DOCUMENT RESUME ED 059 722 LI 003 461 AUTHOR Tee Edward Lim Huck TITLE Lib aries in West Malaysia and Slngap- e; A Sh History. INSTITUTION Malaya Univ., Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). PUB DATE 70 NOTE 169p.;(210 References) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$6.58 DESCRIPTORS Foreign Countries; History; *Libraries; Library Planning; *Library Services; Library Surveys IDENTIFIERS *Library Development; Singapore; West Malaysia ABSTRACT An attempt is made to trace the history of every major library in Malay and Singapore. Social and recreational club libraries are not included, and school libraries are not extensively covered. Although it is possible to trace the history of Malaysia's libraries back to the first millenium of the Christian era, there are few written records pre-dating World War II. The lack of documentation on the early periods of library history creates an emphasis on developments in the modern period. This is not out of order since it is only recently that libraries in West Malaysia and Singapore have been recognized as one of the important media of mass education. Lack of funds, failure to recognize the importance of libraries, and problems caused by the federal structure of gc,vernment are blamed for this delay in development. Hinderances to future development are the lack of trained librarians, problems of having to provide material in several different languages, and the lack of national bibliographies, union catalogs and lists of serials. (SJ) (NJ (NJ LIBR ARIES IN WEST MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE f=t a short history Edward Lirn Huck Tee B.A.HONS (MALAYA), F.L.A. University Librarian, University of Penang "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS COPY- RIGHTED MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED ift 6 - TO ERIC AND ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH THE U S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION. FURTHER REPRODUCTION OUTSIDE THE ERIC SYSTEM REQUIRES PER- MISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER," e 111.1 KUALA LUMPUR UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA LIBRARY CrZ 1970 C= © UNIVERSITY OF 'IALAYA LIBRARY Partial Valley, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia PRINTED IN MALAYSIA To ny wjfe PEARLY PREFACE THIS book is based on the thesis which I submitted in partial fulfilment of the diploma of librarianship at the University of New South Wales in 1962. Because of a number of requests by librarians and library students for micro- film copies of this work, a decision w as made to publish it so that it would become more freely available. In vie w of the need to bring this work out as quickly as possible, it has not been possible to revise it as extensively as it would perhaps have been desirable. The library situation as well as the poli- tical situation have changed with bewildering speed since 1962 in both Singa- pore and West Malaysia (or Malaya as it was then called) so that someof the comments made in this book may be dated, An attempt has been made to bring the situation up-to-date in the case of some Malaysian Libraries, such as the University of Malaya Library, and by including an epilogue on recent developments in West Malaysia. But no attempt has been made to up-date the Singapore library scene, since to have done so would probably have involved writing a new book. In spite of this, it is hoped that this book will prove to be of value to those who are interested in the history of libraries in West Malaysia and Singapore. It may be appropriate to point out that in this book the terms Malaya, West Malaysia and Federation of Malaya have been used synonymously to denote the same geographical area. Anyone who endeavours to write a history of libraries in West Malaysia and Singapore cannot hope to produce a comprehensive or definitive account, laigely because much of the early history of Malaysian and Singapore libra- ries is obscure. There are hardly any written records pre-dating World War II, despite the fact that it is possible to trace the history of Malaysia's libra- ries to as far back as the first millenium of the Christian era. This lack of records can be explained by the fact that libraries never played a very impor- tant part in the lives of the people of West Malaysia and Singapore, and in consequence have been largely ignored by the social historian. The lack of documentation on the early periods of library history has Ied inevitably to an emphasis on developments in the modern period. This is not entirely out of order since the history of libraries in West Malaysia and Singapore really begins with the modern period of their history, and particularly after World War II. It is only in recent years that libraries have come to their own in West Malaysia and Singapore, and are nowrecognized as one of the important media of mass education. Attempt has been made in this book to trace the history of every major library in West Malaysia and Singapore of whatever kind. Only the libraries of social and recreational clubs have been omitted, while discussion on school libraries is perhaps not as complete as could be possible. It is inevitable that anyone writing a work of this nature, unless he is a mo.ister of omniscience, must deal with a great many matters of which he has no firsthand knowledge. I am indebted to the librarians and other per- sonnel of various institutions in West Malaysia and Singapore who have kindly provided me with the information required by patiently replying to vii PREFACE my questionnaires and letters and by submitting to personal interviews. My debt to them will be apparent in the bibliography which appears at the end of this book. should like to mention in particular my debt to Mr. Beda Lirn, Libra- rian, University of Malaya, for agreeing to publish this bock despite all its mperfections, and to the Perak Turf Club, without whose financial help, this book would not have been published. My heartfelt thanks to them and all others who in one way or another helped me in the writing of this book, and my apologies for any inadvertent omissions in acknowledging my debt. E.L.H.T. Lumpur, April 1968 viii ABBREVIATIONS Bul.US S, SingaporeBulletin of the U.S. Information Service in Singa- pore. IL Indian Librarian. ..IMBRAS Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. LAR Library Association Record. LLAB Louisiana Library Association Bulletin. LT Library Trends. MHJ Malayan Historical Journal. MLGN Malayan Library Group Newe MLJ Malayan Library Journal. MM Malayan Mirror. P.P.P.T.M. Persatuan Perpustakaan Persekutuan Tana h Melayu. (Library Association of the Federation of Malaya). Q. Bull. IAALD Quarterly Bulletin of the International Association of Agricultural Libraries and Documentalists. SLJ Singapore Library Journal. WLB Wilson Library Bulletin. ix CONTENTS PREFACE vii ABBREVIATIONS ix 1.BOOKS AND LIBRARIES IN MALAYSIA BEFORE THE COMING OF THE WEST A.Libraries B. Writing 6 C.Writing Materials 6 D. Conclusion 10 H. A SURVEY OF DEVELOPMENTS IN LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIANSHIP IN MALAYA, 1817-1961 A.Historical and Introductory 11 B. Developmtnts from 1817 to 1945 12 C.Developments from 1945 to 1962 - 18 D.Conclusion 34 Hi. PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICES IN MALAYA A.Introduct ion 36 B.Selangor - 37 C.Penang 46 D. Malacca 54 E.Perak 55 F.Johore 58 G. Negri Sembilan 59 H. Kedah 59 I. Kelantan 60 I. Perlis 60 K. Pahang 60 L.Trengganu 60 M. The Libraries of the Malayan Public Library Association 60 N. Summary 61 IV. A HISTORY OF PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICES IN SINGAPORE A.Introductory 62 B.The National Library 62 C The LISTS Library, Singapore 84 D. The Library Association of Singapore 84 E.Conclusion 85 V. SPECIAL LIBRARIES IN MALAYA AND SINGAPORE A.Definition 86 B. Malaya 86 (i) Scientific Libraries 87 xi CONTENTS (ii) Non-Scientific Libraries 103 (iii) Conclusion 105 C.Singapore 106 (i) Introductory 106 (ii) Non-Government Libraries 106 (iii) Government Libraries 107 (iv) Conclusion 112 VT. EDUCATIONAL LIBRARIES IN MALAYA AND SINGAPORE A.Definition 113 B. Malaya 1 i 3 (i) University and College Lib aries 113 (ii) School Libraries 122 C.Singapore 124 (i) University and College Libraries 124 (ii) School Libraries 136 VII. PROBLEMS OF LIBRARY PROVISION IN WEST MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE 138 EPILOGUE: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN WEST MALAYSIA 143 APPENDIX: A PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE FOR THE FEDERATION OF MALAYA 146 BIBLIOGRAPHY 155 LIBRARIES IN WEST MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE CHAPTER I BOOKS AND LIBRARIES IN MALAYSIA BEFORE THE COMING OF THE WEST A. Libraries It is generally thought that no library of importance existed in Malaya prior to the coming of the British, as the earliest library existing in Malaya todaythe Penang Librarydates from the days of British rule. However, an examination of the scanty evidence at present available reveals that books and libraries were not unknown to the ancient and medieval Malaysian world. THE HINDU PERIOD Malaya, and indeed the whole of South-East Asia, was strongly subjected to the cultural and civilizing influence of India, and to a more limited extent, to the political and commercial influence of China, during the first thousand years or more of the Christian era. The Indians originally came to trade, being attracted by the tin scented woods and spices of the East, which were in very great demand by the peoples of the early Roman Empire. Gradually, however, the traders were followed by the Buddhist priests, Brahmins and the literati, who brought with them their religions, art, literature, script, law and political systems. By the second century A.D., various Indianized states "practising Indian religions, arts and customs, and with Sanskrit as their sacred language" had grown up around sites which Indian seamer had frequented from time immemorial." Various Indianized kingdoms existed on the Malay Peninsula.