialect, but through the intermingling of the different Melayu dialectical groups, another more superior language which is now more internationally accepted was created.
Today the Melayu language can boost of a vocabulary of eight hundred thousand (800,000) words; most of these were fashioned or borrowed from the other dominant languages, especially from the invading forces from the East and the West.
Many of these modern Melayu words and phrases were created artificially by using a set formula devised by the language experts at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) and the universities. Most of the early Melayu words, however, originated from the Sanskrit language when the Melayu world was under the influence of Hinduism.
The vocabulary was given a boost with the coming of Islam in the Fourteenth Century which resulted in the infusion of many Arab words that are used mostly in the many religious rituals and practices. This forms the backbone of the Melayu language. Subsequent visits and domination from forces from Siam, China, Portugal and finally England further expanded the vocabulary of the Melayu language.
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