They Timed Their Voyages By The Constant
Monsoons, And In Sailing From Island To Island Coasted The Asiatic
Shores, Trusting,
When for a short time out of sight of land, not to
the compass, though they were acquainted with it,
But to known rocks,
glimpses of headlands, the direction of the wind, and their observation
of the Pleiades.
They have no knowledge of geography, architecture, painting, sculpture,
or even mechanics; they no longer make translations from the Arabic or
create fiction, and the old translations of works on law, ethics, and
science are now scarcely studied. Education among them is at a very low
ebb; but the State of Kedah is beginning to awake to its advantages.
Where schools exist the instruction consists mainly in teaching the
children to repeat, in a tongue which they do not understand, certain
passages from the Koran and some set prayers.
As to law, Sir Stamford Raffles observed in a formal despatch, "Nothing
has tended more decidedly to the deterioration of the Malay character
than the want of a well-defined and generally acknowledged system of
law." There are numerous legal compilations, however, and nearly every
State has a code of its own to a certain extent; there are maritime and
land codes, besides "customs" bad and good, which override the written
law; while in Perak, Selangor, and Sungei Ujong an ill understood
adaptation of some portions of British law further complicates matters.
"The glorious uncertainty" of law is nowhere more fully exemplified
than on this Peninsula. It is from the Golden Island, the parent Empire
of Menangkabau, that the Malays profess to derive both their criminal
and civil law, their tribal system, their rules for the division of
land by boundary marks, and the manner of government as adapted for
sovereigns and their ministers. The existence of the various legal
compilations has led to much controversy and even bloodshed between
zealots for the letter of the Koran on one side, and the advocates of
ancient custom on the other. Among the reasons which have led to the
migration of Malays from the native states into the Straits
Settlements, not the least powerful is the equality of rights before
English law, and the security given by it to property of every kind. In
the Malay country itself, occupied by Malays and the Chinese associated
with them, there are four Malays to the square mile, whilst under the
British flag some one hundred and twenty-five Malays to the square mile
have taken refuge and sought protection for their industry under our
law!
Cock-fighting, which has attained to the dignity of a literature of its
own, is the popular Malay sport; but the grand sport is a tiger and
buffalo fight, reserved for rare occasions, however, on account of its
expense. Cock-fighting is a source of gigantic gambling and desperate
feuds. The birds, which fight in full feather and with sharpened steel
spurs, are very courageous, and die rather than give in. Wrestling
among young men and tossing the wicker ball, are favorite amusements.
There are professional dancing girls, but dancing as a social amusement
is naturally regarded with disfavor.
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