The constant Orientalist: Raffles and the religions of Java

2019

This symposium, held in conjunction with the exhibition Raffles in Southeast Asia: Revisiting the Scholar and Statesman, co-curated by the Asian Civilizations Museum and the British Museum, explores in greater depth the themes and topics presented in the show. Leading scholars based in Southeast Asia, international subject specialists, and museum curators will take a critical look at the life and work of Sir Stamford Raffles. The second panel is chaired by Peter Borschberg (NUS) and features papers by: Wayan Jarrah Sastrawan: Raffles’ The History of Java and the evolution of Javanese historiography Peter Cary: The first Singaporean: Raffles as man and myth Mimi Savitri: The cultural strategy of Raffles to control the Javanese in Solo Leonard Andaya The “Realm of the Straits (Negara Selat)” in the nineteenth century

Raffles Revisited: Essays on Collecting and Colonialism in Java, Sumatra and Singapore, 2021

This chapter on Raffles was published in Stephen A. Murphy (ed.), Raffles Revisited: Essays on Collecting and Colonialism in Java, Sumatra and Singapore (Singapore: Asian Civilisations Museum, 2021), pp.53-75. It grew out of a paper I presented at the Raffles' bicentennial (1819-2019) "Revisiting Raffles" symposium held at the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) in Singapore (8-9 March 2019) held in conjunction with the exhibition "Raffles in Southeast Asia: Revisiting the Scholar and Statesman" (1 February-28 April 2019) also at the ACM. A slightly modified Indonesian translation, "Orang Singapura Pertama: Raffles sebagai Manusia dan Mitos", was subsequently published in the volume edited by Farish A. Noor and myself entitled "Ras, Kuasa dan Kekerasan Kolonial di Hindia Belanda, 1808-1830" (Jakarta: Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia, 2022), pp.75-108. In this essay I look at Raffles from four perspectives: (1) his attitude towards violence, which Raffles carefully air-brushed out of the text of his published works, like his famous "The History of Java" (1817); (2) his plagiaristic tendencies when it came to his writings; (3) his often callous treatment of his colleagues and subordinates during his years in Java (1811-1816) and Bencoolen (Bengkulu) (1818-24); and (4) the impact of his administration on Javanese society and his contribution to the socio-economic crisis which preceded the Java War (1825-30) in south-central Java. I conclude by considering the lessons which might be learnt, particularly by Singaporeans, from Raffles' recent February-April 2019 bicentennial celebrations.

Journal Article, 2020

The Naskah Kitab Hukum manuscript issued by Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1814 is one of the important manuscripts in the history of a judicial system in Indonesia. The manuscript was published because Raffles, upon his early days of duty, noticed that the existing judicial system in Java was complicated and confusing, constituted in the formalities of the Roman law. This article presents a study of how the Naskah Kitab Hukum became a means of social engineering of the inhabitants of Java through at least three ways: (1) legislation process before the issuing of regulation, (2) accommodating the social cohesion of Java inhabitants into the regulation and (3) domestication of English legal terms which were not familiar to the Java inhabitants.

KEMANUSIAAN The Asian Journal of Humanities

The Naskah Kitab Hukum manuscript issued by Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1814 is one of the important manuscripts in the history of a judicial system in Indonesia. The manuscript was published because Raffles, upon his early days of duty, noticed that the existing judicial system in Java was complicated and confusing, constituted in the formalities of the Roman law. This article presents a study of how the Naskah Kitab Hukum became a means of social engineering of the inhabitants of Java through at least three ways: (1) legislation process before the issuing of regulation, (2) accommodating the social cohesion of Java inhabitants into the regulation and (3) domestication of English legal terms which were not familiar to the Java inhabitants.

2016

Had Raffles not been around another man would have done the job (in Singapore)". These were the belligerent words of Syed Alatas, who wrote a highly critical manuscript questioning the wisdom of colonial biographers who had exceeding praise for Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles' achievements, most notably, his founding of modern Singapore in 1819. 1 Since then, Raffles' legacy had come under heightened scrutiny as historians uncovered more skeletons from his closet, eroding the heroic caricature countless writers and biographers have concocted for him. 2 Nonetheless, perhaps in their haste to deconstruct a fallen idol of British colonialism, few have ventured to consider if Raffles did not still leave a lasting impact on the settlement which he had founded, specifically, the fate of Malay rulers whom he was responsible for installing in power. The fortunes of Sultan Hussein Shah and his Temenggong, I will argue, were tied inextricably to Raffles, his plans for Singapore as envisaged to rival Dutch predominance in the Malay Archipelago and later, the epilogue of his imperial career. Raffles dictated the shortlived ascendancy and decline of the Johor-Riau Sultanate and, by extension, sealed the miserable fate of a fledgling Malay community through his coloured understandings of Malayness, Islam and civilisation. His thoughts, modalities and stereotypes, disconcerting as they may be to our modern sensibilities, warrant closer scrutiny if we are to more keenly appreciate how the advent of colonialism changed the Malay realm in Singapore forever. We should not write off Raffles just yet.

RAFFLES REVISITED: ESSAYS IN COLLECTING AND COLONIALISM IN JAVA, SINGAPORE, AND SUMATRA, 2022

From 15 January to 1 March 2015 Singaporean artist Jimmy Ong staged the solo exhibition {The History of Java} at FOST Gallery, Singapore. The show consisted of five large-scale, figurative charcoal drawings – a signature medium for the artist. All but one of them dealt in some shape or form with the figure of Stamford Raffles. Through these works Ong delved deep into the histories of both Singapore and Java, re-imagining and reinterpreting a variety of scenes and settings, often blurring the boundaries between the historical and the fictional. This show was a culmination of many years of similar artistic encounters. Ong had been interweaving historical and narrative aspects into his work from at least 2000. This process also governed his next exhibition at FOST Gallery, From Bukit Larangan to Borobudur: Recent Drawings by Jimmy Ong 2000–2015 (14 May–26 June 2016), which was organised in conjunction with the launch of the book of the same name. It displayed selected works in private collections, some which had never before been seen in a public exhibition. Raffles appears in a number of these works, with Ong often using him as an avatar to explore both the historic and the personal. This allows him to inhabit and subvert both conventional portrayals and the historical space and time of this colonial figure.4 In doing so, Ong re-imagines, re-presents, and undermines received ideas about Raffles and, by extension, British colonialism, in ways that are more personal but perhaps also more powerful than text-based postcolonial critiques often do. This paper explores this, and Ong’s practice in general, by looking at selected works from his career spanning 2000 to 2019. Purchase full book here Print version: https://readabook.store/products/9789811816680 Ebook: https://readabook.store/products/9789811839856

2003

This article examines the development of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles' discourse on Islam as practised by the Malays. It is argued that this discourse shifted from admiration of Islam to the belief that it had brought detriment to the Malay World. Such a shift in discursive strategy, which denies the importance of Islam in the Malay World, was necessary due to several reasons. By denying the importance and contribution of Islam, Raffles and his compatriots left the Malay World open as potential missionary and colonisable territory.

Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 1987