24 Explorers members met at the home and studio of Chinese Brush artist, Sharifah Zuriah Alijeffri on Monday March 12. Zuriah is the first Malay artist to paint in the Chinese brush style and is considered to have, "made a cultural bridge in Malaysian society."

Upon our arrival, Zuriah greeted us with a beautiful table of snacks and coffee. After introductions were made by Kate Reddington, Zuriah told us about her beginnings with Chinese brush art. In 1976, when looking for something new to do, Zuriah signed up for a class in brush painting from Malaysian artist Anthony Sum. She studied with him for 3 years. While studying with Anthony Sum, Zuriah had her first gallery show. Since that time she has participated in 13 major group exhibitions and 8 solo exhibitions.

In 1992 Zuriah began to use Arabic calligraphy with her Chinese brush technique. She is quick to tell you that she is not a calligrapher; she is a painter who paints calligraphy. Zuriah never studied calligraphy. She says, "I look at words and interpret them."

Zuriah's most recent exhibit was in 2003. Titled: Compassion – Peace- Justice. The paintings were inspired by the letters in Chapter 14 of the Qura'n Ha Mim- They represent the duality of life; good/evil, truth/lies, faith/unfaithful. Zuriah says that she "paints the Attributes of God. Ar-Rahim (the Compassionate), As-Salam (the Source of Peace) and Al-Adl (the Just) to convey the need for Compassion in our hearts, Peace in our relationship and Justice in our action in order to have a harmonious co-existence."

After telling us about her history as an artist and her personal journey, Zuriah brought us up to her studio area to see her work and to give us a short demonstration of the Chinese brush technique. A few of our more brave Explorers gave a try after her demonstration.

Through her art, Zuriah has traveled throughout the world. She has been to the US on a Fulbright grant, been to Croatia with a group of woman from all religions, participated in a Human Rights conference in Vietnam in 1993. At home in Malaysia she is a founding member of Sisters In Islam, is a Juvenile Court advisor and has served on multiple boards for various Art Societies.

I could write 5000 words about our morning with Zuriah. There is serenity in Zuriah that translates through her to her home and her art. She has stated that, "Her art and her life merge as ONE." Each of us took a bit of that serenity with us that morning.

Annette Hallowell

Professor Khoo started his talk with the definition of a Malay ruler. The Malay title for the most supreme leader was "Raja", of Hindu origin. The term Sultan only came into use later with the introduction of Islam. In Malay, Raja is still the most widely used term to refer to a ruler, even if they have the title of Sultan. Another common way of addressing the ruler is "Yang di Pertuan" which literally means "He who is made Lord". This highlights the most interesting feature of Malay Sultanates and monarchy: the sultan is an elected ruler. The position is not transmitted from father to son.

This is very different from the European tradition. Raffles used the European hereditary system to install the elder brother of the Sultan of Johor, ignoring Malays custom, to obtain British rule over Singapore. The British argued that the Sultan of Johor, Tengku Rahman, could not be the legitimate ruler as he was not the eldest son. The British then enthroned his elder brother, Tengku Hussein, as the legitimate Sultan of Johor and made him sign a treaty that gave Singapore to the British crown in 1819.The Malays never recognized Tengku Hussein as Sultan of Johor: he had not been elected and hence could not be the ruler. So for the Malays he was known the Sultan of Singapore.

Another specificity of the Malay system is the notion of Kingdom in itself. In Malay it is called a Kerajaan, which translates into "the situation of having a raja". The notion of territory is not emphasized. This comes from the Austronesian traditions and the early kingdoms of the region which were centered around the ruler and not the geographic capital or the land.

independent kingdoms (wrongly translated as "state" by the British), which were known collectively under the term Malaya.

The British formalized their presence in Malaya in 1867 when the British settlements of Penang, Dinding (around actual Pangkor), Malacca and Singapore became colonies of the British crown and known as the Strait Settlements. For the rest of Malaya, treaties were signed with the ruling Sultan or Raja. These treaties allowed the British to come in and run the administration but sovereignty was always with the Malay rulers. The British only completely colonized Malaysia for 2 years after WWII, but that lead to rebellion and insurrection amongst the local people and finally the creation of Malaysia on 31 st August 1957. This is actually when sovereignty was transferred from the Sultans and Rajas to the people and when Malaysia became a democracy.

However, the ruler has always had, and still has, a tremendous power over his people. Although today he only has a constitutional power, his aura is still very strong: one cannot expect to challenge a sultan and win!

It is interesting to note that the British never tried to dismantle the kingdoms as they did in India. On the contrary they did try to maintain the kingdoms and used them in their administration of the country. So much so, that they established a school to train the Rajas and the royal families. That school, Kuala Kangsar College (MCKK) was considered the Eton of Malaysia, and inculcated the British traditions and value to its students. In 1919, the Malays were admitted in the Malayan Civil Service (MCS) and later in the Malayan Administrative Service (MAS). During the Japanese occupation, the administration was entirely run by the Malays. The founders of UMNO (United Malays National Organization) mostly came from the MCKK and the civil service, in a sense recreating a ruling class with the new democratic system.

Malaysia today consists of 13 states and 3 Federal Territories as follows:

The 9 original kingdoms headed by a Sultan or Raja who take turns to act as the King of Malaysia every 5 years.

Kedah : the oldest kingdom, dating from the 7 th century and of Indian Origin

Pahang : the dynasty of Raja Muhammad, son of Sultan Mansur Shah of Malacca started in 1470

Johor: founded in 1528 by another son of Mansur Shah, Sultan Alaudin Riayat Shah

Perak: founded by yet another son of Mansur Shah, Sultan Muzaffa Shah also in 1528

Terangganu : in 1699 by Zainal Abidin I

Selangor : created in 1766 by Sultan Lumu

Negeri Sembilan : founded in 1773 by Raja Melawar

Kelantan : founded in 1775 by Long Yunus

Perlis was the last kingdom established under the rule of Raja Syed Sapee in 1841

Malacca is not counted as one of the 9 original kingdoms, as it does not have a Sultan today. The date of its establishment is not certain, but is thought to be Around 1400.

Penang

Sabah

Sarawak

The Federal Territories : - Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Labuan

Professor Khoo shared with us a lot more, adding many anecdotes to his talk. We were very fortunate that he came to share his experience and knowledge with members of the MCG.

Marie Tseng

Our tour this month took us to a location in the centre of KL. We met Yusof Gajah in his studio in the annex of Central Market.

Yusolf was born in Negeri Sembilan. His chosen artistic style is "naive art". This is a form of art where the artist is not bound by formalities such as following the rules of shapes and form - hence it often results in artistic impressions of what the author feels about the object rather than depicting the object as it is.

He gave us a brief talk on his interest and passion for art and on how he became an artist. He went to art school in Indonesia. He explained to us how he became interested in painting his famous elephants. One of his earliest childhood memories was of taking a ride on an elephant whilst visiting a zoo with his parents. As he says " After 40 years of painting elephants, I have not run out of ideas on how to depict this wonderful creature" He also paints colourful landscapes - "his spirit runs free".

Following Yusof's interesting talk we got down to "work"! We were sat at a long table with drawing paper, pencils and rubbers to hand. We then set to - practising our drawing skills. We were to draw and then paint an animal picture on to linen bags which he had provided. It was no surprise that the elephant was the most popular animal chosen and many were drawn in the style of Yusolf's elephants. Paint brushes and paints of every colour were produced and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves - mixing colours and painting away. I wonder if this "paint in" may prove to have unleashed any budding new artists?

After a couple of hours - and a very happy morning, we left "parading" our new bags over our shoulders!

Yusof Gajah runs workshops from his studios (he also has one in City Square) and helps people get started as artists. He is happy to teach individually or in groups - children and adults. He is also happy to do children's parties. Accompanying him everywhere he goes is his wife Zakiah Md Isa - she assists him in many ways and is his "pillar of strength" She can usually be found at one or other of his studios to help and answer any questions.

Following our artistic morning we went to the "Precious Old China Cafe" on the first floor in Central Market for lunch. We all had the Set Menu - Lime juice, Kari Kapton Chicken followed by Burbur Cha Cha - all for the price of RM12. 80! It was a good conclusion to a happy morning.

Gill Read

It is estimated that 50% of the world's 6,000 languages are endangered. One language disappears every two weeks.  With this in mind, we will spend the morning discussing one endangered language - the traditional language of ritual amongst the Kadazan people of Sabah.  In January this year, the Kadazandusun Language Foundation recorded a traditional rice harvest festival to document the ancient words of the high priestesses of the Kadazan.

 MCG member, Cheryl Hoffmann, was there to witness the performance of the 3-day Monogit festival.  She will share some of her photographs of the event and her thoughts about the changing life of the Kadazan people.