Guardian of Old Manuscripts of Palembang

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

Kemas Haji Andi Syarifuddin

Preserving the culture of Palembang has prompted Kemas Andi Syarifuddin to learn the Palembang language, while taking care of hundreds of old manuscripts. He doesn’t want to see his ancestral culture eroded with the passage of time.

In his home on Friday (7/8/2020), Andi showed his collection of old manuscripts neatly arranged in a display cabinet in the sitting room. Some of the dark brown manuscripts were taken out carefully. “The documents are very fragile,” he said.

The oldest texts kept by Andi are about 300 years old. Andi opened the pages of a manuscript written in Malay Arabic letters. His forefinger was pointing at the letters and he directly rendered them into Indonesian. Apart from taking care of the hundreds of old texts, Andi is actually also skilled in Malay and Palembang tongues.

Most of the manuscripts under Andi’s care are in Malay, the language spoken during the sultanate era, but they are written in Arabic letters. Malay is the root of the Palembang language, which is also considerably influenced by Javanese, Chinese and Dutch.

He has kept around 100 manuscripts so far. The greater part of the collection takes the form of sheets containing Islamic teachings (fiqh or

Islamic law, shalat or five-time-daily prayer, wudu or ablution, haj pilgrimage, zakat or charity and tasawuf or Sufism), Palembang poetry, drug prescriptions and the history the Sultanate of Palembang Darussalam.

Andi said the texts had been handed down by at least seven generations, starting from his forebear, Kemas Haji Umar, who was a khatib or preacher in the period of the Sultanate of Palembang Darussalam, to his father, Kemas Haji Ibrahim Umari.

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

Kemas Haji Andi Syarifuddin

All the manuscripts he keeps were written by clerics and teachers in the Palembang sultanate period, when the Islamic scholars and teachers indeed frequently conveyed their teachings in writing. These texts were written in ink on special paper imported from Europe. “There was no printing at the time so that everything had to be written,” he said.

In fact, added Andi, clerics had many tasks. Besides serving as religious teachers, they also played the role of mufti or jurists in charge of making decisions on religious cases arising in society during their time.

In the sultanate era, explained Andi, clerics and the sultanate family had very close relations. There was even a special residential area provided by the sultan for clerics known as Guguk Pengulon, a settlement for religious experts. “Clerics were frequently considered spiritual teachers of the reigning sultan,” said Andi.

The settlement is now located on Jalan Faqih Jalaluddin, Palembang. Previously the road was called Jalan Guru-Guru due to the many teachers living there. It is also near to the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin Jayo Wikramo Grand Mosque or better known as the Palembang Grand Mosque

The mosque was the primary worship building in the sultanate period, situated not far from the keraton (palace). Today the palace of the Sultanate of Palembang Darussalam has been turned into the Fort of Kuto Besak and the Museum of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Palembang.

Sharing knowledge

Andi’s interest in learning the Palembang language as well as maintaining the manuscripts is inseparable from the role of his father, Kemas Haji Ibrahim Umari. The younger of two siblings always noted what his father said. “Every word still unfamiliar to me I noted down. Now I’ve compiled a dictionary of Bebaso Palembang,” he said.

Bebaso Palembang is a more refined language than that spoken in daily conversations. Bebaso is spoken as a gesture of respect for the persons with whom one is conversing, such as parents, older people and respectable figures. In the past, Bebaso Palembang was even the requirement for a young man wishing to propose to a Palembang girl. “But now the tradition has been rarely found,” he said.

Several words that may seldom be heard by Palembang people are ayun nedo, which means wanting to eat, majeng dihaturi (please), wentelna (is/are), atawa (or), pangkeng (bedroom), leker (delicious) and lompok (house). “At present many people don’t know how to speak correct bebaso. Fortunately I’ve learned it,” said Andi.

His interest to study manuscripts was aroused when he learned Islamic culture at the State Islamic University, which was then named Raden Fatah State Islamic Institute Palembang. The cultural subject also has to do with philology, including manuscripts.

Now Andi is sharing his knowledge of bebaso with the younger generation. He becomes a local content teacher of the Palembang language at the Primary School Plus of Indo Global Mandiri (IGM) Palembang. Sadly, not many schools teach the Palembang language as a subject or local content.

For this reason, Andi stores some of his manuscripts at the Laboratory of Malay Manuscripts, Raden Fatah State Islamic University Palembang.

In his view, unless disseminated to the younger generation, Bebaso Palembang will be overwhelmed as time is progressing. For this reason, Andi stores some of his manuscripts at the Laboratory of Malay Manuscripts, Raden Fatah State Islamic University Palembang. In this way, they can be studied by students, including researchers interested in the old texts of the Sultanate of Palembang Darussalam.

Andi revealed that researchers from several countries had come to examine his manuscript collection. They came from Singapore, Malaysia, Holland and Japan, proving that the study of Palembang history has appealed to many scientists.

Andi in fact hopes that some circles are prepared to assist him in conserving the valuable manuscripts. So far the documents have only been conventionally maintained by putting camphor on the texts so as not to be damaged by termites, According to him, there are actually other better methods of maintenance.

He has observed the library in Malaysia where manuscripts are appropriately kept by laminating the texts and storing them in rooms at a certain temperature and with correct lighting. Despite his limited devices, Andi keeps striving hard to make the manuscripts available and beneficial to upcoming generations. For him, preserving the culture of Palembang is far more valuable than anything else.

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

Kemas Haji Andi Syarifuddin

Kemas H. Andi Syarifuddin

Born: Palembang, 26 May 1971

Wife: Christiana

Children: three

Education:

- State Primary School 70 Palembang

- Bakti Ibu Junior High School Palembang

- Bakti Ibu Senior High School Palembang

- Raden Fatah State Islamic Institute (1990)

Occupation:

- Teacher, Primary School Plus of Indo Global Mandiri Palembang

- Manager, Laboratory of Malay Manuscripts, Raden Fatah State Islamic University Palembang

- Executive and Imam, Palembang Grand Mosque

Awards:

- Naksatra Sriwijaya Cultural Award from Governor of South Sumatra

- Cultural Guardian of Palembang City

- National Library Award, Category of Old Manuscript Conservation