Must lay claim to our history

SINGAPORE is celebrating its bicentennial now. A young nation, it attained its First World status quietly, without fanfare. But compared with Malaysia and Indonesia, it lacked a certain history.

Or so we thought. Singapore’s history is etched in the renowned Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals). So the island-state embraced certain parts of its history and began to lay serious claim to the Malay world, in particular Malay manuscripts, by working with the British Library among others in this area.