CHUKAI: While the Terengganu Inscription Stone, found along the banks of Sungai Tersat in 1887, is evidence of the early development of Islam and civilisation in the state, another inscription stone in Kg Air Jernih, Kemasik near here documents the early history of the local Hainanese community.
Pekan Air Jernih Village Development and Security Committee chairman Khaw Kian Hup said the granite stone, bearing Chinese inscriptions, dates to the Qing Dynasty in 1906.
The 71-year-old said the stone, measuring 16cm wide, 98cm long and 10cm thick, was believed to have been brought to the area by Hainanese Chinese traders and placed in front of a premises in the village.
Written in the form of poetry, the inscription recounts the history of the Hainanese community, which established a small settlement in the village in 1888.
“The inscription is titled ‘A Good Name Lasts Forever’, and among its contents is an account of the migration of traders from Hainan to this village, as well as prayers for God to protect the land and waters,” he told Bernama yesterday.
The Hainanese settlement, said to be the largest of its kind in Malaysia, features a row of two-storey wooden shophouses that retain their classical appearance.
Khaw, a retired teacher, said several premises and residents’ homes in the village were destroyed during a Japanese military attack in 1941, but the inscribed stone remained undamaged.
He said the stone was later moved and mounted on an interior wall of the Kemasik Hainan Association building, which was built in the village in the 1980s.
“The measure was taken to ensure that the inscription stone, which is a historical relic of the Hainanese Chinese community, would not be lost over time, while also potentially highlighting it as part of Kemasik’s historical heritage,” he said.
Kemasik Hainan Association executive secretary Wang Kwee Fong said the inscription stone could become a tourist attraction for visitors from Hainan, China, offering insights into the origins of the settlement and its residents.
The 57-year-old said a group of Chinese nationals visiting Terengganu had previously stopped at the village to view the stone.
“A lecturer from Hainan University in China also previously conducted research on the inscription stone and the history of the Hainanese Chinese community in the area,” he said, adding that the association welcomed parties interested in carrying out further studies on the stone’s history.
Malaysian Historical Society Terengganu branch committee member Wan Mohd Rosli Wan Ngah said the Terengganu State Museum should conduct a detailed study of the inscription stone to assess its historical value and significance to Kemasik’s Hainanese heritage.
He said the National Heritage Department could gazette historical objects or relics more than 100 years old as heritage items, subject to assessment and research.
“This study is important to provide an overview of the history of the arrival and development of the Hainanese community in the area,” he added.
