Mereka Utusan: Imprinting Malay Modernity, 1920s-1960s

Exhibition Catalogue

Three booklets in one pack

Bilingual: English and Malay

Featuring colour reproductions of ads, magazine covers and photographs

Merdeka Utusan presents insights into the development of Malay modernity and identity through the language of advertisements and editorial cartoons produced during the 1920s-1960s. Through these features, Malay modernity and identity were simultaneously imagined and discussed in colonial Malaya and Singapore amidst important historical developments in the 20th century.

The 1920s witnessed the growth of Malay publishing houses throughout the Straits Settlements. Whilst the history of Malay printing is intertwined with the production of religious texts, the 20th century saw publishing play a more central role in politics, commerce and entertainment within the Straits Settlements and the Malay peninsula.

Newspapers and magazines therefore created (mereka) a space for the coverage and development of such news items. In doing so, they sought to cultivate a modern generation of readers, writers and consumers. 

Comprising:

Age of Reform Booklet

Essay 1: The Sputnik Age

Essay 2: Qalam and Other Malay Publications in the Jawi Script

Kebun Bahasa Booklet - Language and Identity Booklet

Essay 1: Madness and Modernity in Malay Publishing

Essay 2: For the Present and the Future: the Form and Content of Malay Editorial Cartoons in Malaya and Singapore (1930s-1960s)

The Responsive Consumer Booklet

Royal Times: In Conversation with Abdul Aziz bin Abu Talib