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 Proceeding of Workshop on High Impact Journal Writing and Publishing 2016

Table of Contents
EVALUATING STUDENT TEACHERS’ EFFICACY 2-10
SNM Syed-Omar, Zailani Jusoh
STRESS AMONG YEAR SIX TEACHERS IN SELECTED SCHOOLS IN MALAYSIA 11-17
Normah Yusof, Nor Azdalina Adam @ Deraman, Rozimah Yusof
COMPUTER PHOBIA AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES 18-26
Kamariah Yunus, Wahidah Abd Wahid, SNM Syed-Omar
DEVELOPING MICRO TAKAFUL FLOOD MODEL IN MALAYSIA – ITS 27-37
RELEVANCE AND IMPACT ON POLICY
Wan Norhayate Wan Daud, Fakhrul Anwar Zainol, Fauzilah Salleh, Ahmad Shukri Yazid,
Ahmad Zawawi Jamal
AN ANALYSIS OF STEREOTYPE AND AGENDA SETTING THEORIES IN THE 38-54
PORTRAYAL OF MUSLIMS IN THE KINGDOM
Mohd Nazri Latiff Azmi, Mohd Nawaf Ab. Rahman @ Nawawi, Nurazan Mohmad Rouyan,
Radzuwan Ab. Rashid
MALAY TRANSLATION OF CULTURAL ELEMENTS IN THE ARABIC DRAMA 55-71
‘SHAHRAZAD’
Noor Eliza Abdul Rahman, Nurazan Mohmad Rouyan
TOURIST GUIDE: ROLES, CHALLENGES AND CONTRIBUTIONS AS A 72-83
COUNTRY’S AMBASSADOR
Ahmad Taufik Hidayah Abdullah
THE POWER OF WORDS: IMPACT ON YOUNG MUSLIM READERS 84-91
Zanirah Binti Wahab
SEARCHING FOR AN APPROPRIATE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: A 92-98
NARRATIVE OF PERSONAL JOURNEY
Radzuwan Ab Rashid
NUSANTARA AND THE MALAY WORLD: THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN INDIGENOUS 99-110
MARITIME BORDERS
Mohamed Anwar Omar Din, Mahani Mohamad
BAURAN SATIRA DALAM PAK PANDIR MODEN 111-130
Mohd Faradi Rohani, Mohd Fairuz Mohd Padoli
KEAGUNGAN FILEM P.RAMLEE DI MALAYSIA: PERSPEKTIF ANTARA 131-140
GENERASI
Nor Hafizah bt Abdullah
IMPLIKATUR DARI ASPEK KATA-KATA DAN UNGKAPAN KIASAN DALAM 141-157
FILEM PUTERI GUNUNG LEDANG
Sharipah Nur Mursalina Syed Azmy
LEKSIKOGRAFI MELAYU: MENYOROTI SEJARAH 158-164
Nazilah Mohamad
FAKTOR KEAGAMAAN DAN SIKAP DALAM PENCARIAN MAKLUMAT PRODUK 165-173
MAKANAN HALAL DALAM KALANGAN KELUARGA ISLAM
Siti Zanariah Haji Yusoff
ISU KEBOLEHBACAAN TEKS BAHASA ARAB DI MALAYSIA KEPERLUAN DAN 174-179
PENGUKURAN
Zulazhan Ab. Halim, Mohd Hazli Yah@Alias, Mohd Ala’uddin Othman, Shuhaida Hanim
Mohamad Suhane , Abdul Wahid Salleh
QISSAH DALAM AL-QURAN DAN PEMANIPULASIANNYA DALAM KARYA 180-192
SASTERA ARAB
Mohd Shahrizal Nasir, Mohd Firdaus Yahaya, Mohd Fauzi Abdul Hamid

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EVALUATING STUDENT TEACHERS’ EFFICACY

*1
SNM Syed-Omar, 2Zailani Jusoh
Centre of English Language Studies, Faculty of Languages and Communication
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus, 21300 Kuala Nerus,
Terengganu, Malaysia
*Corresponding author: [email protected]

ABSTRACT
This paper which was based on a research, was to determine student teachers’ sense of self-efficacy belief
with specific reference to the aspects of student engagement, instructional strategies and classroom
management. A survey was conducted using Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) to measure teachers’
self-efficacy. The respondents were 96 final-year Diploma in TESL students in a public higher learning
institution in Malaysia. The findings indicated that students have high sense of efficacy in all aspects. In
addition, when correlation between efficacy and academic performance was investigated, the study found no
correlation between the two variables exists. It can be concluded that student teachers think highly of their
teaching ability and skills implying that they had been well exposed to the different pedagogical subjects
offered during their programme.

Keywords: Teacher sense of self-efficacy, student teachers, TESL

1.0 Introduction
The quality of teachers matters especially in the quest of meeting the demand of those in the
authorities and the public so that our schoolchildren will be afforded with the best quality of
education. Numerous studies on teacher quality have indicated that students’ high performance is
associated with qualities of teachers (Darling-Hammond and Youngs, 2002; Rice, 2003; Wayne and
Youngs,2003). In fact, teacher quality is the most important and powerful factor that impacted a
student’s academic performance (Owings et. al., 2006). It is also noted by other researchers that the
influence of a high quality teachers are associated with improved adult outcomes such as getting
higher income, increasing college attendance and decreasing teenage pregnancy (Chetty, Friedman
& Rockoff, 2014). Recognising the importance of teacher quality, it is therefore the responsibility of
a teacher training institution to equip student teachers to become highly effective teachers. High
quality teachers, according to Knoblaich and Hoy (2008) are those who not only have content and
pedagogical knowledge but also the belief in their ability to execute the course of action required to
successfully accomplish a specific task in a particular context. This belief is known as “teacher self-
efficacy belief” (Tschannen-Moran et. al.,1998).
Self-efficacy refers to the beliefs about one’s capabilities to learn or perform behaviours at designated
levels (Bandura 1997) and is said to have a measure of control over individual’s thoughts, feelings
and actions. Self-efficacy has been applied in educational settings whereby the influence that self-
efficacy has on motivation, learning and academic achievement has been investigated and reported
(Pajares and Miller 1994). Accordng to Bandura (1986, 1997) human achievement depends on
interactions between one’s behaviours, personal factors and environmental conditions. The behaviour
of an individual depends largely on early experiences of an environmental condition. The
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environment that stimulates curiosity will help build self-efficacy. This enhances the cognitive and
affective structures of the individual which include his ability to sympathise, learn from others, plan
alternative strategies and regulate his own behavior and engage in self-reflection (self-efficacy)
(Mahyuddin, Elias, Cheong, Muhamad, Noordin & Abdullah 2006).
Various studies previously done by educational researchers have shown that there is a relationship
between teaching efficacy and students’ academic performance. Brouwers and Tomic (2000) reveal
that teacher’s self-efficacy beliefs have been correlated with decreased burnout. Other studies
indicated that teacher’s self-efficacy beliefs increased job satisfaction and commitment to teaching
(Caprara et.al., 2003; Coladarci 1992). Ross (1998) reviewed teacher efficacy studies and highlighted
that teacher self-efficacy beliefs influence other behaviours such as likeliness to learn and use new
approaches and strategies for teaching, use management techniques that enhance student autonomy
and reduce student control, provide special assistance to low achieving students, build students’ self-
perceptions of their academic skills, set attainable goals, and persist in the face of student failure.
Thus this indicates that teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs affect their behaviours. It is the realization of
this relationship between individual beliefs and subsequent behaviors that prompted researchers’
interest in self-efficacy especially in the student teachers’ sense of self-efficacy beliefs. Knowledge
on the teachers’ beliefs about their own effectiveness can shed some light on how to prepare them to
face the challenges in a complex and ambiguous situations. Furthermore, this information will help
in improving teacher training programs which according to Bjorklund-Young (2016) “remains a
critical area for detail study and innovation.” (p.1).
In the preparation of student teachers, it is generally accepted that the most beneficial component is
the teaching practicum (Borko & Mayfield 1995). Educators consider teaching practicum to be an
important, highly valued experience. It is "critical to the development of preservice teachers'
pedagogical skills" (Richardson-Koehler, 1988, p. 22). Pendergast et. al., (2011) indicated that
during this time the student teachers undergo an ‘apprenticeship of learning’ which exposed them to
the real teaching situation. Thus the investigation of the development of teacher self-efficacy in
prospective teachers’ education is crucial because teacher self-efficacy is an important motivational
construct that shapes teacher effectiveness in the classroom. Teachers with a high level of teacher
self-efficacy have been shown to be more resilient in their teaching and likely to try harder to help
all students to reach their potential. In contrast, teachers with a low level of teacher self-efficacy have
been found to be less likely to try harder to reach the learning needs of all their students. Therefore,
high self-efficacy is important to make sure that teachers do an excellent job in educating students.

Furthermore, it is during this teaching practicum too that students develop a positive or a negative
attitude towards teaching as a career which also indicates that teaching practice can have both positive
and negative influences. For example, poorly chosen placements result in feelings of inadequacy, low
teacher efficacy and an unfavourable attitude towards teaching (Fallin & Royse 2000) whereas
extensive and well-planned field experiences can help student teachers develop confidence, self-
esteem and an enhanced awareness of the teaching profession. “Student teachers’ beliefs and self-
judgments in their teaching capacities before starting service could reflect on their actual teaching
performance after they start serving” (Sivri & Balcı 2015). Thus knowing their efficacy beliefs during

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the formative years in the profession can enable the teacher training institution help develop student
teachers’ self-efficacy and assist them in becoming a quality teacher.
Many factors such as mastery learning and vicarious experience influence the development of self-
efficacy of student teachers. These influences which may have positive or negative impact on self-
efficacy of student teachers have been found to be context specific. Based on this that present study
sought to determine the teacher self-efficacy beliefs and the association between self-efficacy and
academic achievement of Diploma in TESL students studying at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin
prior to their teaching practicum.

2.0 Methodology
2.1 Respondents
Final semester students enrolling in Diploma in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL)
programme in UniSZA were invited to participate in this study. Out of a total of 99 students, 96
volunteered to be involved. The students were about to go for their 12 week teaching practicum stint
in school as part of the program requirement. The questionnaire was distributed to the students during
a special briefing session regarding their school attachment a day before they were supposed to go
for a teaching practice at primary schools nearby. Table 1 below describes the demographic
background of the respondents. Majority of the students in this programme are female. In terms of
academic standing, majority of the respondents (83.3%) scored 3.1 and above.
Table 1: Demographic information of the respondents

N %
Gender
Male 5 5.2
Female 65 65.7
Missing 26 27.1

Academic achievement
Good (3.5 and above) 25 26
Average (3.0 – 3.49) 55 57.3
Poor (2.9 below) 3 3.2
Missing 13 13.5

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2.2 Instrumentation
The Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES)
TSES (Tschannen-Moran, & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) is a self-reported questionnaire designed to
measure efficacy among teachers at various levels. The instrument which consists of 24 items is
answered on a 9 point Likert scale response ranging from 1 (nothing) to 9 (a great deal). It is divided
into three subscales: efficacy for classroom management (8 items), efficacy for instructional
strategies (8 items) and efficacy for student engagement (8 items). The instrument was used in its
entirety with slight modifications to the wording of some items. The procedure suggested by the
authors in administering and scoring the instrument was adhered to.

2.3 Data Analysis

As the study is interested in exploring student teachers’ belief with respect to the teaching tasks,
descriptive analysis and inferential statistics were performed using SPSS version 20.0. Means and
standard deviation of each item was calculated to measure students’ efficacy. In addition, correlation
coefficient was also calculated.
3.0 Results and discussion
3.1 Reliability of the instrument
Reliability coefficient for the instrument was measured for individual sub construct to examine its
internal consistency. Table 2 below lists the sub constructs with their corresponding alpha values
which ranged from .867 to .886. The TSES inventory was found to be highly reliable (α = .940)
Table 2: reliability coefficient for the instrument
Sub Construct No of items Cronbach’s alpha
Efficacy for student engagement 8 0.867
Efficacy for instructional strategies 8 0.886
Efficacy for Classroom management 8 0.869
Total efficacy 24 0.940

According to Pallant (2007), alpha coefficient of .70 and above is considered good which means that
the instrument is a reliable instrument for the observed data.
3.2 Research question 1: Descriptive analysis of teacher efficacy
In answering research question 1, descriptive analysis was performed. The mean and standard
deviation for each item was measured.
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Table 3: Descriptive statistics for Efficacy for instructional strategies

Question Mean SD

1. How much can you do to adjust your lessons to the

5.64 1.13
proper level for individual students?
2. How much can you gauge student comprehension of
5.45 1.15
what you have taught?
3. How much can you use a variety of assessment
5.69 1.29
strategies?
4. How well can you respond to difficult questions from
5.39 1.23
your students?
5. How well can you implement alternative strategies in
5.80 1.24
your classroom?
6. How well can you provide appropriate challenges for
5.79 1.31
very capable students?
7. To what extent can you design good questions for your
5.66 1.18
students?
8. To what extent can you provide an alternative
5.93 1.14
explanation or example when students are confused?

Table 3 above presents the findings obtained on the efficacy for instructional strategies. From the 8
items listed, the mean scores ranged from 5.45 to 5.93. The student teachers reported lowest efficacy
on item “How well can you respond to difficult questions from your students?” while the item that
had highest mean score was “To what extent can you provide an alternative explanation or example
when students are confused?”.
Table 4: Descriptive statistics for Efficacy for student engagement
Question Mean SD

1. How much can you do to handle the most difficult

5.14 1.17
students?
2. How much can you do to help your students think
5.39 1.30
critically?
3. How much can you do to motivate students who
5.75 1.37
show low interest in school?
4. How much can you do to get students to believe
6.11 1.36
they can do well in school work?
5. How much can you do to help your students
5.75 1.22
appreciate learning?
6. How much can you do to encourage student
5.76 1.44
creativity?
7. How much can you do to improve the
5.68 1.19
understanding of a student who is failing?
8. How much can you assist families in helping their
5.19 1.11
children do well in school?

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Table 4 shows results for Efficacy for student engagement. Item asking about students teachers’
ability to handle difficult students was reported to have the lowest score (M= 5.14, SD= 1.17) while
the student teachers reported very high efficacy level for item “How much can you do to get students
to believe they can do well in school work?” (M= 6.11, SD= 1.36).
Table 5: Descriptive statistics for Efficacy for Classroom management
Question Mean SD

1. How much can you do to control disruptive

5.37 1.34
behavior in the classroom?
2. How much can you do to get children to
6.35 1.31
follow classroom rules?
3. How much can you do to calm a student who
5.48 1.17
is disruptive or noisy?
4. How well can you establish routines to keep
5.69 1.15
activities running smoothly?
5. How well can you establish a classroom
management system with each group of 5.60 1.19
students?
6. How well can you keep a few problem
5.60 1.18
students form ruining an entire lesson?
7. How well can you respond to uncooperative
5.72 1.18
students?
8. To what extent can you make your
5.70 1.22
expectations clear about student behavior?

Table 5 presents the findings for Efficacy for Classroom management. Out of 8 items, item with the
lowest mean was “How much can you do to control disruptive behavior in the classroom?” which
reported the mean of 5.37 while item regarding getting children to follow classroom rules had the
highest mean score (M= 6.35, SD= 1.31)
Table 6: Descriptive statistics based on sub construct
Construct Mean SD
Overall efficacy 5.65 .80
Efficacy for student engagement 5.60 .90
Efficacy for instructional strategies 5.67 .90
Efficacy for Classroom management 5.69 .87

The mean scores were also calculated based on individual construct to investigate efficacy which is
shown in table 6. The results indicated that efficacy was almost the same for all subscales, in the
range of 5.60 to 5.69. This suggests that student teachers were equally confident in all pedagogical
aspects.

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3.3 Research question 2: Correlation between academic performance and efficacy

The second research question investigated the relationship between academic performance and
efficacy scores. Table 7 below presents the results of the analysis
Table 7: Correlations between academic performance and efficacy
CGPA Efficacy
Pearson Correlation 1 .157
CGPA Sig. (2-tailed) .156
N 83 83
Pearson Correlation .157 1
Efficacy Sig. (2-tailed) .156
N 83 96

It was found that there was a nonsignificant correlation of .157 (p= n.s) between teacher efficacy and
academic performance.
4.0 Conclusions
The TSES was used to measure sense of efficacy among student teachers who were about to undergo
their 12 week teaching practicum. The outcome of the analysis shows that the student teachers
reported having high sense of efficacy in all aspects namely efficacy for classroom management. The
finding concurs with those obtained in other similar studies (Bakar, Konting, Jamian, & Lyndon,
2008; Bakar, Mohamed & Zakaria, 2012) whereby student teachers feel highly confident of
themselves in terms of teaching.
One possible explanation for this outcome is due to the fact that the programme has a number of
pedagogical subjects to equip student teachers with proper knowledge on teaching tasks.
Additionally, as Narang (1990) and Rothenberg et al (1993) posited, new teachers had the tendency
to be overconfident of their teaching skills before they embarked on their teaching career.
When relationship between academic achievement and efficacy was investigated, the results showed
that the two variables are not significantly related. This contradicts with what other studies have
reported. For example, Bakar, Mohamed & Zakaria (2012) reported that the more academically
successful the students are, the more confident they are in their ability to teach and vice versa.
Nonetheless the results should be viewed in lights of its limitations. The study was conducted before
the student teachers started their teaching practicum. Thus, what they believe about what they can
do may not be the same as what they actually could do. Their perception could differ if the study is
conducted after they have undergone the teaching practicum.
Having discussed the above limitations, we therefore would like to recommend the following. Firstly,
studies need to be conducted using bigger sample size to ensure better and reliable results. Another
recommendation is, studies should also be conducted after they have undergone the teaching
practicum to see whether the time spent in school has actually changed their beliefs.
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References
Bakar, A., Konting, M., Jamian, R., & Lyndon, N. (2008). Teaching Efficacy Of Universiti Putra
Malaysia Science Student Teachers. College Student Journal 42.2 493-509.
Bakar, A., Mohamed, S., & Zakaria, N. (2012). They are trained to teach, but how confident are they?
A Study of student teachers’ sense of efficacy. Journal of Social Sciences, 8(4), 497-504.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thoughts and action: A social cognitive theory.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W. H. Freeman.
Bjorklund-Young, A. (2016). Teacher Efficacy and the national Board for Professional
Teaching Standards: Human Capital or Program Effects?. Retrieved from
http://education. jhu.edu/edpolicy/commentary/teacherEfficacy_2_9
Borko, H. & Mayfield, V. (1995). The roles of the cooperating teacher and university in
learning to teach. Teaching and Teacher Education, (11); 501-518.
Brouwers, A., & Tomics (2000). A longitudinal study of teacher burnout and perceived
self-efficacy in classroom management. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16, 239-253.
Caprara, G.V., Barbaranelli, C., Borgogni, L. & Steca, P., (2003). Efficacy beliefs as
determinants of teachers’ job satisfaction. Journal of Educational Psychology,
95:821-832.
Chetty, R., Friedman, J.N., & Rockoff, J.E.(2014). Measuring the impacts of teachers II:
Teacher value-added and student outcomes in adulthood. American Economic
Review, 104(9): 2633-79.
Coladarci, T. (1992). Teachers' sense of efficacy and commitment to teaching. Journal of
Experential Education 60: 23-337
Darling-Hammond, L &Youngs, P. (2002). Defining "highly qualified teachers”: What does
"scientifically-based research" actually tell us? Educ. Res.,31:13-25.
DOI:10.31020013189X031009013
Fallin, J. & Royse, D. (2000). Student teaching: the keystone experience. Music
Educators Journal, 87(3): 19-22.
Knoblauch, D., & Hoy, A. W. (2008). “Maybe I can teach those kids”. The influence of
contextual factors on student teachers’ efficacy beliefs. Teaching and Teacher
Education. 24 (1) 166-179.
Mahyuddin, R., Elias, H., Cheong, L.S., Muhamad, M. F., Noordin, N. & Abdullah, M.
C. (2006). The relationship between students’ self efficacy and their English
language achievement. Jurnal Pendidik dan Pendidikan, 21, 61 – 71.
Narang, H. L. (1990). Beginning teachers’ perception of their proficiency in teaching
skills. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 328515).
Owings W.A., Kaplan, L., Nunnery, J., Marzano, R & Myran, S. (2006). Teacher Quality
and Troops to Teachers: A national study with implications
for principals. NASSP Bull., 90: 102-131. DOI:10.1177/0192636506289023
Pajares, F. & Mille, M.D. (1994). Role of self-efficacy and self-concept beliefs and
mathematical problem solving: a path analysis. Journal of Education
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Psychology, 86(2):193-203
Pallant, J. (2007). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis
using SPSS for Windows.
Pendergast, D., Garris, S., Keogh, J. (2011). Pre-service student-teachers self
efficacy beliefs. An insight into the making of teachers. Australian
Journal of Teacher Education, 36 (12).
Rice, J.K. (2003). Teacher Quality: Understanding the Effectiveness of Teacher
Attributes. 1st. Ed. Economic Policy Institute, Washington, DC., ISBN-10:
1932066063, pp:64.
Richardson-Koehler, V. (1988). Barriers to effective supervision of student teaching: a few
studies. Journal of Teacher Education, 39(2), 28 -34.
Ross , J.A. (1998). The antecedents and consequences of teacher efficacy. In
J.Brophy (Ed.), Advances in research on teaching. Greenwich, CT: JAI
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Rothenberg, J., McDermott, P., & Kathleen, A. (1993). A comparison of student
teachers and supervisors perceptions of student teaching. Journal of
Education for Teaching, 19(2), 273-277.
Sivri, H & Balcı, E. (2015). Pre-service Teachers’ Classroom Management
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Tschannen-Moran, M., Woolfolk-Hoy, A. & Hoy, W. (1998).Teacher efficacy: Its

meaning and measures. Educational Research and Reviews, 68: 202-248.
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a review. Educational Research and Reviews. 73:89-122.
DOI:10.3102/00346543073002089

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STRESS AMONG YEAR SIX TEACHERS IN SELECTED SCHOOLS IN MALAYSIA

* ¹Normah Yusof, ²Nor Azdalina Adam @ Deraman, ³Rozimah Yusof

Centre of English Language Studies, Faculty of Languages and Communication
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus, 21300 Kuala Nerus,
Terengganu, Malaysia
³Faculty of Design Arts and Engineering Technology, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA),
Gong Badak Campus, 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
*Corresponding author: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Teaching profession requires teachers to be mentally and physically strong to deal with challenging situations
at schools. Those who could not cope with the situations tend to experience stress. Continuous stress will likely
weaken teachers, mentally and physically. The aim of the study is to measure the level of stress among Year
Six teachers. 65 Year Six teachers from 15 selected schools in Hulu Terengganu, Terengganu were chosen for
this study. A quantitative research design that employs a survey method was used. The teachers were given
Teacher’s Stress Inventory by Boyle et al. (1995). The data were analyzed using SPSS 17.0. The results of the
study revealed that the teachers experienced a moderate level of stress with workload being its dominant factor.
The demographic differences in terms of gender, marital status, academic qualification, age and teaching
experience showed no significant difference in relation to these teachers’ level of stress. However, there is a
significant difference in teaching workloads of the teachers in relation to stress levels. There was also a strong,
negative correlation between teachers’ level of stress and their students’ academic performances. It is
suggested that effective stress management programmes be conducted to curb the problem of stress among
teachers. Future research should be carried out to identify the level of stress of Year Six teachers in other parts
of Terengganu.

Keywords: Level of stress, Teacher’s Stress Inventory, Year Six teachers, academic performance.

1.0 Introduction

Teaching has now become a very demanding occupation with a lot of responsibilities to take. Today's
teachers have to carry out not only teaching but also matters associated with curriculum, students and
parents (Smylie ,1999). Thus, teaching profession requires teachers to be mentally and physically
strong. Those who could not cope with the situation tend to experience stress.

Continuous stress, according to Kyriacou (1987) will likely weaken teachers, mentally and
physically. In Malaysia, concerns about teachers’ stress levels have gained increased attention.
According to a survey carried out by National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) on 9,000
teaching staff across Malaysia in 2005, 67% of them suffered from stress.

The stress phenomena among teachers is not a simple issue. The increased level of stress in the
teaching profession will affect teachers’ performances and consequently will affect their students.
Hence, measuring teacher stress is important and can play an important role in understanding the
causes that lead to this problem.
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2.0 Literature review

Teacher stress has been a topic of interest in educational research for many years. Studies have
reported high levels of stress in school teachers (e.g., Cox & Brockley, 1984; Farber, 1984b, 1991;
Gold and Roth, 1993). Although the literature is filled with research findings on teacher stress (e.g.,
Kyriacou, 1987; Hart, Wearing & Conn, 1995; Boyle, Borg, Falzon & Baglioni, 1995), research work
investigating stress among Terengganu teachers is scarce. The findings of the study reported here
would provide useful baseline data for teachers and administrators who need objective information
concerning conditions that are likely to be correlated with teacher stress. With these data, schools
may be able to avoid those circumstances that create stress, or when stressful conditions are
unavoidable, to develop strategies to mitigate the stressors.

A number of studies have reported the existence of stress among teachers (e.g., Blase, 1986; Burke
& Greenglass, 1993; O'Connor & Clark, 1990; Pithers & Fogarty, 1995). These conditions affect the
overall performance of teachers (e.g., Blase, 1986; Kyriacou & Sutcliffe, 1977) and, thus,
consequences of teacher stress are relevant to parents, school administrators, as well as to teachers
themselves (Farber, 1984b). Stress, especially excess and/or unproductive levels of stress (i.e.,
distress), can cause teachers to become ineffective and inefficient in their teaching roles (Eskridge &
Coker, 1985; Farber, 1984a).

There is growing evidence that some demographic variables are correlated with findings of teacher
stress. These variables include location, gender, marital status, educational background, additional
responsibility, age, years of teaching experience and class size. However, such findings have been
inconsistent (Schawab, Jackson & Schuler, 1986

The definition of stress is one that is rather complex to explain. It has been defined in different ways.
Among the most commonly used definition of stress is that by Schuler (1978) that is :
“Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, constraint
or demand related to what he or she desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both
uncertain and important.”

Another definition of stress as given by Smither (1994) is that stress is a physiological and
psychological response to the demands. This occurs when an individual feels that he or she is
responsible to fulfill the demand or expectation made on him or her. When this demand or expectation
cannot be fulfilled, the individual will start to feel stress.

Although most people often assume that stress is a bad thing, this is actually not true at all. A certain
amount of stress in our lives is normal and even considered to be healthy, but once this stress begins
to take control of your life or you feel as though you are becoming a different person, this is when
stress becomes unhealthy and even dangerous (Hammond, Ormond and Onikama, Denise, 1996)

This paper reports the findings of a study that investigated teacher stress among sixty-five Year 6
primary school teachers in Hulu Terengganu, Terengganu. The purposes of this study were to

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measure the stress level of Year 6 primary school teachers in the district of Hulu Terengganu, and to
investigate whether particular demographic variables were related to reported level of stress.

Terengganu has shown excellent performances in the Primary School Assessment Test (UPSR)
examination for the last fifteen years. This UPSR has been the benchmark for the school
performances. On top of that, Hulu Terengganu has been announced as the best district in Terengganu
in 2010 and again in 2015 UPSR achievement. Hence, it would seem appropriate to carry out a
research on them, to measure their stress level and whether particular demographic variables were
related to their level of stress.

3.0 Method

This research was conducted using a survey method that polled Year 6 teachers in selected primary
schools in Hulu Terengganu, Terengganu. These teachers were asked to respond to a research
instrument that is Teacher’s Stress Inventory by Boyle et.al (1995).

3.1 Sampling and participants

The population investigated in this study consisted of all Year 6 primary school teachers from 48
primary schools in the Hulu Terengganu district. These schools are then divided into three groups
according to their 2013 UPSR performances, that are the high achievement, moderate achievement
and low achievement schools. The list of the schools with their UPSR achievements was given by
the District Education Department. Five schools from each group are randomly selected for this study.
Altogether, there are 15 schools involved.

The total sample size consisted of 65 teachers from 15 primary schools. All teachers teaching UPSR
subjects in the 15 schools were taken as the respondents of this study. A total of 65 questionnaires
were distributed and a 100% response rate was obtained.

3.2 Instrument

Teacher’s Stress Inventory, developed by Boyle et.al (1995), modified by Mazlan (2002) and Woo
Sew Fun (2008) to suit Malaysian school context was the instrument used to examine the level of
stress among primary school teachers. The Teacher’s Stress Inventory has been employed as a key
instrument in numerous studies. The instrument has two sections, Section A and Section B.

Section A gathers respondents demographic features. It consists of six questions. In this section, the
respondents have to tick the appropriate boxes that represent their gender, age, marital status,
academic qualification, teaching experiences as well as teaching workloads.

Section B collects information on teacher’s level of stress. It comprises 20 questions in which the
respondents were askd to rate how stressful they found each item based on 5-point Likert Scale.

3.3 Data collection

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Permission was obtained from the Terengganu State Education Department (JPNT) to conduct this
study with their primary school teachers. Next, the researcher conducted a pilot study to ensure the
consistency and accuracy of the survey instrument. The questionnaires were pilot tested to 20
respondents from three schools in the district, selected to represent the population in terms of the
school’s performance in 2013 UPSR as outlined in the sample selection. Cronbach Alpha value of
0.95 was obtained. Nunnaly (1978) indicated the alpha value of 0.7 to be an acceptable reliability
coefficient. Hence, the instrument developed can be accepted and used in the actual survey.

Subsequently, the researcher visited the schools within two weeks with the permission of the
headmaster of the schools involved to conduct the study. The self-administered questionnaires were
distributed to the teachers in the selected schools either by the researcher herself or by the senior
officers of the respective schools. Teachers were given two days to complete the questionnaire which
then were collected by the researcher personally. The response rate was 100%.

Data collected from the survey were entered into a computer file for analysis using SPSS 17.0 for
Windows. Both descriptive and inferential statics were used in analyzing the data of this study.
Inferential statistics were used to investigate the demographic differences in relation to stress levels.

In order to find the level of stress among the respondents, the mean value of the scores from Section
B of the questionnaire was calculated. This value was then referred to the table below to determine
the level of stress of the teachers.

Categorization of Teacher Stress Level According to Mean Score

________________________________________________________
Mean Score Stress Level
1.00 to 2.33 Low
2.34 to 3.66 Moderate
3.67 to 5.00 High
(Source: Woo Sew Fun, 2008)

4.0 Data analysis

4.1 Demographic background of the respondents

The majority of the respondents (n=43, 66.2%) are females. Forty-five (33.8%) participants are
males. As for the age group, the majority of the participants were 33 years old and above (84.6%).
98.5% of the respondents have at least 4 years of teaching experience. As for teaching workloads, the
majority of the respondents have more than 20 periods of teaching in a week (90.8%).

4.2 Level of stress among teachers

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The level of stress among Year 6 teachers in this study is measured using Section B questions of the
instrument. Altogether, there are 20 questions presented in this section which list out the conditions
experienced by the respondents. The respondents were asked to rate how stressful they found each
item based on the 5-point Likert Scale.

A statistical calculation is done to find the frequency, percentage and mean score for this section.
Almost all of the item means in Section B were greater than 2.0 except for item 8, “I take medicine
to reduce anxiety and fear caused by work” (1.62). Item 5, “ I feel very tired, spiritually, emotionally
and physically after work”, scored the highest mean (3.09). The total mean score for Section B of the
questionnaire is 2.44 which falls into moderate level of stress category. Hence, the level of stress
among Year 6 teachers in selected schools in Hulu Terengganu is moderate.

4.3 Demographic differences in relation to teachers’ stress levels

There are six demographic characteristics investigated in this study – gender, marital status, academic
qualification, teaching workloads, age and teaching experiences. The results show that there were no
significant differences in the level of stress for all the demographic characteristics examined except
for the teaching workloads. The finding suggested that teachers with more than 20 periods of
teaching, experienced more stress. As for gender differences, the finding in this study is consistent
with Martocchio and O’Leary (2003) who observed that gender characteristic has no effect on the
level of stress.

In terms of marital status, Gold and Roth (1993) claimed that single teachers showed higher level of
stress compared to married teachers. The finding is inconsistent with the present study in which
marital status has no effect on the level of stress.

Meanwhile, the academic qualification of the teachers fails to show any effect on the level of stress.
This finding however, contradicts with the findings made by Alan, Chen and Elaine (2010) and
Kyriacou and Sutcliffe (1978) who found that teachers with higher academic qualification were less
stress than those with lower academic qualification. Similarly, age differences and teaching
experiences show no effect on stress level among respondents. However, Noor Suhaida (2002) found
that teachers between the age of 31 and 40 years old had a high stress level.

This study found that work experience does not contribute to stress. Cousin (2000) on the other hand
claimed that new teachers reported to experience high level of stress as they had to adapt with the
school environment, colleagues and various students’ behavior.

5.0 Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to examine the stress level of Year 6 primary school teachers in selected
schools in Hulu Terengganu, Terengganu. The results showed that these teachers have moderate level
of stress. Although the level is not alarming, it signifies that stress scenario does exist among the
teachers.

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The demographic differences in relation to stress level shows that teachers with more teaching periods
experience more stress. In this case, the school administrators should be more considerate in
allocating classes and teaching periods to these teachers.

The need for schools and ministry to have knowledge about these teachers’ stress level is
indisputable. Stress has an impact on teacher’s productivity, hence impacting students’ performance.
Effective stress management programmes should be conducted to control or reduce the problem. This
in turn will improve the teacher’s functional skills and thus generate high quality teachers. High
quality teachers are needed in shaping high quality students.

References

Alan, H.S.,Chan, K., Chen, and Elaine Y.L. Chong (2010). Work stress of teachers‟ from primary
and secondary schools in Hong Kong. Proceedings of the International Multi-conference of
Engineers and Computer Scientists. Vol. III. IMECS, Hong Kong.
Blasé, J. (1986). A qualitative analysis of sources of teacher stress: Consequences for performance.
American Educational Research Journal, 23(1), 13-40.
Borg, M. & Riding, R. (1991). Towards a model for the determinants of occupational stress among
schoolteachers. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 4, 355-373.
Boyle, G., Borg, M., Falzon, J., & Baglioni, A. Jr. (1995). A structural model of the dimensions of
teacher stress. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 65, 145-163.
Burke, R., & Greenglass, E. (1993). Work stress, role conflict, social support, psychological burnout
among teachers. Psychological Reports, 73,371-380.
Cox, T., & Brockley, T. (1984). The experience and effects of stress in teachers. British Educational
Research Journal, 10, 83-87.
Cousin, S., L. (2000). “An Analysis of Stress Factors and Induction Practices That Influence A
Novice Teacher’s Intention To Stay In The Profession”. The University Of Southern
Mississippi : Degree Dissertation.
Dworkin, A. (1987). Teacher burnout in the public schools: Structural causes and consequences for
children. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Eskridge, D., & Coker, D. (1985). Teacher stress: Symptoms, causes, and management techniques.
Clearing House, 55(9), 387-390
Farber, B. (1991). Crisis in education: Stress and burnout in the American teacher. San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
Farber, B. (1984a). Teacher burnout: Assumption, myths, and issues. Teachers ' College Record, 86,
321-338.
Farber, B. (1984b). Stress and burnout in suburban teachers. Journal of Educational Research, 77,
325-331.
Fimian, M. (1984). The teacher stress inventory. The Journal of Occupational Psychology, 57, 277-
293.
Hammond. Ormond. W,. Onikama, Denise. L (1996).At risk Teachers . April 1996.
Jackson, S. E., Schwab, R. L., & Schuler, R. S. (1986). Toward an understanding of the burnout
phenomenon.Journal of Applied Psychology, 71 (4), 630–640.

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Gold, Y., & Roth, R. A. (1993). Teachers man-aging stress and preventing burnout: The professional
health solution. Washington, DC: The Falmer Press.
Hart, P.M., Wearing, A.J. & Headey, B. (1995b). Police stress and well-being: Integrating
personality, coping and daily work experiences. Journal of Occupational and Organizational
Psychology, 68, 133-156.
Mazlan Aris (2002). Stres Kerja di Kalangan Guru Sekolah Rendah. Satu Kajian di Sekolah Rendah
Kawasan Zon Tenggara, Kulai, Johor Darul Takzim. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia: Tesis
Sarjana.
Martocchio, J.J., & O’Leary, A.M. (1989). Sex differences in occupational stress. A meta-analytic
review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 495–501
Munally J.C. (1978). Psychometeric Theory. New York: Mc Graw Hill
Noor Suhaida S.(2002) Work stress and associated factors among urban and rural secondary school
teachers. Serdang: Universiti Putra Malaysia. 97 pp. Master thesis.
Pithers,R. T.,& Soden R.(1998).Scottish and Australian teacher stress and strain: A comparative
study. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 68, 269-279.
Kyriacou, C., & Sutcliffe, J. (1979). A note on teacher stress and locus of control.Journal of
occupational Psychology. 52,227-228.
Kyriacou, C. (1987). "Teacher Stress And Burnout: An International Review" . Educational
Research, No.29, pp. 60-72.
Schuler, R. S.( 1980) Definition and conceptualization of stress in organizations. Organizational
Behavior and Human Performance, 25, 184-215
Smither, R. D. (1994). The Psychology of Work and Human Performance (2nd ed.). New York:
Harper Collins College Publishers.
Smylie M. A. (1999), "Teacher Stress in Time of Reform" by R.Vandenberghe and A M Huberman
(Eds.). 'Understanding and Preventing Reader Burnout', Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. pp. 59-84
Woo Sew Fun. (2008). Faktor-faktor yang Mendorong Tekanan Kerja (Stres) di Kalangan Guru-guru
SJK (C): Satu Kajian di Tiga Buah Sekolah di Wilayah Persekutuan. Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia.

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COMPUTER PHOBIA AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES

*1
Kamariah Yunus, 2Wahidah Abd Wahid, 3SNM Syed-Omar
Centre of English Language Studies, Faculty of Languages and Communication,
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus, 21300, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu,
Malaysia
*Corresponding author: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in English language learning and teaching
(ELLT) has become prevalent in this recent decade. This study aims to investigate the level of computer
technophobia among 106 PPG (Program Pensiswazahan Guru) students who employed UniSZA e-learning
tool (KeLIP) as the main medium of English learning and instruction in a university in Malaysia. This
descriptive study utilised 20 Likert-scale items of Rosen and Weils’ Measuring Technophobia Instrument
(MTI), i.e. CARS-S (Computer Anxiety Rating Scale). The results showed that the students generally had a
moderate level of computer anxiety, with an exception that the level of computer anxiety of female students
was higher than that of their male counterparts. This study concluded that computer anxiety is a feeling
commonly experienced by the students studying English via online. This study has implications for the top
management of UniSZA, lecturers, and students. It is recommended that students be trained with computer
skills prior to conducting an online or e-Learning programme with adult university students.

Keywords: Independent learners, KeLiP (UniSZA e-learning tools), computer anxiety levels, technophobia

1.0 Introduction

In line with the advancement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in this new
millennium, it has become the aspirations of Malaysian Higher Education (MoHE) to promote
independent learners, and to provide opportunities for adults in the job sectors to continue their
studies in the e-Learning (electronic) mode. The utilization and integration of ICT tools also can
indeed assist students in acquiring English Language competency and enhancing the quality of their
learning experience. Because of this, a myriad of emerging e-Learning systems have been employed
both at the public and private Malaysian tertiary institutions. These include, among others, ezylearn
at Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK), PutraLMS at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), MyLMS at
Open Universiti Malaysia (OUM), and KeLiP (KUSZA e-Learning Programme) at Sultan Zainal
Abidin University (UniSZA). These e-Learning systems serves as “a platform or environment that
offers interactive learning and teaching using interactive tools which can stand alone and can be
networked” (Marlia Puteh & Supyan Hussin, 2007: 1179). E-Learning is conducted either through
the mode of online distance learning (a mixed mode-a reduced face-to-face teaching situation plus
online) and/or open distance learning (‘virtual learning’) which offers all the courses in the e-
Learning format (Bates, 2001).

The e-learning system at UniSZA (KeLiP) was employed as an e-Learning tool in the study of UBI
3012 English for Academic Communication course, a university requirement course for the PPG
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(Program Pensiswazahan Guru) new intakes (February intake, 2012). It was conducted in a mixed
mode with less teacher supervision. The course included only two-hour teaching contact per month,
and the rest of the learning will take place online. As mentioned before, computer technology gives
the students many benefits (Ravichandran, 2000). CALL programmes motivate learners through
games, animated graphics, and problem-solving techniques that elevate learners’ interest and
curiosity about language in such interesting and attractive ways that even activities which are tedious
may become more interesting. Moreover, computers offer students the opportunity to explore
language on their own, thus training learners to be more independent and autonomous. Students are
also able to monitor the study at their own pace for computers equip them with self-instructional tasks
that let them master prerequisite skills and course objectives at a speed and level dictated by their
own needs. Interestingly also, learning language through an e-learning mode hasten learners to get
immediate feedback compared to teachers’ feedback which, quite often, have to be waited for some
time especially when the number of students in the classroom is big.

Adult learners pursuing their study either as undergraduates or postgraduates are on the rise. This is
particularly true since many have got opportunities to further their study due to some factors. The
Ministry of Education of Malaysia, for example, has been sponsoring many school teachers to elevate
the standard of education of school teachers to meet the demand of education in the 21st century.
Besides, since many undergraduates are unemployed, they may also get the chances to receive the
loan by the sponsoring bodies such as PTPTN, MARA, or MyBrains. Since many adult learners are
having a career, they often register as part-timers, and their classes are offered outside office hours
or during the weekend.

Besides, many adult learners, as in the case of PPG students at UniSZA, attend the courses which are
offered mainly online. Learning is mainly conducted online and meetings with the course instructors
are held constantly. Studying in an e-Learning mode is successful if users are computer literate and
skilful at handling computers. However, to students who do not have the skills, the idea of learning
using computer is too daunting (Bingimlas, 2009). Some may feel resistant to computers and are
scared of using them, thus developing technophobic students who prefer not to use ICT in language
learning.

2.0 Literature review

Technology is taking over all aspects of life. Education, work, leisure, and law, among others, are all
becoming increasingly dependent on being able to interact with technology (Boehme, 2011). What
happens to the academic or career prospects of those who do not want to interact with this technology?
This psychological effect of technology is called technophobia.

Technophobia is defined as the action or behaviour of dislikes the technologies. It can be also
defined as the negative attitude towards computers or information technology (Brosnan, 1998).
Meanwhile, Rosen and Weil (1990) have defined technophobia as evidence of one or more of the
following: (a) anxiety about present or future interactions with computers or computer-related
technology; (b) negative global attitudes about computers, their operation or their societal impact;
and/or (c) specific negative cognitions or self-critical internal dialogues during present
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computer interactions or when contemplating future computer interactions.

Despite technological advancement in this digital age, technophobia is still a persistent issue. It
depends on many factors such as experience, attitudes, gender, background, ethnicity, computer
availability and school socioeconomics. Experience with computers will reflect the attitudes towards
computer. If students have less computer experience, it will reflect negative attitudes towards
computer and therefore, it will give high impact to the level of technophobia. Computer attitudes
have been shown to correlate positively with computer experience (Smith et al., 1999).

In terms of gender, male and female have different approaches to computers. Through games, boys
learn to regard computers as toys or as technology to be mastered (Colley, 2003). Males can
communicate with the computer in an exploratory manner while females use computer just as a tool
to complete their work and task. Males have more interest in computers and had more confidence in
working with computers than female did (Shashaani, 1997).

As technology develops, males and females use the technology in their daily task. But there are still
many differences between males and females in using the technology. Women’s attitudes were
claimed to be more negative than those of men, and that they had higher computer anxiety than men
did (Comber et al., 1997; Ahmad et al.,, 2010). Other than that, women w e r e f o u n d t o b e less
likely to be attracted to computer courses and to a computer-related career, although recently they
had more access to computer technology (Booth et al., 2010). In other words, computer
technophobia has still become an issue in tertiary institutions until today, particularly in relevant to
gender.

Some studies suggest that technophobia, as measured using the scales developed by Rosen et al
(1992), is not related to gender (see Anderson, 1996; Anthony et al., 2000; Havelka et al., 2004;
Korukonda, 2005) or that the effect is small (McIlroy et al., 2001). However, the results are
conflicting, with some indicating a generally small to moderate gender difference in computer
anxiety (Whitley, 1996; Broos, 2005; Zhang, 2005) and others indicating no significant
difference in computer anxiety or attitudes (Brosnan, 1998; Orr et al., 2001). Brosnan and Lee
(1998), however, noted that there were no gender differences for computer anxiety in the United
Kingdom but a higher level of anxiety amongst males in Hong Kong suggested that cultural
influences may be relevant. Chua et al (1999), in their meta-analysis of relationships between
computer anxiety and its three correlates (age, gender and computer experience) found that
females are generally more anxious than males among a university undergraduate population.
However, the strength of this relationship is not conclusive. Anthony et al (2000) suggest that the
reason for a reduced gender gap in technophobia over the last number of years is women’s
increased exposure to computers at third level. This study aims to investigate the anxiety level of
the PPG students and to identify the level of computer phobia between the male and female PPG
students.

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3.0 Methodology

This quantitative study purported to investigate the level of computer anxiety of adult PPG students
of UniSZA, and to examine the extent to how much male and female adult PPG students differ in the
level of computer anxiety in using KeLiP as an e-Learning tool to learn English. This study was
designed as descriptive study. The sample was purposively chosen from the second batch of PPG
students who underwent UBI 3012 English for Communication subject offered by the Faculty of
Languages and Communication, UniSZA. They were the students of the Faculty of Islamic
Contemporary, UniSZA, taking a bachelor degree in the faculty. Even though 200 students registered
during that time, only 106 (25 male and 81 female students) agreed to participate in the study.
Data for the research were collected through questionnaire. The present study adopted Rosen
and Well’s (1992) Measuring Technophobia Instruments (MT) due to its widespread acceptance.
The reliability of the items in the scales (CARS-C, 0.83; IAS, 0.75; CSE, 0.78) exhibited a high
degree of reliability. Table 1 below show the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient levels of the three
scales.

Table 1: Reliability coefficients for measurement instruments

Instrument Cronbach’s alpha coefficient
CARS-C (Computer Anxiety Rating Scale) 0.890
IAS (Internet Attitude Scale) 0.801
CSE (Computer Self-Efficacy Scale) 0.963

The instruments consisted of:

(1) 17 Likert-scale items of the computer anxiety rating scale (CARS-C). According to
Rosen and Weil (1992), the issues addressed in this questionnaire are: (1) anxiety related to
the machines themselves; (2) their role in society; (3) computer programming; (4) computer
use; and (5) problems with computers and technology. The respondents were required to
indicate how anxious or nervous each situation would make them feel by indicating their
agreement with the statements related to computer anxiety scaled from 1 (LOW) to 10
(HIGH).

(2) 20 Likert-scale items of the Internet Attitudes Scale (IAS). This scale comprises three
categories: Negative Computer Cognitions (11 items), Positive Computer Learning
Cognitions (5 items) and Computer Enjoyment (4 items). The items assess the students’
attitudes towards the Internet. The norms established by Rosen and Weil for computer phobia
in this category are as follows: no computer phobia, 69–100; low computer phobia, 61–68;
moderate to high computer phobia, 20–60. These ranges are in contrast to the CARS, wherein
high scores are indicative of computer phobia. The respondents were required to indicate
their agreement with the statements related to the students’ attitudes towards the Internet
scaled from 1 (LOW) to 10 (HIGH).

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(3) 28 Likert-scale items of Computer Self-Efficacy Scale (CSE). Computer self-efficacy

commonly refers to individuals' judgment of their knowledge and capabilities to use
computers in diverse situations. These items aim to assess the students’ computer self-efficacy
by indicating their agreement with the statements related to the students’ computer self-
efficacy scaled from 1 (LOW) to 10 (HIGH).

Rosen and Weil (1992) partitioned each of the three measures (Computer Anxiety; Internet Attitudes
Scales, and Computer Self-Efficacy into three levels of technophobia: No Technophobia (20-41),
Low Technophobia (4-49) and Moderate/High Technophobia (50-100). They also defined an
overall measure of technophobia based on a combination of the measures.

These questionnaires were chosen as data collection tool or instrument since t h e y a r e less time-
consuming, and at the same time, they were less expensive compared to the face-to-face interview.
The data were collected during the fourth (last) teaching session of the semester.

The questionnaires were designed to be self-administering. The participants in the six groups (A to
F) were told to carefully read the instructions on each questionnaire as they vary for each
questionnaire. They were also assured that their responses would remain anonymous and be kept
confidential, they should answer honestly and candidly, lastly, the questionnaires are not a test
and that there are no right answers (Rosen et al., 1992). The researcher was also on hand to
answer any questions. No time limits were imposed on the questionnaires but they were generally
completed within 30 minutes.

In this research, data were analysed descriptively (in percentages) using the SPSS (Statistical
Package of Social Sciences) version 17.0.

4.0 Results and discussion

Table 1 indicated that half of the students (50.2%) reported no computer phobia, as evidenced by the
CARS. Yet, a substantial majority of the students (89.9%) could be designated as low to highly
computer phobic, as evidenced by the CTS.

Table 2: The levels of computer phobia

Level CARS CTS
None 20–41 (50.2%) 69–100 (10.0%)

Low 42–49 (21.9%) 61–68 (42.1%)

Moderate/high 50-100(27.9%) 20-60 (47.8%)

Besides, when comparing between the two groups, male and female students showed evidence of the
different levels of computer phobia (Table 2). The level of computer phobia of female students was
shown to be higher than that of the male students. The same result also indicated under IAS scale.

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Female students (30%) compared to male students (20%) were shown to be moderate to highly
technophobic.

Table 3: The levels of computer phobia of PPG students

Computer Anxiety Scale Internet Attitudes Scale (IAS)
(CARS)
Students M(n=31) F (n=120) M(n=31) F(n=120)
Male (M) Female (F)

No Technophobia 20-41 20-41 69-100 69-100

(48%) (42%) (25%) (19%)

Low Technophobia 41-49 41-49 61-68 61-68

(33%) (28%) (55%) (51%)

Moderate to High 50-100 50-100 20-60 20-60

Technophobia (19%) (30%) (20%) (30%)

The findings in this present study were supported by many researchers in the related field which
revealed that female students suffered from the high level of computer technophobia (see Comber,
1997; Karavidas et al., 2005; Joiner et al., 2007; Bingimlas, 2009; Ahmad, 2010). The findings in
this study can be explained in many ways. First, women’s attitudes were found to be more negative
than those of men, and they were claimed to have higher computer anxiety than men. In a similar
vein, males were reported to be significantly less anxious about the Internet than were females. The
findings supported the two theories which frame the notion of gender inequality in this study - Clark’s
(1988) ‘implicit theory’ and ‘self-instructed representational system’ by Rust (1994). These two
theories maintained that gender inequality in e-Learning was the effect of learner differences which
are observable in gender, age, and learning style. While male students are socially perceived as more
capable of handling computer tools and apparatus, female students, on the other hand, do not see
them as capable of dealing with advanced ICT.

The second explanation is much related to the societal perceptions on the role of male and females.
Technophobia is the fear or dislike of advanced technology or complex devices, especially computer.
As the technologies emerge and enhance, they have become increasingly advanced and complicated
to understand. People are more likely to become anxious to use these technologies. While younger
students were reported to experience less fear with ICT tools, adult learners would be more likely
to adopt traditional gender roles where men would be seen as more ‘technically able’. Adult female
students, on the hand, would thus be more likely to display higher levels of technophobia than
do male adult students.

5.0 Conclusion

Despite having an ability to perform e-Learning applications, female students still suffer from a high
level of computer technophobia than do their male counterparts. They still experience the feeling of
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anxiety and phobia towards computers even though they get helps from their male peers and course
instructors. This psychological effect is drawn partly from the sense of insecurity that is experienced
by many females especially in using tools. This study has implications for the top management of
UniSZA, the lecturers, and the students themselves. The authoritative bodies in UniSZA have to
review the ELLT syllabus and curriculum to suit the needs of local and international students. They
have to take into considerations of teacher readiness, anxiety factors, and also motivation. Teachers’
ability and competence in coping with technology online has to be measured. In the same time,
learners have to be motivated and equally encouraged to use ICT in English language learning.

References

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Kennedy, G., Dalgarno, B., Gray, K., Judd, T., & Waycott, J., (2007). The net generations are not big
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2007, 2-5 November 2007, Sofitel Palm Resort, Senai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
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language teachers. Internet Journal of e-Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 1-14.
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Asian Economic Papers, 4 (3), 116-139.
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http://pp.pjj.usm.my/.
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use amongst Malaysian students. Akademika, 81(1), 93-100.
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Soker, Z. (2005). Age, gender, ethnicity and the digital divide: University students’ use of web based
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Volman M., van Eck E., Heemskerk I., & Kuiper, E. (2005). New technologies, new differences:
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language use of Malaysian teen bloggers. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 12 (1),
105-123.

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DEVELOPING MICRO TAKAFUL FLOOD MODEL IN MALAYSIA – ITS RELEVANCE

AND IMPACT ON POLICY
*1
Wan Norhayate Wan Daud, 2Fakhrul Anwar Zainol, 3Fauzilah Salleh, 4Ahmad Shukri
Yazid, 5Ahmad Zawawi Jamal
1,2,3,4
Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong
Badak Campus, 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
5
Bank Rakyat School of Business and Entrepreneurship, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia
*Corresponding author: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Flood is the largest natural disaster risk and expected to rise further due to various extreme weather events in
Malaysia. The availability of the flood coverage are not always given. Thus, this study attempts to achieve
two objectives. First, to examine the impact of flood risk to the affected community and second, to develop
the MicroTakaful Flood Model to the poor people. Qualitative study focused on multiple case studies were
used as data collection method. Cases were poor people. The study found that there is a need for these cases
to be covered by the flood coverage so that they can further continue their after-disaster lives, at least with less
difficulty. The results of this study provides a significant contribution of reducing the goverment burden on
the flood loss by intoducing a model of MicroTakaful Flood scheme to the industry.

Keywords: Flood, poor people, MicroTakaful Flood Model

1.0 Introduction

In many parts of the world, flooding is the leading cause of losses from natural phenomena and is
responsible for a greater number of damaging events than any other type of natural hazard.
Approximately half of all losses due to nature’s forces can be attributed to flooding (kron, 2002). This
disaster place a significant burden on the public sector. Despite prevention and matigation efforts, no
country can fully insulate itself against this extreme natural disasters. Then, the burden of this
disasters ends up to individuals, corporations and goverments, both on national and sub national level
(Swiss Re, 2015).

In Malaysia, the nature of a country very prone to flood risk, mostly by its physical (e.g. topography
and drainage) as well as its human geography (e.g. settlement and land use pattern). The combination
of natural and human factors has produced different types of floods, viz. Monsoon, flash and tidal
(Chan, 1998). Historically, Malaysia experienced major floods in the years 1926, 1963, 1965, 1967,
1971, 1979, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2010 (Chan, 2012). In 2012, Floods triggered by
torrential monsoon rains in Malaysia forced almost 14,000 people to flee their homes and seek shelter
at relief centers, the official Bernama News Agency said that the most recent which what the
Malaysian government is calling the worst flooding in more than 30 years was in December 2014
whereby five east coast states (Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak and Johor) were heavily effected
(Kroh, 2014).

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Based on the experienced of flood as describe above, there is clearly lack of demand for flood
insurance because the risk from flooding is often underestimated. In developing countries, flood
insurance is not widely available or affordable and even in high - income countries, where flood
insurance is increasingly offered and bought, the conditions that make flood insurable are not always
given since flood risk presents a set of special challenges. Unlike the example of fire insurance, the
use of insurance for flood management is still not very common and the penetration rate is very low
where on average less than 10 percent is all over the countries including Malaysia (Swiss Re, 2012).
Even though the flood insurance is widely discussed in previous research, there is limited studies on
flood insurance framework available in Malaysia. Thus, this study attempts to achieve two objectives.
First, to examine the impact of flood risk to the affected community and second, to develop the
MicroTakaful Flood Scheme to the poor people.

In order to close the gaps, this study has proposed a new custom-made flood insurance model in
Malaysia called as MicroTakaful Flood Scheme. By providing an overview of the specific flood risk
and flood insurance situation in the case study area of Kelantan State as an impact of flood risk to the
affected community. The researchers have come out with a model as an elements of risk transfer for
newly proposed scheme which reflecting on the roles of government, the insured, the insurers and
other stakeholders.

1.1 Problem Statement

Flood that hit Kelantan State was the worst in the history of the state (Aizyl Azlee, 2015). Security
Council (NSC) affirmed that changing climatic patterns and the adverse weather effects is the primary
cause while the result of uncontrolled land management and the swelling number of trees and
exploitation of land resources suspected to be the another cause of the disaster. Thousands of villagers
lost their homes and badly impacted in the disaster (the Star-Asia News Network, 2015). Residents
of Kelantan have considered the disaster as a flood phenomenon because a major catastrophe of the
water level rose so high and rapidly to the extent that many houses were submerged (Bernama, 2014).
An early estimated loss amount is closed to RM284 millions (the Star-Asia News Network, 2015)
which has seen more than 100,000 evacuated from their houses during the incidence. Approximately
86.88% of the respondents confirmed losses their properties every year during the flood event
(Mohammad Muqtada, Nor Ashikin, Arham Muchtar, Md. Azizul & Dony, 2014). Among all states
in Malaysia, Kelantan is the lowest and the rural society is dominating the poor community.

In Malaysia, insurance scheme available specifically to the loss of household property is fire takaful
scheme. This tariff rated policy covers the properties damage due to fire, domestic explosion and
lightning only. There are some other additional covered perils which are subject to an additional
contribution. Among all is flood peril. It is quite tricky for the community to buy the cover, whereby
some insurers or takaful operator may not willing to provide cover for flood-prone areas, thus
resultant in perception distress towards buying the takaful cover. As far as researchers concern, there
is no stand alone flood insurance coverage available in Malaysia which can cater the impact of
disastrous flood events. Thus, this study will fill this gap by focusing on the properties’ coverage for
the poor by proposing the stand alone (single peril) flood insurance policy framework as one of the
MicroTakaful product to cover the poor community.
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2.0 Literature review

2.1 Malaysian flood scenario

Monsoonal floods are an annual occurrence which varies in terms of severity, place and time of
occurrences with a recent 2014 flood in Kelantan, Pahang, Perak and Johor being among the worst
flood ever experienced by the country. The total economic loss and the financial burden on the
government were enormous. When two or more of these events coincide such as the “terrible twins”
(La Nina and the monsoon season) that hit the federal capital of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor in
December 2011, the damage is compounded (the Star, 2011).

Among all the disasters in Malaysia, floods are most frequent and bring the greatest damage annually.
Floods are therefore considered as the most severe type of disaster experienced in Malaysia.
Historically, There have been big flood events in 1886,1926, 1931, 1947, 1954, 1957, 1965, 1967,
1970/1971, 1988, 1993, 1996, 2000, 2006/2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 ( Chan, 2012) and it
continued in 2013 and 2014. The 1926 flood was known as “The storm forest flood” because it
destroyed hundreds of square kilometers of lowland forest on the floodplains of the Kelantan and
Besut rivers.

Flood was considered “the biggest flood in living memory” in Malaysia as it affected almost the entire
length and breadth of Peninsular Malaysia, causing extensive damage. In 1996, floods brought by
Tropical Storm Greg in Keningau (Sabah State), claimed 241 lives, caused more than USD 97.8
million damage to infrastructure and property and destroyed thousands of houses. In 2000, floods
caused by heavy rains killed 15 people in Kelantan and Terengganu, and caused more than 10,000
people to flee their homes in northern Peninsular Malaysia. The December 2006/January 2007 floods
in Johor caused 18 deaths and USD 489 million in damage. In 2008, floods occurred in Johor again,
killing 28 people and causing damage estimated at USD 21.19 million. In 2010, the floods affected
transportation in and around Kedah and Perlis, shutting down rail, closing roads including the North-
South Expressway (The Star, 2010) and the airport in Kedah’s capital city of Alor Setar leaving
helicopters as the only mode of aerial transport into Kedah and Perlis (The Star, 2010). Water supply
in Kedah and Perlis was contaminated, forcing these two states to seek supplies from their neighbor
Perak (Bernama, 2010). Kedah and Perlis are the “Rice Bowl” of Malaysia, and the floods destroyed
an estimated 45,000 hectares of rice fields with the government pledging USD8.476 million in aid to
farmers (in both states (Bernama, 2010). The floods killed four people, with more than 50,000
evacuated. In Perlis, the floods submerged over two-thirds of the state's land.

According to Hj Ahmad Hussaini, ex - Director General of the Drainage and Irrigation Department
of the government of Malaysia, there are two major water-related problems affecting this country
namely “normal” from “major” flood events. “Normal floods” are seasonal monsoon floods
(November to March) whereby the waters do not normally exceed the stilt height of traditional Malay
houses. Thus, people living in stilt houses in the rural areas are well adapted to normal floods. It is
the major floods, which are “unusual” or “extreme” events that render people helpless. “Major floods”
also have their origins in the seasonal monsoon rains but statistically occur once every few years.
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These floods are extensive, severe and unpredictable and result in significant loss of life, damage to
crops, livestock, property, and public infrastructure (Gred, 2015). In a major flood, people's coping
mechanisms are totally ineffective and they are forced to rely on government relief for recovery.
During major floods, a flood depth of 3 meters is not uncommon, and hundreds of thousands of people
are often evacuated. Other classifications such as “flash flood”, “tidal flood”, “river flood” and
“monsoon flood” may be considered as normal or major depending on the severity (Chan, 1995).

2.2 Types of Flood Insurance Scheme

Whether flood insurance is mandated by law or not, international insurance models generally fall into
four categories: ‘public and optional’, ‘public and bundled’, ‘private and optional’ and ‘private and
bundled’ (Swiss Re, 2012). In each case, insurance is provided either by private insurance companies
or public sector agencies. The approaches are differing in their delivery of insurance. In the optional
system, flood insurance is separate from other policies and insurers offer it upon payment of an
additional premium. By comparison, in the bundled system flood insurance is made available as part
of a ‘package’ where flood is included along with other perils. The four main international models
are also summarized below.

2.2.1 Bundled insurance backed by private markets and reinsurance (Private and Bundled)

Basically, flood insurance is included in the original property insurance as one of the covered perils
in order to maximize the risk pool (lower costs of premiums, and ensure solid penetration in the
market). This type of insurance is also known as UK model of flood insurance. This model is practiced
by countries like Hungary and China. This model is very effective system which offers wide coverage
to property owners at affordable prices and at the same time ensures the industry remains solvent and
profitable.

2.2.2 Bundled insurance backed by state (Bundle and Compulsory)

The government administers mandatory coverage for flood and other perils on all property insurance
policies and known as UK Socialized version of flood insurance scheme. This type of framework is
used by French and Spanish. The policies written and sold by private insurance companies, but in this
model, state maintains a pool of capital by collecting a portion of all premiums collected to back the
policies in the case of claims. This system is a secure market for insurers to operate and attractive to
the industry. If catastrophe increases in frequency due to development of land, the state is incented
to ensure the risk of natural catastrophe is minimized, by defending rivers or limiting development in
flood zones.

2.2.3 Optional/Add-on backed by private markets and reinsurance (Private and Optional)

Known as German Model whereby this framework of cover is used by Germany, Austria and South
Africa. It is an optional decision for the household to insure their property for flood cover. Market
being concentrated on the high-risk segment only – high claims, resulted in high premium. In these

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countries, they belief that flooding and other potential catastrophe should be considered by the
property owners when they build/purchase their buildings.

2.2.4 Optional/Add-on insurance backed by state (Public and Optional)

This US model is also known as National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), implemented by FEMA
a public sector agency. This policy concentrates on policies for high-risk areas. The prices and
coverage are based on predetermined flood zone and flood risk. The NFIP is subject to political
pressure to maintain prices lower than actuarial prices in situation of high risk, but the premiums is
low. Optional system that is over reliant on the quality of flood maps for risk designation. In US, half
of flood losses occur outside designated risk areas, which only 1% insured.

2.3 Gaps and Unresolved Questions in the Literature

Based on the empirical studies above, a number of conclusions can be drawn. Firstly, although the
flood insurance is widely discussed in previous studies, there is a limited empirical studies on flood
insurance model in Malaysia. Findings from the studies on the role of flood insurance as one of the
risk reduction tools in this region also have found it significant (Ranger, Hallegatte, Bhattacharya,
Bachu, Priya, Dhore, Rafique, Mathur, Naville, Henriet, Herweijer, Pohit & Morlot, 2011; Sun, Zhou,
Zhang, Min & xia Yin, 2013;Carina,Keskitalo, Vulturius & Scholten, 2014; Oulahen, 2015).

Study by Porrini and Schwarze (2014) outlines the role of insurance as an economic policy tool that
can be used to address the issue of climate change. They examined the natural hazards insurance in
terms of private and public involvement. They found that the most efficient flood insurance model in
terms of avoiding information and market imperfections and in implementing mitigation, adaptation
and risk management strategies is the public monopoly insurance, followed by compulsory insurance
for all natural hazards and compulsory inclusion of all natural hazards into general house ownership
insurance (coupling of contracts) respectively. Developing the literatures, Swiss Re (2012) have
discussed the flood insurance systems available that is public and optional (US), private and optional
(Germany), private and bundled (UK) and public and bundled (France). In order to close the gaps,
this study has proposed a new custom-made model called as MicroTakaful Flood scheme specifically
to suit the poor people in Malaysia.

3.0 Research methodology

This study will be used qualitative approach that specific on multiple case studies. Creswell (2007)
defines qualitative research as an inquiry progression of understanding social or human issues, based
on builds a complex, holistic depiction, figured with words, report detailed views of informants, and
conducted in a natural situation. In addition, Yin (2003) defined a case study as empirical inquiry that
examines a contemporary phenomenon within real-life context when the borders between
phenomenon and context are ambiguous evident and in which various sources of evidence are used.
These definitions will use to guide through the implementation of the study.

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Through case study, a method as defined by Yin (1993) as an empirical inquiry that ‘investigates a
contemporary phenomenon within its real life context, addresses a situation in which boundaries
between phenomenon and context are not clearly identified and uses multiple sources of evidence.
Sample of the respondents were used for this study. The target population consists of flood victims
in Kelantan and they are falls under the poor category. A good informant is one who has the
knowledge and experiences, also has the ability to reflect and has the time and willingness to
participate (Morse, 1991). The rationale behind choosing the poor in Kelantan as population is
because the researcher is interested to conduct a survey on the needs of insurance coverage on the
properties of the poor. In addition, they are most effected community in the latest flood disaster in
Kelantan last year. This study used a semi-structured interview process, non-participant observation
and document analysis, where the researcher was the key instrument for data collection (Merriam,
2009). Six (6) respondents agreed to participate. The six consists of two (2) persons from Gua
Musang, two (2) persons from Kuala Krai and two (2) persons from Tumpat.

4.0 Findings and discussions

The findings are reported according to the two research questions above:

4.1 What are the Impacts of Flood Risk to the Affected Community?

There were six participants involved in the interview were from Kampung Miak, Gua Musang,
Kampung Manek Urai Lama and Kuala Krai. All of the flood victims are poor. They informally
working as a rubber tapper, retiree, gardener and earning on average of RM 500 per month. The
impact of flood risk to the affected community consist of loss of earning, no insurance coverage and
unattended disaster assistance. The research indicated that the affected property belonged to them. In
some cases, the building belonged to the victim but not the land. In some instances, the properties
were belonged to them but this was built on the government land. The research revealed that some of
them were staying on the inherited land but the property ownership had not been transferred since
then. This has become an issue when the victims intended to rebuilt the house at the same place. The
victims acknowledged that they are living within the flood prone area except for residents of
Kampung Miak, Gua Musang which was considered to have low risk of flood. Irrespective of flood
prone area, there is no assistance from the authority on the flood mitigation exercise whether
physically or financially.

The research showed that the value of the damage properties ranging from RM 30,000 to RM 85,000
for building and the value of the contents is approximately RM 5,000. All of the victims suffered total
loss because of their property floated and washed away. The research also indicated that lack of
awareness among the poor people on the needs of having flood policy. The poor people would not
have any intention to consider the needs of the takaful protection because of their small income. There
was no disaster assistance available even though these participants lived in flood zone areas.
Furthermore, all participants claimed that there were no loss avoidance measures done. This is
particularly due to the reasons that the water level was normally low and that the water never reached
the house except the one at the lower part of the village.

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4.2 What is the Alternative Policy Available to Protect the Poor People against Flood?

In order to address the second research question, the researchers had came out with questions related
to the area the participants lived in, the loss avoidance measures, insurance coverage and any aids
provided. These questions were to determine whether there is an alternative policy available to protect
the poor people against flood.

To begin with, the participants were asked about the flood zone area. All of them were positive that
the areas they lived in were flood zone areas. However, Kampung Miak, Gua Musang was usually
considered to have low risk of flood, different from Kampung Manek Urai Lama, Kuala Krai, which
was known as an area that have higher risk of flood. Despite the fact that the areas these participants
lived in were flood zone areas, there was no disaster assistance available. In fact, all participants
claimed that there were no loss avoidance measures done. This is particularly due to the reasons that
the water level was normally low and the water never reached the house, except the ones at the lower
part of the village.

P 4: Verbatim 4.docx - 4:3 (49:50)

“No…. there is no loss avoidance measures for flood…..because the water level is
normally shallow….”

P 6: Verbatim 6.docx - 6:3 (49:50)

“No…. there is no loss avoidance measures for flood…..because the water never reached
this house…only the lower part of this village….”

When the participants were asked whether their properties had any insurance/takaful coverage, all of
them gave a negative answer. In addition, they also did not receive any aids from welfare department,
except one participant who mentioned that the father received RM300 from the JKM every month.

From the result above, it is clear that there was no alternative policy available to help the poor people
to overcome the after-disaster effect. The figure 1 below simplifies how the unavailability of disaster
assistance and other aids, no loss avoidance measures and the absence of insurance coverage had
become part of the reasons the participants had to endure their total loss of properties. Thus, the
micro-takaful product would be a good substitute for these people so that they could overcome the
after-disaster event.

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Figure 1: Losses due to the unavailability of alternative policy

Overall, based on the results and discussion presented above, this study is meant to develop a
framework of MicroTakaful Flood Scheme in Malaysia. The framework is shown in Figure 2. The
proposed name of the policy is MicroTakaful Flood Scheme, given by the researchers themselves.
The model used is adapted from the US Framework. The type of Coverage is single Peril which is
flood only and the type of flood should be extremely heavy flood under the category of torrential
rainfall. The definition of torrential rainfall is based on short-lasting and local but intensive
precipitation. In many cases, this means the 24 hours of rainfall would show the same amount of
rainfall one or two months. Torrential rainfall triggers flash floods in hilly areas. In flat areas local
accumulation of water leads to inundation.

The scheme is specially made for flood victims who were very poor, since the purpose of this study
is to help the poor people who suffered the flood disaster in Malaysia. The basic coverage of the
policy is to cover the structure and content of the house and the contribution charge of the scheme
will be backed up by the government and private companies. For the underwriting purposes,
parametric method is suitable for catastrophe natural event because according to this technique, a
type of insurance that does not indemnify the pure loss, but ex ante agrees to make a payment upon
the occurrence of a triggering event. The triggering event is often a catastrophic natural event which
may ordinarily precipitate a loss or a series of losses. It also enables a much more rapid payment as
no loss adjusters are required after the event to assess the actual damage. The claim settlement is fast
and loss events can be handled faster and more efficiently than with other kinds of insurance-based
solutions.

Low income people or poor people associated with low purchasing power. They cannot afford to pay
the contributions fee due to lack of income. In this case, allowing payments to be made in installments

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is one of the possible solutions. One may suggest that the government, government linked company
(GLC) and waqf may pay the contribution fee. This can be viewed as the company’s corporate social
responsibility (CSR) strategist.

From the finding above, it is clear that there was no alternative scheme available to help the poor
people to overcome the after-disaster effect. Thus, the model would be a good substitute for these
people so that they could overcome the after-disaster event as figure 2.

Figure 2: Proposed framework of MicroTakaful Flood Scheme

5.0 Recommendation

The present research attempts to aquire a better understanding of the impact of flood risk to the
affected community and to propose alternative scheme to protect the poor. To make the scheme
success, either operated by takaful industry or other party, it is important to have an efficient policy
administration. A third party administrator (TPA) is viewed to be an efficient administrator. The role
of TPA amongst other are to manage the scheme regarding the administration, keeping track of the
participants eligibility, administering of the scheme reporting and compliance and more importantly
processes the compensation. The TPA will expect to advise on the risk management. In addition, the
responsibility includes claims administration, loss control, risk management, information systems
and risk management consulting.

6.0 Conclusion

In conclusion, this study proposed a new custom-made flood insurance model namely MicroTakaful
flood scheme especially to the poor people who suffered extremely heavy flood in Malaysia. By

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providing an overview of the specific type of flood risk situation in the case study area of Kelantan,
a framework has been developed as an element of risk transfer for newly proposed scheme to any
Takaful Operators or any stakeholders as one of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) to the
community.

Acknowledgement: The authors would like to convey special thanks to our sponsor, Ministry of
Education Malaysia for providing the financial FRGS grant to this research. We also would like to
express the deepest appreciation to the Centre for Research and Innovation Management (CRIM),
UniSZA who helped us to administer this research.

References
Aizyl, A., 2015. Worst floods in Kelantan, confirms NSC. Malay mail online,
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/worst-floods-in-kelantan-confirms-nsc
Bernama., 2010. Flood: Perak Sends Clean Water Supply to Kedah, Perlis, Bernama (online) 5
November 2010
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id
Bernama, 2014. Najib describes floods in Kelantan as major disaster - Bernama (online) 30
December 2014
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/najib-describes-floods-in-kelantan-as-
major-disaster-bernama
Chan, N.W., 1995. A Contextual Analysis of Flood Hazard Management in
Peninsular Malaysia, PhD. Middleses University (UK)
Chan, N. W., 1998. Responding to Landslide Hazards in Rapidly Developing
Malaysia: A Case of Economics Versus Environmental Protection. Disaster Prevention and
Management: An International Journal 7(1), pp. 14-27.
Chan, N. W., 2012. Adressing Flood Hazards via Environmental Humanities in Malaysia.
Malaysian Journal of Enviromental Management 12(2), pp. 313-325.
Creswell, J.W., 2007. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches
(2nd ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Drainage and Irrigation Department (n.d.), Unpublilished Annual Flood Reports. Various years.
Ampang Branch.
Greg Oulahen., 2015. Flood Insurance in Canada: Implications for Flood
Management and Residential Vulnerability to Flood Hazards. EnvironmentalManagement
(2015) 55:603–615 DOI 10.1007/s00267-014-0416-6
Mohammad, M., Nor Ashikin, Arham Muchtar, A.B., Md. & Dony A. N., 2014. Flood Impact
Assessment in Kota Bharu, Malaysia: A Statistical Analysis. World Applied Sciences Journal
32 (4): 626-634, ISSN 1818-4952© IDOSI Publications, 2014 DOI:
10.5829/idosi.wasj.2014.32
Morse, J. M.,1991. The structure and function of gift-giving in the patient-nurse
relationship.Western Journal of Nursing Research, 13, 597-615.
Porrini D., Schwarze, 2014, “Insurance Regulation”, Encyclopedia of Law and
Economics – Regulation and Economics, edited by Roger van den Bergh and Alessio Pacces,
Edward Elgar.
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Ranger, Hallegatte, Bhattacharya, Bachu, Priya, Dhore, Rafique, Mathur, Naville, Henriet,
Herweijer, Pohit & Morlot, 2011. An assessment of the potential impact of climate change on
flood risk in Mumbai, Climatic Change (2011) 104:139–167. DOI 10.1007/s10584-010-9979-
2
Swiss Re, 2012. Floods – An insurable risk? A Market Survey. Swiss Reinsurance Company,
Zurich, Switzerland.
The Star., 2010. Kedah and Perlis Scramble to Send Aid to 19,000 Hit by
Floodwaters. The Star (online). 3 November 2010.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=20101106173915&sec=nation
The Star, (2011), Terrible Twins’ La Nina and Monsoon to Hit KL and Selangor, The Star [online]
6 December 2011.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/12/6/nation/10040911
The Star-Asia News Network, 2015. Damage due to Malaysia flood close to $284M.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/662008/damage-due-to-malaysia-flood-close-to-284m
Yin, R.K., 2003. Applications of case study research (2nded.). United State: Sage Publications.
Yin, R.K., 1993. Qualitative research from start to finish. New York: The Guilford Press.

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AN ANALYSIS OF STEREOTYPE AND AGENDA SETTING THEORIES IN THE

PORTRAYAL OF MUSLIMS IN THE KINGDOM
*1
Mohd Nazri Latiff Azmi, 2Mohd Nawaf Ab. Rahman @ Nawawi, 3Nurazan Mohmad
Rouyan, 4Radzuwan Ab. Rashid
Centre of English Language Studies, Faculty of Languages and Communication
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus, 21300 Kuala Nerus,
Terengganu, Malaysia
*Corresponding author: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Terrorism has long been a popular theme in theatrical films. Particularly since 9/11 incident, Hollywood film
industry very often portrays the Muslims with negative stereotype image. After 9/11 incident, Muslims are
being looked as suspicious people and portrayed as terrorists. This study was carried out to scientifically
explore what kind of images of Muslims is being portrayed and to what extent the portrayal affects Muslim’s
image by using content analysis of a Hollywood movie entitled The Kingdom. The reason why The Kingdom
is chosen because it is the first ‘terrorist’ film that was produced after the 9/11 incident. This study analyzes
the selected scenes that involved with Muslims’ characters based on three variables to prove the researcher’s
hypothesis: terrorist portrayals, violent acts and dressing of the terrorists. More specifically, it explores the
relative importance of agenda setting theory and stereotype theory in the portrayal of Muslim in the film. The
results indicate that The Kingdom does portray negative image of Muslims as terrorists and it does affect
Muslims and Islam’s image generally.

Keywords: Terrorism, film, Muslims, The Kingdom, agenda setting

1.0 Introduction

According to Aguayo (2009), Hollywood is regarded as one of the greatest world’s entertainment
sources to people of all ages, races, sexes and ethnicities. The movie industry depicts numerous
images of a variety of races throughout its films. Interestingly, Hollywood’s depiction of image may
have the ability and power to allow the audiences to generate thoughts, views, and opinions based on
what they perceive. On a different note, it is widely and clearly observed that the world has been
changed after the 9/11 incident. If we look at the world politics after the incident, the entire world
has been dragged into a war against terrorism. The guilt of this incident was rested upon “Muslims”
by the Western countries. Consequently, Muslims are labeled as terrorists all over the world without
any concrete reasons (Eggert, 2007). The Hollywood film industry takes an advantage of this situation
where they started to present terrorism as the subject of their films. Movies are made on the subject
of terrorism and they incorporate Muslims as the villains in the movies, which strengthen the
anecdotes that Muslims are terrorists. Hollywood films have a major influence on the American
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public, and millions of people have grown up believing that they are knowledgeable of the Arab and
Muslim culture, based on what they view on the big screen (Savage, 2002).

The perception of regarding Muslims as terrorists is a serious matter (Ehsan, 2013). The issue was
chosen to be scrutinized because the issue has become more severe and has caused a serious
misunderstanding especially among those people who do not know a single thing about Islam and
Muslims. Hollywood is one of the factors that contribute to this matter and it plays a major role in
fueling the fire with regard in portraying Muslims in such a negative way (Karim, 2003). Thus, this
study aims to investigate the attempts of Hollywood movies in portraying Muslims as terrorists or
villains through a film entitled The Kingdom.

1.1 Problem statement

It is a fact that films are a strong way of persuasion and they have a deep impact on its viewers. They
affect the society, besides building and reshaping the public’s opinion (Grainge, 2003). Hollywood
movies have interpreted Muslims and Islam negatively but this sort portrayal has become more severe
after the 9/11 incident. This whole setting has the ability to change the opinion the public opinions
towards Muslims society and the religion itself, Islam. Therefore, the significance of this study is to
examine to what extent the negative image of Muslims are being portrayed in Western films. This
study is also for the general masses to know about the hidden propaganda in Hollywood movies and
the question of whether Muslims are portrayed as terrorists will be answered. It may also give prime
benefits to student of mass media, political sciences and international relations to understand an
alternative medium to communicate political ideology to all over the world and how the big powers
are playing mind games to propagate their policies and agenda to the whole world. The findings of
this study such as the elements in the movie that portray the negative image of Islam also could
provide some data and references to enhance their knowledge for other similar future studies.

1.2 Purpose of study

The purpose of this study is to examine the image of Muslims portrayed and to what extent are
Muslims portrayed negatively in a Hollywood movie, The Kingdom. The findings of this research
would help the readers in general to realize what kind of image of Muslims are portrayed as in The
Kingdom and how does the portrayal affects the image of Muslim and Islam in general. Thus, it is
hoped that this study will help reveal the truth about the portrayal of Muslims in The Kingdom and
hopefully it will help the readers to get to know the real Muslims and Islam. This study serves to
answer the following questions: What kind of image of are Muslims is portrayed in The
Kingdom? And to what extent does the portrayal affect the image of Muslim?

2.0 Literature review

In analyzing the portrayal of Muslims in The Kingdom, the conceptual framework of the Stereotype
and Agenda Setting theories, which was proposed by Dr. Max Mccombs and Dr. Donald Shaw, was
used to research this study in line with Karim (1997). Past researches about the portrayal in the film

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will be included in order to assist this study and provide more information relating to the area of
study.

2.1 Who are Muslims?

‘Muslim’ is an Arabic word that literally means ‘one who submits’. People who follow the religion
of Islam are called Muslims. A Muslim is one who believes and declares, “There is no god except
one God and Prophet Muhammad is the last and final messenger of God. Muslims believe that Islam
is the basic monotheistic faith proclaimed by prophets throughout history. They believe in the
teaching of the Quran as it provides a complete, accurate and therefore final record of the message
that was given to the prophets. To Muslims, Islam is not simply a religion but ‘a way of life’ (Mandel,
2001). Muslims believe that Islam is a system that encompasses all spheres of life, social and
personal. Islam provides a social and legal system that governs issues such as family life, law and
order, ethics, dress and cleanliness, as well as religious rituals. Muslims base their laws on their holy
book the Qur’an, and the Sunnah, the practical example of Prophet Muhammad (Dyer, 2002),).
Muslims believe that Islam is a universal religion that offers peace and serenity. On top of that, they
do not encourage terrorism and violence at all which shows that Muslims are not taught to create
chaos or terrorism. However, there are some elements that differ between Muslims due to their
national and cultural background, which can lead to misunderstanding for the non-Muslims
(Schonemann, 2013).

2.2 The use of films and movies to portray images of Muslim

Grainge (2003) posits “as a technology able to picture and embody the temporality of the past, cinema
has become central to the mediation of memory in modern cultural life”. He explains how the
audience’s memory can be influenced and developed through cultural constructions of identity as
found in films and television. As noted earlier, since there have been numerous negative portrayals
of Muslims in films, the memory of the audience would be influenced by the negative images shown
in the films (Schonemann, 2013). Hence, the audience would have prejudicial and biased thoughts
towards Muslims and Islam generally. In the context of this study, it can be seen that movies are
chosen as the medium to portray images of Muslim because of its influence and the great interest of
the general public. Plus, movies or films have the power to tell stories, besides influencing and
inspiring people. Hollywood movies have always portrayed Muslims in unfavorable characters.
Frequently, Muslims are selectively depicted to fit into the image of the stupid and even brutal Arab.
As Hafiz (2013) states “being a Muslim and being an Arab has been historicized instead of being
understood from some perspective as an essential Islam or Arabness”. This may be due to the fact
that some individuals with Muslim background or names in particular commit hijacking, suicide
bombing or jihad using the name of Islam (Nurullah, 2010)

In fact, Hollywood rarely shows Arabs or Muslims as ordinary people who are indulge in day-to-day
activities. They are always portrayed in the same look. They have beards, wear sunglasses and spot
a headdress. Halse (2012) undertakes a comprehensive study of 900 Hollywood movies, which had
Arab characters, had analyzed their (mis)representation in the films. He concludes that the image of
Arabs in Hollywood films has always been threatening. The image matches Arabs and Muslims,
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which make the entire Moslem community shown in a negative light. Therefore, even the present,
the media links any acts of violence to Muslims and Islam specifically based on prejudiced image of
Muslims by the media.

2.3 Theoretical framework

2.3.1 The stereotype and agenda setting theories

In its most basic sense, agenda setting is the creation of public awareness and concern of prominent
issues by the news media. According to the Agenda Setting Theory (Pickering, 2001), the two most
basic assumptions of agenda setting are: (1) the press and the media do not reflect reality; the filter
and shape it; (2) media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads to public to perceive those
issues as more important that other issues. Levels of Agenda Setting Theory: the first level: In mostly
studies by the researchers, the media uses objects or issues to influence people on what they should
think about and the second level: The Agenda Setting Theory used in political ads, campaigns,
business news, public relation and many more. The main concept associated with the Agenda Setting
Theory is gate keeping. The gatekeeper keeps controls over the selection of content discussed in the
media and what to publish to the audience. Based on the theories, the researchers utilize the theories
to identify whether Hollywood filmmakers set their agenda to portray Muslim in a negative way or
not. This is because, Hollywood movies often portray Muslims as terrorists, which results in the
images that are left behind, which may often play a contributing role in how viewers shape their
beliefs and opinions about certain countries, incidents, people of various races such as Arabs and
Muslim generally (Gumbel, 2008). Thus, this theory relates to this study based on the first level of
agenda setting theory states, what people should think about. This means that if the agenda of
America is to say that Muslims are terrorists and there is a war against terror, which is against
Muslims, America is setting its agenda through Hollywood movies. Meanwhile, the second level of
the Agenda Setting Theory is how people should think. So, by using this theory, we may reaffirm
that Hollywood movies may have their agenda, which focuses on the Muslims and Islam respectively.

According to Schonemann (2013) states that media theorists have defined the term the Stereotype
Theory in various ways, “a label which involves a process of categorization and evaluation”.
Although it may refer to situations or places, it is most often used in conjunction with representations
of social groups. Over the years several important features of Stereotype Theory have been
highlighted, and thereby constructing a merged image of the nature, role and impact stereotypes have
on social functioning and group interaction. Commonly, Stereotype Theory is seen as a set of shared
beliefs about members of a particular group and the link between group membership and certain
traits. Stereotypes are often negative, imprecise and shallow evaluation of individuals, groups,
nations, or ideologies that stand out as abnormal to the majority called “maps of the world,” and they
exemplify the universal human tendency to categorize people into groups, followed by imputing the
perceived characteristics of the group to those individuals (McCombs, 1972). In this modern world,
there is neither time nor will to revise our stereotypical beliefs, and if we encounter a Muslim, it is
easier to connect this information with the stereotypes we have about what sort of person a Muslim
is believed to be rather than to get know him or her. If we are presented with TV shows, news, or
personal experiences that correspond successfully with what we anticipated, the stereotype is
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reinforced for the future. Apart from that, Stereotype Theory not only tells us what people of a social
group are like, but it also tells us why people are like that, and this can be dangerous (Eisele, 2002)

In sum, Stereotype Theory represents a set of qualities perceived to reflect the essence of a group and
systemically affect how people perceive, process information, and respond to group members. The
stereotypes are transmitted through socialization, media, and language and discourse (Gumbel, 2008).

There are several studies that lead to this research. These previous studies focus on the same theme
of this research, which is the portrayal. However, most of the research focus on the media generally
whether from newspaper, extract from magazines or in the news.

2.4 The portrayal of Muslim

Hafiz (2013) has employed the survey research and content analysis method for the study. For this
study, three Indian movies involving Kashmiri characters had been selected for content analysis. For
the survey research purpose, University of Punjab’s students had been selected as population and a
sample size of 150 students had been taken through simple random sampling. The result of the study
showed that Kashmiri Muslims are portrayed as rebels and terrorist, and are given only negative
characters to perform. This study explains this phenomenon with the help of Agenda Setting Theory.
Muhammad Ashraf Khan (2011 examines the ‘Indian cinema and Muslim image’ from 2002 to 2008.
This research was carried out to scientifically explore how and to what extent Indian cinema was
distorting and changing the Muslim image. This study was done by using the content analysis method
on 50 Indian movies, which were taken out from 350 Muslim-characters, based movies. The result
indicated that Indian cinema was distorting the Muslim image and an anti-Muslim propaganda has
been carried out, not only in India but also at the international level. An important study was
conducted by Shiraz Sheikh (2013) analyzes the portrayal of Muslims in Bollywood Cinema since
the 9/11 incident. It sought to examine the pattern of portrayal that negatively reinforces the bias
against the community and also how with the positive portrayal a balance is sought. For that purpose,
two clusters of movies were selected. One set of loaded with narrative that reinforces notion that the
‘evil community’ is required to be contained while the second set producing a counter narrative. This
study used two theories, which are profitability and an assumption. The finding of the study is shows
that after the 9/11 incident is where the period when many Muslims are framed as terrorists. The
researchers also realized that part of the problem lies, in in their abysmal representation in the media
especially in the movies.

2.5 Stereotypes of Arab

Yasmeen (2005) conducted this study and it was for her thesis for a degree of Masters in Professional
Communication which focused on films released from 1994-2000 that feature Arab/Arab-American
characters. This study used qualitative analysis of six movies that examined specific characters that
were displayed by Arab/Arab-American characters. These films were selected in order to demonstrate
the frequent existence of negative portrayals in popular films prior to the 9/11 incident. A primary
coder, the author, analyzed 108 scenes, while the secondary coder analyzed 10% of the total scenes

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as a reliability check. The findings suggest that negative images of Arabs/Arab-Americans appeared
frequently in the popular films within this study.

2.6 The portrayal of ethnic minorities

Vikanda (2007), analyzes the individual differences, media use, and group identity and vitally. The
purpose of the study was to analyze the influence of television portrayals of ethnic minorities,
particularly in the United States on group vitality and identity. This paper presented the effects of
television depictions of minorities focusing on the individual differences perspectives. Social identity
theory, ethno linguistic identity theory, uses and gratifications and social identity gratifications help
explain the role of individual differences on the use of media for social identity and group vitality.
The result showed that portrayals of ethnic minorities have been improved, particularly for African
Americans and Asian Americans, in terms of the frequency of representation and the distribution of
characters.

3.0 Methodology

In this research, the researchers used employed qualitative method to collect data that to answer the
research objectives. Qualitative method was used to collect the data. In order to collect the data, the
researcher used content analysis. The researchers only analyzed scenes that involve Muslim
characters in The Kingdom.

3.1 Sample and sampling method

The film for the sample was identified using the online Internet Movie Database (IMDb) website
(http:/www.imdb.com), a popular online database owned by Amazon.com that contains categorized
information about movies, television programs, actors, production personnel, and other related media
production and people. The IMDb includes information of over 350,000 theatrically released movies,
not including other titles such as direct-to-video movies, television programs, made-for TV movies,
and mini-series (Internet Movie Database, 2006). The database entry for many movies provides a
brief plot summary and a list of plot keywords, both of which are searchable. These searchable plot
summary and keyword entries were used to obtain the sample for this study. To obtain films for the
sample, the search item “terrorist” was entered into plot summary and keyword searches on the IMDb
site. The term was partially generated by the authors and partially based on alternate keyword listed
for movies obtained in the initial “terrorist” term searches. The selection criteria described above
resulted in an initial identified sample of 1545 terrorism induced movies. However, three quarter of
the movies were cut from the sample because the movies contained no reference of Muslim characters
and most of them were not produced in Hollywood. Apart from that, some of the movies were filmed
before the 9/11 incidents. The reduction of sample was appropriate because this study is primarily
concerned with the portrayal of Muslims in Hollywood movies. After all search and elimination
procedures were completed, a Hollywood movie entitled The Kingdom was chosen to use for analysis.

3.2 Synopsis of The Kingdom

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In Representations of Muslim Bodies in The Kingdom: Deconstructing Discourses in Hollywood,

Aguayo (2009), Sofia Hayati (2013) and Smotherman (2007) disclose the synopsis of the film as
stated in the following paragraphs.

The Kingdom is a film directed by Peter Berg in 2007 and features a cast of well-known U.S actors
such as Jamie Foxx, who portrays FBI Special Agent Ronald Fluery, and Jennifer Garner, who plays
Janet Mayes, a forensic examiner. While other main characters include a bomb technician played by
Chris Cooper, an intelligence analyst played by Jason Bateman, and Colonel Faris Al-Ghazi, a
member of the Saudi State Police (SSP), played by Israeli actor Ashraf Barhom. This story is inspired
by two bombings in Saudi Arabia a few years back then.

The story follows a team of FBI agents investigating the terrorist bombing of an American foreign
workers compound in Saudi Arabia. The afore-mentioned four U.S. Special Agents are deployed to
investigate the bombing, but have only five days to catch the criminals, giving the film a sense of
urgency and ticking time-bomb logic. The team is paired up with Col. Al-Ghazi, who will work with
them throughout the investigation. From the beginning, there is tension between the Americans and
the Saudis, as the former are forced to live in a gymnasium that is locked overnight, limiting the hours
of investigation and collection of evidence to which they are accustomed as U.S. authorities. Col. Al-
Ghazi allies himself with the Americans as he too wishes to catch the terrorists, but he is also
constrained by the Saudi Royal Family, who does not want any harm to come to the FBI agents on
Saudi soil, since that could jeopardize U.S.-Saudi relations. Eventually, after much pleading, the FBI
team is given permission by the Saudi Prince to probe the crime scene according to their American
methods. As the story unfolds, they find the perpetrator, ‘a wanna-be Osama Bin Laden’ named Abu
Hamza. The closing scenes end with a major car chase and shootout between the “good guys” (the
Americans and Col. Al-Ghazi) and the “bad guys” (the terrorists). Violent, bloody scenes follow in
an apartment building where they search for the FBI intelligence analyst, who has been kidnapped,
but whom they eventually rescue.

In the final shootout scene, the agents find themselves in a room filled entirely with Muslim women
and children, save for one older Muslim man lying on a couch. Mayes passes a lollipop to a frightened
Muslim girl, who responds by handing her a blue marble. Mayes, Col. Al-Ghazi and Fleury realize
that this is the same type of marble that suicide bombers strap onto themselves before they self-
detonate. This dramatically changes the feeling in the room because the team is now aware that a
potential terrorist is in there with them. Col. Al-Ghazi offers to help the old man on the couch get
onto his feet in an attempt to get a glimpse of the man’s hand since, as we are informed earlier in the
film, bomb-makers are known to have missing fingers due to their dangerous craft. The man accepts
the offer, which exposes his missing fingers to the Colonel, who utters, “Abu Hamza”. A shoot-out
occurs in which Abu Hamza and the Colonel, as well as the latter’s murderer—the former’s teenaged
grandson— are all killed. In the end, the Americans find their target, Abu Hamza, but at the expense
of his young grandson, who is trying to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps, and the Saudi Colonel.

The final scene depicts two overlapping conversations, the first between a young Muslim boy and his
mother, and the second between Fleury and Mayes. What these conversations tell us is that this war
between ‘us’ and ‘them’ will never end. The hate and need for revenge is so consuming that both
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sides articulate wishes to “kill them all”. This leaves us with a feeling that the differences between
both sides are incommensurable and will continue to erupt in violence.

4.0 Findings and analysis

The movie was analyzed by utilizing content analysis method. Data was analyzed qualitatively and
the method is used in order to explain deeper so that it is understandable and to enhance effectiveness
of film medium in this research. The movie was used as the unit of analysis. In order to conduct the
content analysis, the researchers made three categories or the coded variables, which are the terrorist
portrayal, terrorist violence and getups / dressings.

4.1 Terrorist portrayal

The coding was used to analyze how Muslims are portrayed as terrorists. Apart from that, the coding
also used to explore the extent to which certain kind of images of Muslims were generally portrayed
in this film that involve Muslims and terrorism. For example, a Muslim kills people with a gun or
knife or bombarded a building with bombs. Coding protocols are described using scenes (minute) vs.
depictions.

Positive portrayals depict the characters as heroic, likeable, sympathetic or reasonable whereas the
negative portrayals depict the characters as villainous, unlikeable, unsympathetic or unreasonable.
However, if there is no determination can be made of the characters’ portrayal, code is neutral. In the
movie, the portrayal of terrorist starts at minute 6:57.

Figure 1
Scene Depiction
(minute)
6:57 Two Muslims pretending to be police and started shooting the actual polices who are
on duty in a truck

The scene continues with those Muslims shooting random people including adults and kids around
the compound. According to Eggert (2007) the Americanization of the environment makes their
deaths all the more potent. In between the scenes, there were few scenes that show a group of Muslim
observing the situation on top of a building. These particular scenes try to show that those they are
the people who behind the terrorist attack. There was a kid who recorded the situation using a camera
and the rest of the group were watching by using binoculars.
Figure 2
Scene Depiction
(minute)
9.00 A lone bomber dressed as a policeman detonating a small explosive on the ball field,
which caused dozens of death
11.45 Explosion at the night, which caused more than 200 deaths.
56:06 The Muslims busy working on their bombs in a house

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1:15:42 Abu Hamza, the leader of the terrorist filming a video while reciting the lines from al-
Quran
1:15:52 Muslims make a car bomb
1:20:45 Muslims terrorists dressed up as policemen and kidnapping Leavitt, one of the FBI
team members
1:28:27 Muslims men wearing ‘serban’ are preparing an execution video for Leavitt
1:35:13 The FBIs agents found a Muslim family in the apartment

All the scenes above are the portrayal of Muslim, which are shown in the movie. It can be concluded
that in this film, the director, Peter Berg tried to portray Muslims as terrorism. According to Sofia
(2013), Los Angeles Times’ Kenneth Turan, and the New York Times’ A.O. Scott wrote that “just
as “Rambo” offered the fantasy of a do-over on Vietnam, The Kingdom can be seen as a wishful
revisionist scenario for the American response to Islamic fundamentalist terrorism” (Shiraz Sheikh,
2013). Similarly, Shaheen (2008) highlights that Berg’s political message is simple: “All Arab
Muslims, but notably the Saudis men, women, even children are Muslim terrorists out to kill
Americans. The film features two kinds of Saudis: dozens of heinous grenade-launching terrorists
and those other Saudis who are mute, overwhelmingly obstructive, uninterested in justice, and fully
compromised by terrorists. So we had better kill them before they kill us!” In fact, the depiction of
Muslims in Hollywood should not be surprising. Arabs and Muslims are frequently linked with
violence and terrorism, perpetuating the stereotype that Arabs and Muslims are terrorists. For many
within the U.S, the word “terrorism” has become coincident with Arabs, Muslims, and Islam (Sara,
2013).

It is a fact that Islam and Muslims are historically looked down upon by the West and Middle Asia.
This problem can be traced back to 1400 years ago. At that time, Islam and Christianity were involved
in the “crusades” in the 1100’s and in the Ottoman and Moorish control in Europe. Islam started to
threaten the position of the Christian churches and the ruling class. The Western elites, mainly
governments and churches, became highly involved in making sure that negative images were
presented about Islam to their counterparts. As a result, not only were battles fought against Islam,
but also a war of words was initiated to make sure Islam would not have any converts or sympathizers
in the West. These kinds of actions and feelings that the West had long ago still seem to be the case
in the West today (Ivory, 2007).

Today, Islam and Muslims are extremely traumatic news in the West. Said (1995) points out “The
term Islam as it is used today seems to mean one simple thing, but in fact, it is in part a fiction, in
part an ideological label, and in part a minimal designation of a religion called Islam.” Apart from
that, one of its closed views about Islam, this stated that Islam is perceived as “violent, aggressive,
threatening, supportive of terrorism and engaged in a clash of civilizations”. This is because
according to Schatz (2009), the repeated coverage of Muslims as terrorists in the media leads to the
belief that they are actually terrorists. Nevertheless, this coverage is completely misleading, and a
great deal in this energetic coverage is far from the objective material. In many instances, Islam has
licensed not only patent inaccuracy, but also expressions of unrestrained ethnocentrism, cultural and
even racial hatred, with deep yet paradoxically free-floating hostility (Parry, 2007).

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To sum up, Shaheen (2008) and Blauvelt (2008) share same opinion that The Kingdom decidedly
conflicted concerning its portrayal of Muslim extremists and making sure the pro-America agenda is
clear. It is obvious that this film has more agendas going on than simply telling a story. Schonemann
(2013) notes in his film review of The Kingdom that “the only thing that appears to be true is that
deserts in Saudi Arabia look quite similar”. He also added, “The Saudis are portrayed as ruthless
religious zealots and terrorists willing to murder the innocent or as bumbling idiots that have no
concepts of forensics as they accidentally destroy the crime scene”. This film is clearly a response to
the 9/11 incident, and using the social hype and fear around terrorism in order to portray Muslims
and Islam as the “bad people” or terrorists.

4.2 Violent acts

Violence is operationally defined, in accordance with the National Television Violence Study
(Hayward, 2006), as “intentional aggression, physical force, or threat of physical force designed to
physically harm an animate being or group of beings”. Several scenes in the movie involves violent
act committed by Muslim terrorists. This measure includes only such violence committed by
terrorists, either on-screen or in where violence could clearly indirect those have been committed by
terrorists. Plus, the mere display of weapons was counted including when the threats involved.
Nonetheless, the aggression in a sporting context (e.g., a boxing match) was not counted as violence
because the variable was enumerated by counting the number of scenes featuring terrorist violence.

Figure 3
Scene Depiction
(minute)
6:58 Two terrorists dressed up as policemen and started shooting two policemen in the car
by guns.
7:32 Two terrorists continued killing random people in the neighborhood
9:01 One terrorist dressed up as policeman sacrificed himself as a suicide bomber
1:19:55 Terrorists bombed a car in front of the FBI’s truck convoy
1:20:37 Four terrorists dressed up as Saudis policemen emerged from the van while holding
rifles and started shouting at FBI team
1:20:59 Terrorists aggressively pulled Leavitt out from the van and start beating him up once
they succeed in pulling him out because Leavitt tried to escape.
1:23:07 Terrorists beat Leavitt up real hard. He was tortured badly by them while on the way to
the terrorists’ hideout in Al- Suweidi
1:24:29 Leavitt was violently dragged by the terrorists with his mouth covered and his hands
are tightly tied
1:25:12 Two gunmen came out from the alley and launched rocket-propelled grenades at them,
which led to a gun firing between Abu Hamza’s men and the FBIs
1:26:08 Terrorists who stood beside Leavitt while holding rifles around their shoulders. The
terrorists were preparing to shoot a video to while holding Leavitt as hostage
1:26:28 Terrorists kept firing and launching grenades to the FBIs and Al-Ghazi and terrorist are
still recording the video while Leavitt looked so anxious as there is a man who had put
a blade around his neck and he was completely surrounded by men were holding guns
and rifles.
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1:28:55 Leavitt found an opportunity and made an attack to interrupt the recording session. He
kicked the camera and tried to escape but he failed. The terrorists quickly held him and
cruelly hit him in the face while the others were busy to start recording once again.
1:29:39 The shooting scene struck again
1:32:42 Special Agent Janet Mayes overheard some noises at minute 1:32:42 and she went into
a room where the recording session took place. In the meantime, the terrorists were
about to kill Leavitt while one man enumerates some dialogues in Arabic
1:33:10 A terrorist pulled her down and beat her without any mercy while Leavitt was still
struggling to untie himself
1:36:42 Abu Hamza’s grandson came out from kitchen and killed al-Ghazi by shooting him to
the head
1:37::05 Abu Hamza pulled out his rifle from his seat to Fleury but he was shot first by one of
the al-Ghazi’s policemen

As shown in the movie, Muslims are portrayed as violent terrorists. As stated by Sofia Hayati (2013)
in his review about The Kingdom, he said, “Given Berg’s rhetoric, I’d hoped his film would eliminate
stereotypes: instead, it embellishes them, blatantly exploiting the viewer’s emotions”. This stereotype
usually represents violence as an inseparable part of being Muslim, as well as religion as justification
for violent actions.

According to Yasmeen (2005), after the September 11 incident, terrorist labeling has been identified
as Muslim fundamentalists or ‘islamists’ which has increased some prejudice, discrimination against
and attacks on Muslims or Middle East. A famous scholar in the US management, Peter Drucker
(Laqueur, 2002), talks about “post-modern” world, once stressed that the next threats after the
downfall of the Soviet on the development of capitalism are the attacks made by the suicide bombers
which somehow directs towards Islam, because there are many Muslim activities especially from
targeted groups that apply the suicide bombing method as revenge against discrimination made by
the West over Muslims. For instance, as shown in the movie, there is scene that shows a suicide
bomber at minute 9:01 which directly states that Muslims are terrorists and violent by killing those
people.

Apart from that, other media also portray that Muslims are violent. Based on the data from Sofia
Hayati (2013) there were clearly reported articles mainly portraying Islam carrying out violent acts
such as chaos, riot, killings, attacks, wars and etc. In the film, many scenes portray those images
about Muslims. The first sequence of The Kingdom presents sweeping violent scenes of Americans
being brutally killed by the attacks of a number of Saudi extremists (Ouidyane Ealouardaoui). Apart
from that, according to Halse (2012), she states that the violence is pervasive and often graphic, but
not gratuitous. It gives the audience a very realistic idea of what takes place when terrorism strikes,
but could have been much worse. Based on her review, it can be seen that the portrayal of terrorist
violence in this film is vivid, which implicitly influence the audience’s perception towards Muslims.
Most people’s perceptions of Islam and Muslims in the US are shaped by media coverage through
stereotyping in movies, TV shows, cartoons and other media (Nurullah, 2010)

4.3 Getups / dressing

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As stated by Sheena (2008), film costuming serves two equal purposes, the first is to support the
narrative by creating authentic characters (people) and the second is composition, to provide balance
within the frame by using color, texture and silhouette. Costumes or getups in film are like the
characters they embody; it must evolve within the context of the story and the arc of the character
within it. The reason why getups are being examined in this film is because to identify the Muslims’
image that correlated to their getup or dressing that is portrayed in the film.

Figure 4
Scene Depiction
(minute)
6.32 A group of Muslims men wearing Arabic traditional clothes which consist of a long
white robe (tawb or taub) and the headscarf (keffiyeh) standing on top of a building
while watching their men murder random people in the neighborhood
6.58 The upper hand of the terrorists appeared
1:14:19 A few Muslims wearing kandura (an ankle-length Arab garment, similar to a robe) are
busy making bombs and car bomb in a house.
1:17:02 Death of Muslims killed by the FBI agents and the dead were wearing kandura and
kopiah, which indirectly portrayed them as terrorists
1:21:37 Two Muslims men wearing headscarves and white robe and one Muslim man wearing
the kopiah and kandura in a car while firing at the FBIs using rifles
1:25:11 Two Muslims characters who were wearing white robes and covered their face with the
headscarves appeared from the alley while holding grenades and attacked the FBIs with
it
1:26:01 A shooting scene at 1:26:01 between the FBIs and the terrorists
1:26:16 Several Muslims men who wearing full Arab customs waiting for Leavitt as he was
kidnapped by the terrorists in a room
1:36:29 Abu Hamza was wearing a long white robe and headscarf while resting near the
window.

The uses of getups or dressing in this film are meant to strengthen the portrayal of Muslims as
terrorists. It can be seen above where the film shows the scenes that involves Muslims as the bad
guys and at the same time they wear attires that is associated with Islam generally such as white robes
or thobes, headscarf’s gutra), tagia (a small white cap that keeps the gutra tight) and karduba. It is
undeniable that those attires are commonly linked with the Saudis society, a society that is based on
religion and most of them are Muslims. However, according to Sara (2013) in the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), nothing is stated in Islam that obligates men or women to wear the traditional
clothing however it is just merely a sign of belonging to the Arabic culture and to the Muslim religion.

5.0 Conclusion and recommendations

The main concern of this study has been to shed some light over the distorted images and stereotype,
which typically characterize Western films’ representation of Muslims and Islam generally. This
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thesis argues that Muslims and Islam stereotypically are stereotypically portrayed as terrorists in the
chosen Hollywood movie, The Kingdom with reference to three aspects, which are terrorist portrayal,
terrorist violence and getups/dressings.

The study on this film found that there are portrayals of terrorism, which use Muslims as the subject.
This is clearly shown in the findings and discussion where the selected scenes that involve Muslims
and terrorism were analyzed and supported by the justifications of the portrayals.
This study integrates the theoretical discussion of the Stereotype and Agenda Setting theories in
reference to the image of Muslims that is portrayed in the film. As shown in the findings, the film
used stereotype to portray the image of Muslim as violent and cruel. Due to the portrayal of Muslims
as terrorists, through the agenda setting method of the director of the film, this film reinforces
stereotypes about Muslims as terrorists or extremists. The researcher’s analysis found that, by
frequently showing Muslims in violent scenes in the movie, it would create a negative stereotype
towards Muslims thus affecting the image of Muslims. In fact, Shaheen (2008) categorizes The
Kingdom among the Hollywood films that promote racist stereotypes. To note, because of the
stereotype about the image of Muslim that being set in people’s mind generally, it has led to an
increase in Islamophobia (fear of hatred of Islam) across the globe. In fact, this proves that the
portrayals of Muslims as terrorists in film are one of the factors that contribute to the Islamophobia.
Apart from the violence that is portrayed in the film, the film also includes stereotypes about Muslims
through getups or dressing. It is evident that the director tries to label Muslims through getups or
dressing that is used by Muslim characters in the film. Apart from that, this film also tries to show
about how a Muslim terrorist dresses up and looks like. Through agenda setting, this film tries to set
an image of how the Muslim terrorists look like and thus generating stereotypes even though it might
be wrong. Besides, it exhibits that the director and the film itself have limited understanding towards
Muslims.

Generally, journalists, reporters, newspapers, politicians, and the media like films and TV shows that
a big role for the misinterpretations of Muslims. In addition, there are many people who stereotype
Muslims representing them as a threat to the country. The media especially helps to influence the
minds of people into thinking that Muslims are terrorists, "the analysis of the Media coverage showed
that about 58 % of the articles dealing with Muslims and Islam were negatively framed and
categorized as contributing to shaping hostility towards Muslims and Islam" (Sara, 2013). There has
been only 8% news of Muslim people that are shown in a positive way, which only showed how
diverse they are. The public views on Muslims have changed dramatically because of the false
portrayal. As the Agenda Setting theory suggests, according to Dyer (2002), agenda setting is the
media's ability to transfer salience issues through their new agenda. This way, the public agenda can
form an understanding of the salience issues. . Thus, this agenda driven anti-Islamic/Muslim rhetoric
in the media added to public hatred and anger towards Muslim.

To conclude, Hollywood’s influence cannot be underestimated. After the initial screening at the
cinema, these films are reproduced in various forms and circulate around the globe, reaching
worldwide audiences in more than 100 countries. Shaheen (2003) is no doubt that the caricatures of
the Arab in film have a considerable effect on all people, even influencing world public opinion and
policy.
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Based on the content analysis and the findings obtained, The Kingdom definitely does portray
Muslims as terrorist in this film. Consequently, the image of Muslims and Islam are affected
negatively, which has the negative stereotype towards Muslims people, which is Muslims are
terrorist. Despite the allegations that although there are extremist Arabs and Muslims who are
terrorists, it is crucial to remember, not every Muslim is a terrorist. This paper also proves that the
media specifically this film has power role in moulding the viewers’ perception in reality. This study
is hoped to be as a guideline for future researchers or journalists in portraying a fairer issue or image
concerning to Islam and Muslims. As Islam is a religion of peace, it is expected that Islam is not
being stereotyped as such and Muslims in general are not represented negatively despite the
involvement of certain Islamist groups in the so-called terrorism.

5.1 Recommendations

The results of the current study point the way to future research. The analysis of several Hollywood
movies rather than one movie, would give a richer picture of the stereotyping of Muslims and Islam
and agenda setting that has been used by the Westerners, and would either give legitimacy to the
claims of this thesis, or discover that the findings have different explanations. According to Parry,
with the aim of obtaining a more nuanced look, future research about exploring media stereotyping
of Muslims may also benefits by increasing the number of topics and cases to examine. For example,
the future researchers may select cases pertaining to Muslims that are controversial. For instance, the
current issue that is trending nowadays which is Donald Trump’s recent statements regarding
Muslims as one of his manifestos in running for presidency of United States of America and a
comparative study between the portrayal of Muslim in Hollywood movies and Bollywood movies.
The comparative studies would be interesting, since the portrayal of Muslims seem to be famous in
terrorism films. It would also be valuable to explore whether the common stereotypes about Muslims
are portrayed differently or they have the same agendas. Despite commonly held stereotypical beliefs,
Muslims are not all the same with fixed traits, but Muslims are unique individuals, capable of
changing and adapting to new situations (Karim, 2003). Thus, future researchers are hoped to
encourage a new perception of Islam in general, which it is a good way of changing anti-Muslim
sentiments and the acceptance of the media’s stereotypical portrayals.

References

Books

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Edward W Said (1997) Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See
the Rest of the World. Vintage Publishing, UK.
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Grainge, P. (2003). Memory and popular film. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Hayward, S. (2006), Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts, Canada: Routledge.
Karim, K. H. (1997), "The Historical Resilience of Primary Stereotypes: Core Images of the
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Karim, K. H. (2003), Islamic Peril: Media and Global Violence, Montreal/New York,
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Laqueur, W. (2002). A History of Terrorism. New Jersey. Transaction Publishers.
Pickering, M. (2001), Stereotyping: The Politics of Representation, Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire & New York: Palgrave.
Said, E. W. (1995), Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient, London: Penguin.
Shaheen, J. G. (2008), Guilty: Hollywood’s Verdict on Arabs After 9/11, Northampton: Olive
Branch Press.

Journals

Aguayo, M. (2009). Representations of Muslim Bodies in The Kingdom: Deconstructing

Discourses in Hollywood. Global Media Journal, Canadian Edition. Retrieved from
http://www.gmj.uottawa.ca/0902/v2i2_aguayo.pdf
Ehsan Kabir (2013). The representation of Islam in the land of Hollywood: Research proposal.
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_of_Hollywood
Eisele, J. C. (2002), The Wild East: Deconstructing the Language of Genre in the Hollywood
Eastern, Cinema Journal, 41.4, pp. 68–94.
Eggert, B. (2007). The Kingdom. Deep Focus Review. Retrieved from
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Gumbel, A. (2008), "Operation stereotype", The National Newspaper, 1 July.
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6 June 2009.
Hafiz Qasir Abbas (2013). Construction of Differences through Movies: A Case Study of Portrayal
of Kashmiri Muslims in Indian Movies. Cross-Cultural Communication, Vol. 9, No. 6,
2013, pp. 35-39.
Halse, R. (2012), "Negotiating boundaries between us and them: Ethnic Norwegians and
Norwegian Muslims speak out about the ‘next door neighbour terrorist “in 24", Nordicom
Review 33(1).
Halse, R. (2012), "Negotiating boundaries between us and them: Ethnic Norwegians and
Norwegian Muslims speak out about the ‘next door neighbour terrorist “in 24", Nordicom
Review 33(1).
Internet Movie Database. (2006). IMDb statistics. Retrieved from
http://www.imdb.com/database_statistics
Ivory, D. J. (2007) Terrorism in Film Trailers: Demographics, Portrayals, Violence, and Changes in
Content after September 11, 2001. Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/2665594/Terrorism_in_Film_Trailers_Demographi
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cs_Portrayals_Violence_and_Changes_in_Content_After_September_11_20 01
Mandel, D. (2001), "Muslims on the Silver Screen", Middle East Quarterly 8.2, pp. 19–31.
McCombs, M., & Shaw, D. (1972). The agenda setting function of mass media. Public Opinion
Quarterly, 36 (2) doi: 10.1086/26799
Michalak, L. (1988), "Cruel and Unusual: Negative Images of Arabs in American Popular
Culture", ADC Issue Paper, 15, pp. 1–42.
Muhammad Ashraf Khan (2011). Portrayal of the Muslim Community and Islam by Indian cinema
Post 9/11-An Analysis of Movies (2002-2008). Pakistan Journal of Islamic Research. Vol 28
(1).
Nurullah (2010). Analysis of '24' TV Series and Portrayal of Muslims in Media.
http://www.eurasiareview.com/201006203593/analysis-of- 24- tv-series-and-portrayal-of-
muslims-in-media.html.
Parry, W. (2007), "‘24’ Under Fire from Muslim Groups", CBS News, 17 January.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/18/entertainment/main2371842.shtml Accessed 5
September 2008.
Pornsakulvanich, V. (2007). Television portrayals of ethnic minorities in the United Stated: The
Analysis of individual differences, media use, and group identity and vitality. ABAC Journal,
27(No. 3), 22-28. Retrieved from
http://www.journal.au.edu/abac_journal/2007/sep07/p2TelevisionPortrayalsOf
EthnicMinorities_abacJV27n3.pdf
Sara, Tina, Kathrine, & Kristina. (2013). Hate crimes against Muslims only escalating 10 years
after 9/11. The Arab American news. Retrieved from
http://www.arabamericannews.com/news/news/id_6246/Hate-crimes-against-Muslims-only-
Escalating-10-years-after-9-11-.html
Savage, M. (2002). Shaheen, civil rights group brace for negative portrayal of Arabs in post Sept.
11 Movies. Arab American Business. Retrieved July 12, 2004, from
http://www.arabamericanbusiness.com.
Shiraz Sheikh (2013). Green on silver: Manufacturing Muslim image through Bollywood cinema.
Muslim South Asia Conference. Retrieved from https://www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-
institute/musa/events/file89647.pdf
Schonemann, J (2013). The Stereotyping of Muslims: An Analysis of The York Times’ and The
Washington Times’ Coverage of Veiling and the Muhammad Cartoon Controversy.
Retrieved from https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/37081/Schxnemann-
Master.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Schatz, T. & Perren, A. (2009) Hollywood: Specific Areas of Media Research. Retrieved from
http://www.sagepub.com/mcquail6/PDF/Chapter%2024%20-
%20The%20SAGE%20Handbook%20of%20Media%20Studies.pdf
Sofia Hayati, Fuziah, Salleh & Nizam (2013). The Framing of International Media on Islam and
Terrorism. Retrieved from http://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/viewFile/881/924
Smotherman, R. (n.d.). Movie Review: The Kingdom. Retrieved from
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Traditional wear in the UAE. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://sites.google.com/site/exploringtheuae/presentation/culture/traditional-wear
Yasmeen Elayan (2005) Stereotypes of Arab and Arab-Americans in Hollywood movies released
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during 1994-2000. Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1003. Retrieved from
http://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2160&context=etd
Shiraz Sheikh (2013). Green on Silver: Manufacturing Muslim Image through Bollywood Cinema.
Presented at Muslim South Asia Conference 28 Oct, 2013.
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Vikanda Pornsakulvanich (2007). Television Portrayal of Ethnic Minorities in the United States.
ABAC Journal. Vol 27(1).
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Tennessee State University.
Shaheen, J. G. (2000). "Hollywoods Muslim Arabs", The Muslim World, 90.1–2, pp. 22–43.

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MALAY TRANSLATION OF CULTURAL ELEMENTS IN THE ARABIC DRAMA

‘SHAHRAZAD’

*1Noor Eliza Abdul Rahman, 2Nurazan Mohmad Rouyan

1
Fakulti Pengajian Kontemporari Islam, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kampus Gong Badak,
21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
2
Fakulti Bahasa dan Komunikasi, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kampus Gong Badak, 21300
Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
*Corresponding author: [email protected]

ABSTRACT
This study discusses various strategies employed in the translation of Arabic cultural elements in the Malay
subtitles of an Arabic syndicated drama, ‘Shahrazad’. The objectives of this study are to identify the translation
strategies applied by the subtitlists in translating Arabic cultural elements, and subsequently, to suggest
appropriate strategies in the translation of these cultural elements. This qualitative study uses content analysis
for data collection. Translation strategies put forth by scholars such as Newmark (1998), Baker (1992), and
Harvey (2000) were utilised to analyse ten translation samples. The results indicated that the subtitlists made
use of multiple strategies in translating the cultural elements, i.e., literal translation, transference, functional
equivalence, cultural equivalence, synonymy, and couplets in translating cultural elements. This study
proposes the use of transference strategy with assimilation in translating Arabic cultural elements that share
similar roots with the Malays. Meanwhile, literal translation and synonymy strategy can be used to translate
cultural elements that are well-known to locals but have yet to be fully incorporated into the Malay language.
In contrast, cultural elements that are specific to Arabs but are alien to Malays can be translated by taking into
account both of their functions and forms. This study also proposed that translating cultural elements can be
done using multiple strategies by factoring in its suitability, contextual meaning, and the need to deliver the
messages to the targeted audiences.

Keywords: Malay- Arabic translation; translation strategies, subtitles, cultural elements

1.0 Introduction

Translation involves more than mere linguistical aspect, but it also involves some other aspects as
well i.e., culture and worldview. A mere understanding of the source language (SL) linguistics is
rather inadequate as deep understanding of the target language (TL) cultural background is just as
important. According to Dayang Zainon (2008: 470), culture is a collection of experience that covers
history, social structures, religion, customs and traditions, and household items. Language is also a
part of elements that constitute a culture. Language is able to manifest cultural elements due to its
function as one of the means to express one's cultural background. A translation process begins as
soon as you approach a different culture other than your own. Nida (1996: 83) divides cultural
problem into several parts, i.e., ecology, material (artefacts), working-social and past time activities,
organisational culture, customs, concepts and non-verbal communications. This study however,

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focuses only on three cultural aspects, i.e., ecology, material, and social by studying the strategies
that were used by subtitle editors to translate Arabic cultural aspects into Malay.
1.1. Definition of ecological, material, and social cultures

1.1.1. Ecological cultures

Ecology is defined as a study of living beings in its habitats or a discipline that studies the structure
and functions of the universe, as well as human as part of the natural environment (Saberi 1986: 1).
Ecology is a discipline that discusses geographical features such as the earth's shape, climates, plants
and animals. In the Malay culture, paddy and rice is instrumental in their staple diet. Hence, there are
rich vocabularies that are related to them. "Padi, "antah", and "nasi" for example, are words that play
instrumental parts in Malay vocabulary body. For the Arabs on the other hand, words that are
specifically related to their staple diet, i.e., dates are also known as rutob and tamar. The same can be
implied through their main mode of transportation—camel, which is also known through multiple
names such as ‫ ﺟﻤﻞ‬،‫ ﻧﺎﻗﺔ‬،‫ﺑﻌﯿﺮ‬and ‫إﺑﻞ‬. These examples have shown the ecological differences between
these two nations, and as such, present a unique set of challenges to translators in choosing
appropriate words to be translated into their respective languages.
1.1.2. Material culture

Hanley (1997: 12) defines material culture as “…the physical objects that people use or consume in
their everyday lives, most of which are either made or else natural objects put to specific use of
people.” Hanley's definition covers basic needs in human life, i.e., foods, clothes, and shelter. It refers
to concrete objects that are used in one's daily life. Although material culture is usually expressed
with objects, it is also inherently intertwine with one's way of thinking, as well as cultural values that
are often expressed in specific terms.
Newmark (1988: 97-98) on the other hand, categorises material cultures into four aspects, i.e. food,
clothes, buildings, and transportation. Puteri Roslina (2008: 498) further adds two other aspects of
tools and games into the categories. The problem usually lies in translating material cultural element
that does not has its equivalence in the target language (TL). For instance, Arabic foods such as ‫طﺒﻮﻟﺔ‬,
‫رﯾﺶ‬, ‫ ﺣﻤﺺ‬and ‫ ﺑﺴﺒﻮﺳﺔ‬do not have its equivalences in Malay (Majdi 2009: 169). In addition, Libyan
Arabs for example, utilise words such as ‫اﻟﺴﺮﯾﺔ‬, ‫اﻟﻐﺮﻣﻠﺔ‬, ‫ اﻟﺰﺑﻮن‬for their clothes and they did not have
its Malay-equivalents as well (Maheram 2008: 287). Malays on the other hand, also possesses
traditional words that do not have its Arabic equivalents—“pulut kuning”, “jala mas”, “ketupat” and
“lemang”. The same can be implied for Malay traditional clothes such as “baju kurung”, “kebaya”,
“sampin” and “baju Melayu”. If such words are to be translated into any TL, it calls for careful
consideration and the wisdom of the translators.
1.1.3. Socio-cultural elements

Newmark (1988: 98) defines socio-culture as activities that are related to jobs, social structures as
well as favourite past-time activities. According to Norazit (1989: 7), a social system is defined as
social institutions that make up a society such as economy, family, politics, and other life-related
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activities and cultures that define human. Discussion about social cultures is wide-ranging as
compared to other types of cultures. Social cultures cover aspects such as pronoun, nicknames, and
rituals, habitual customs, and daily activities.
For example, Arabic socio-cultural elements that do not have its Malay equivalence are practices
such as ‫( ﻛﺒﯿﺴﺔ‬adding several days in a year in order for the seasons to come in exact order) and ‫اﻟﻨٮﺴﻲء‬
(a practice to shorten or delay month) (Reha 2009: 254). The same goes for matrimonial ceremonies
where on Mondays ‫( اﻟﻔﻘﮫ‬the groom will send make ups or adornments) and ‫( ﻟﯿﻠﺔاﻟﺨﯿﻤﺔ‬the day to
beautify the bride) (Abdul Basir 2002: 79). Malays are also rich in its matrimonial ceremonies such
as solemnisation ceremony, majlis berinai, majlis khatam Quran, upacara persandingan, and upacara
bersiram. Words that are related to rituals, customs, ceremonies are usually more challenging to
translate into TL.
1.2 Subtitle definition

Luyken et al. (1991: 31) defines subtitle as “… condensed written translations of source dialogue
which appear as lines of text, usually positioned towards the bottom of the screen. Subtitle (sic)
appears and disappears to coincide in time with the corresponding portion of the source dialogue.”
Wan Amizah (1998: 2) defines subtitle as translated dialogs or speeches in a TV show or a film that
are written and superimposed on the screen in synchronisation with the show’s dialogue or speeches.
In summary, subtitle is a translation of dialogues or scripts that are simultaneously shown at the
bottom of the TV screen, which has gone through editing process in order to overcome space and
time constraints.
1.3 Objectives of the study

This study outlines the following objectives of the study:

a. To identify strategies utilised by subtitle editors in translating ecological, material and socio-
cultural elements.
b. To suggest appropriate strategies by subtitle editors in translating cultural elements.

1.4 Study material

The Arabic syndicated drama entitled “Shahrazad” is a tale of wise woman named Shahrazad and the
ensuing conflicts in the state of Karaman. Shahrazad is the lead character in Alf Laylah wa Laylah
(Arabian Nights), in which she escaped multiple murder attempts by her Sultan.
2.0 Translation strategies

The analysis on translation of cultural elements are done according to the translation strategies as
argued by Newmark (1988: 68-93), Baker (1992: 23-43) and Harvey (2000: 2-6). This study however,
opted to use strategies that are often used in subtitle editing process.

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2.1 Literal translation

Literal translation is a word-for-word translation strategy. This is usually the first step in most subtitle
editing process. The text will then be modified by adding/deleting words that will make the text more
comprehensible to the viewers (Maheram 2008: 116). Literal translation is also a process whereby
the text is usually in dictionary-forms.
2.2 Transference

Transference is a process whereby the editor will transfer a word from one language to another. In
the context of Arabic-Malay cultural translation, this transference strategy can be further divided into
three:
2.2.1 Transliteration

Transliteration is to represent or spell in the characters of another alphabet (Merriam-Webster

Dictionary 2015). Newmark (1988: 82) states that transliteration is a transference process, followed
by matching or adapting words from SL into writings and morphologies of TL. This strategy is being
practiced in which the SL did not have its equivalence in the TL. However, this strategy is only
applied in cases where words from the SL are yet to be transferred or assimilated into TL. For
instance, words such as Bayt al-Hikmah, and Bayt al-Niran are transliterated into Malay from its
Arabic characters.
2.2.2 Assimilation

Assimilation is one of the transference strategies in which the borrowed words that are characterised
by absorption features in Malay. Assimilated words are also known as absorbed words and carry
features that can be easily traced through its spelling and sound. Assimilation means to absorb into
the culture (Merriam Webster Dictionary 2015). Assimilation involves the change in sound and
pronunciation of SL according to the TL. For example, words such as imam, "insan", "murtad" and
"abad". This strategy refers to the assimilation of cultural elements through words that are absorbed
from SL into TL.
2.2.3 Borrowing

According to Goh (2008: 48), this borrowing strategy is not limited to words from the SL itself, but
from other languages as well. The difference between this strategy and assimilation is that
assimilation uses words exclusively from the SL. For example, in this sentence, ‫زرت أم اﻟﻤﺆﻣﻨﯿﻦ‬was
translated into Malay as "Saya menziarahi Ummul Mukminin" (I visited Ummul Mukminin).
Meanwhile, borrowing strategy uses words from SL and/or foreign languages as well. For example,
word such as ‫اﻟﺘﻮﻓﯿﻖ‬is matched with "hidayah" (guidance) and ‫ اﻹدارة‬is translated as “ofis” (office).
2.2.4 Functional equivalent

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This strategy requires generalisation and neutralisation processes, which will result in cultural free
terms, or concepts that bear the same connotation with the SL (Newmark 1988: 83; Goh 2008: 481).
For instance, Arabic words such as ‫ اﻟﺸﻄﺎﺋﺮ واﻟﻔﻄﺎﺋﺮ‬which has literal translation of ‘sandwich bread’
and ‘pastries’, is being translated as “roti” (bread) and kueh instead (Maheram 2008: 278-279).
2.2.5 Cultural equivalent

Word that represents cultural elements in the SL are being translated into its “approximate cultural
equivalents” (Newmark 1988: 83). This strategy is applied by translating source words into words
that perform similar function in the TL although they may carry dissimilar forms. This is because
figurative language works hand-in-hand with cultural aspects of one’s society. The use of this strategy
can be traced in the Arabic-Malay translation or words such as ‫ وزﯾﺮ‬and ‫ﺟﺎرﯾﺔ‬, which are translated
into “bendahara” (viceroy) and “dayang" (handmaiden) respectively.
2.2.6 Synonymy

In this strategy, synonyms are used in the sense of a near TL equivalent to an SL in a context, where
a precise equivalent may or may not exist. This strategy however, is only appropriate where literal
translation is not possible and because the word does not carry enough weight in the text as a whole
(Newmark 1988:84; Goh 2008: 481). In this sentence, ‫أﻋﻠﻦ اﻟﺪﻛﺘﻮر ﺣﺴﻦ ﻛﺘﺎﻧﻲ أﻧﮫ ﺑﺤﺚ ﻣﻊ وﻓﺪ اﻟﻐﺎﺑﺎت ﻣﻮﺿﻮع‬
.... ‫اﻧﺘﺎج اﻟﺨﺸﺐ‬was translated as “Dr Hasan Kattani telah mengumumkan bahawa beliau telah
berbincang dengan Delegasi Perhutanan berkenaan penghasilan kayu balak ….” (Tengku Ghani
n.d.: 45-46). The literal Malay translation of ‫ ﺑﺤﺚ‬is “mengkaji”(study)or “menyelidik”(research)
(Kamus Besar Arab-Melayu Dewan 2006: 94). However, since its literal translation will not project
a more appropriate ‘contextualisation’, the word was re-translated using the next best synonym of
“berbincang” (discuss) instead.
2.2.7 Descriptive equivalent

In this strategy, a translator describes a concept in SL that does not has its equivalence in TL (Goh
2008: 481). This strategy is used to deal with source words that are highly specific to SL and other
strategies fail to render an acceptable level of meaning. On the other hand, in subtitle editing,
descriptive equivalent should not be lengthy due to the time and space constraints. In Rihlah Ibn
Battutah for example, ‫ وھﻲ أﺷﺠﺎر ﻋﺎدﯾﺔ‬،‫ … ﻣﻨﮭﺎ اﻟﺸﻜﻲ واﻟﺒﺮﻛﻲ‬was translated as "ialah al-Syaki dan al-
Barki, kedua-duanya merupakan pokok yang mempunyai jangka hayat yang sangat panjang" (...are
al-Syaki and al-Barki, both of which, are types of trees that have long life-span). In fact, Arabs usually
make special reference to 'Ad as a symbol of longevity. Hence, the phrase of “'Ad's tree" was
analogous to the trees' longevity (Syed Nurul Akla 1999: 88).
2.2.8 Modulation

Modulation strategy involves several forms and procedures. Cultural translation is heavily inundated
with modulation where changes are made to describe generics using specific examples or vice versa.
Squeaky toys for instance, are usually translated into the generic form of "mainan" (toys) in Malay.

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Quarterbacks in the American football are often translated into the general form of "pemain bola"
(football1 player) (Hasuria 2006: 368-369).
2.2.9 Couplets

This strategy is a combination of any two strategies above. When subtitle editors utilise any two of
these translation strategies, it is called couplets. In the translation of Malay elements in Hikayat
Abdullah (Tales of Abdullah) for instance, the word "sapir" was translated as sapir or gaoler, in which
the editors couple borrowing and functional equivalent strategies (Nur Hafeza 2009: 555).
3.0 Data analysis

i)
Subtitle Dialogue
Shahrayar: Apa maksud bonda? (What do you ‫ ﻣﺎذا ﺗﻘﺼﺪﯾﻦ؟‬:‫ﺷﮭﺮﯾﺎر‬
mean, Queen Mother?)

Bonda: Dapatkan anak daripada gundik-gundik ‫ ﻣﻦ إﺣﺪى ﻣﮭﺪﯾﺎﺗﻚ أو ﺟﻮارﯾﻚ‬،‫ ﺗﻨﺠﺐ ﻣﻦ ﻏﯿﺮھﺎ‬:‫أم ﺷﮭﺮﯾﺎر‬
atau gadis-gadis hamba anakanda dan iktiraf .‫وﺗﺪﻋﯿﮫ‬
anak itu. (Have children with those concubines or
bondmaids abd legalise them)

Episode 1 Shahrazad
Shahrazad is a story of the Arabic royal families of old. One of the main characters is bondmaid or
handmaiden. Hence, words such as ‫ ﻣﮭﺪﯾﺎت‬and ‫ﺟﻮاري‬re often used in the dialogues. These words are
the plural forms of ‫ ﻣﮭﺪﯾﺔ‬and ‫ ﺟﺎرﯾﺔ‬respectively. The word ‫ ﻣﮭﺪﯾﺔ‬comes from ‫ ﯾﮭﺪي اﻟﮭﺪﯾﺔ إﻟﻰ ﻓﻼن‬،‫أھﺪى‬
which means "menghantar hadiah sebagai penghormatan kepadanya" (Sending gift as a mark of
respect to a person) (Kamus Ilmiah Al-Khalil 2007:1059). ‫ ﻣﮭﺪﯾﺎت‬is an isim maf’ul (*noun).
In this context, ‫ ﻣﮭﺪﯾﺔ‬refers to women that are presented as gifts to the Sultan or kings to be their
bondmaids. Malay translation for this word is "gundik-gundik". The word "gundik" in the Malay
culture refers to a woman that serves the Sultan or kings. Kamus Dewan Edisi Keempat (2007:490)
defines “gundik” as “isteri yang bukan gahara” (a non-royal wife) “isteri yang tidak rasmi”(illegally
wedded wife), “bini gelap” (mistress).Words such as “isteri yang tidak rasmi” and “bini gelap” refer
to illegally wedded wife or does not possess official matrimonial tie with the Sultan. In this case, as
a result, there are common features that are shared by "gundik" (bondmaid) and ‫ﻣﮭﺪﯾﺎت‬. There is
however, a slight difference as "gundik"was not necessarily handed as gifts to the Sultan but a woman
that may well be wanted by the Sultan himself. In this instance, the subtitle editors use cultural
equivalence strategy to find functional matches in TL.

1
‘Football’ in Malay is what American refers to as soccer
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Words such as ‫ ﺟﺎرﯾﺔ‬،‫ ﺟﻮاري‬means “gadis” (girls), “pelayan” (servant), “hamba perempuan”
(bondmaid) (Kamus Ilmiah al-Khalil 2007:148). According to Kamus Besar Arab-Melayu Dewan
(2006: 299), ‫ اﻟﺠﺎرﯾﺔ‬means “hamba daripada kalangan wanita” (bondmaid). Kamus al-Munjid on the
other hand, defines ‫ ﺳﻤﯿﺖ ﺑﺬﻟﻚ ﻓﻲ اﻷﺻﻞ ﻟﺨﻔﺘﮭﺎ وﻛﺜﺮة ﺟﺮﯾﮭﺎ‬،‫( اﻷﻣﺔ‬Amah, dinamakan jariah kerana
keringanannya dan, dia banyak berjalan) (maidservant, which is also named as “jariah” for her
‘lightness’ and her walking a lot). While Kamus al-Ra’id (1981: 494) defines “jariah” as ،‫ اﻟﻌﺒﺪة‬،‫اﻷﻣﺔ‬
‫(اﻟﺨﺎدﻣﺔ‬maid servant, slave and servant).
The word ‫ﺟﻮارﯾﻚ‬was translated as “gadis-gadis hamba anakanda”(Your handmaiden). This subtitle
uses a combination of literal and cultural equivalent strategies. Subtitle editors make use of
dictionary-form of ‫ﺟﺎري‬. This word was also translated and adapted into TL. “Gadis-gadis hamba
awak”(your bondmaids) is the literal translation in Malay. However, it was modified into royal
conversational language into "gadis-gadis hamba anakanda" (Your slave girls). The word ‫ﺟﺎرﯾﺔ‬is
already assimilated into Malay and was widely used in translated works of classical Arabic books.
Therefore, it is the researcher's suggestion to maintain its use as the following translation:
“Dapatkan zuriat daripada wanita lain, ... daripada gundik atau jariah anakanda. Kemudian iktiraf anak itu.”
(Have children from other woman...either from your bondmaids or from jariah)

ii)
Subtitle Dialogue

Shahrazad: Awak sukakan laut? (Do you like the ‫ ھﻞ ﺗﺤﺒﯿﻦ اﻟﺒﺤﺮ؟‬:‫ﺷﮭﺮزاد‬
sea?)
Zummurud: Saya datang dari kawasan ‫ أﻧﺎ ﻣﻦ ﺑﻘﺎع ﺟﺒﻠﻲ وﻟﻢ أﺟﺎور اﻟﺒﺤﺮ وﻻ أدري إن أﺣﺒﮫ‬:‫زﻣﺮود‬
pergunungan dan saya tak pernah ke laut, jadi ‫أم ﻻ‬
saya tak tahu sama ada saya sukakannya atau
tidak.( (I came from the mountainous area anf
I’ve never been to sea. I wouldn’t know for sure
whether I would love it or otherwise)

Episode 1 Shahrazad
The above dialogue has shown ecological elements that exist in Arab Peninsula. ‫ ﺑﻘﺎع‬is the plural
form for ‫اﻟﺒﻘﻌﺔ‬. Its literal meaning in Malay is "sebidang tanah" (a piece of land) (Kamus al-Khalil
2007: 79, Kamus Besar Arab-Melayu Dewan 2006: 160) or ‫"اﻟﻘﻄﻌﺔ ﻣﻦ اﻷرض‬bahagian bumi" (parts of
the earth) (Kamus al-Munjid 1986: 45, Kamus al-Ra’id 1981: 332).
The word ‫ ﺟﺒﻠﻲ‬originates from ‫ ﺟﺒﻞ‬in which its plural form of ‫ ﺟﺒﺎل وأﺟﺒﺎل‬means “gunung” (mountain)
or “bukit” (hill). ‫ ﺟﺒﻠﻲ‬carries the meaning “yang berbukit-bukau atau yang bergunung-ganang” (of
hills and mountains) (Kamus al-Khalil 2007: 130). Kamus al-Munjid (1986: 78) defines it as ‫ﻣﺎ ارﺗﻔﻊ‬
‫ ﻣﻦ اﻷرض وطﺎل‬or “kawasan tanah tinggi dan memanjang” (elongated, highland area).
The phrase above was translated as "kawasan pergunungan" (mountainous area).‫ ﺑﻘﺎع‬was translated
into "kawasan" (area) and ‫ ﺟﺒﻠﻲ‬into “pergunungan”(mountainous). The subtitle editors use couplets
in combining synonymy and literal translation strategies. ‫ ﺑﻘﺎع‬was translated into its closest
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synonyms—"kawasan" as its literal translation of "tanah" (land) was not contextually appropriate.
The rest of the sentence however, was translated into its literal form and was well adapted into TL.
This translation is therefore deemed as appropriate. Therefore, this translation as whole is acceptable
and need no further improvement.
iii)
Subtitle Dialogue

Menteri: Tentera tuanku yang akan menyerang ‫ ﯾﻜﻮن ﻣﻦ ﯾﮭﺎﺟﻢ ﻗﺎﻓﻠﺔ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﺎن ﺟﻨﺪا ﻣﻦ ﺟﻨﺪك ﯾﺘﺰﯾﻨﻮن‬:‫اﻟﻮزﯾﺮ‬
kafilah Sultan itu. Mereka akan menyamar .‫ﺑﺰي اﻟﺒﺮاﺟﻤﺔ وﯾﺘﮭﯿﺆن ﺑﮭﯿﺌﺎﺗﮭﻢ‬
dengan pakaian orang Barajima.
(Your Majesty’s army will attack that Sultan’s
caravan. They will masquerade themselves using
the Barajima’s attire)

Episode 5 Shahrazad
The above subtitle exhibits two Arabic socio-cultural elements, i.e., ‫ ﻗﺎﻓﻠﺔ‬dan ‫اﻟﺒﺮاﺟﻤﺔ‬. The word ‫ﻗﺎﻓﻠﺔ‬
means “gerombolan, rombongan orang (beserta unta dan barang-barang yang dibawa) dalam
perjalanan di padang pasir” (a crowd or a delegation of people, along with their camels and traded
goods that ply the desert routes) (Kamus Besar Arab-Melayu Dewan 2006: 1917). The word
‫اﻟﺒﺮاﺟﻤﺔ‬was defined as “satu kumpulan daripada suku Tamim” (a group of Tamim tribe) (Kamus Besar
Arab-Melayu Dewan 2006: 114). The editors used “kafilah” and “Barajima”, which adopt both
assimilation and transliteration strategies. Kafilah is an Arabic word that was already assimilated into
Malay. This word was listed in Kamus Dewan Edisi Keempat (2007: 654) and carries the same
meaning with ‫ ﻗﺎﻓﻠﺔ‬in Kamus Besar Arab-Melayu Dewan. Barajima on the other hand, is a unique
name that was transliterated into TL. Notwithstanding, a more correct transliteration would be "al-
Barajimah" instead of "Barajima".
This borrowing strategy is highly appropriate in translating those two cultural elements. This is
because, there is no identical match in TL, which will be able to correctly translate those words.
Descriptive equivalence strategy that suggests explanatory words to describe the elements would fail
to achieve its objective due to time and space constraints. Therefore, borrowing strategy is deemed
as it is suitable to convey the intended message in TL. Although the subtitle without lengthy
explanation of both words, the presence of visual aids, which projected shapes and/or the situation at
hand will be able to convey the intended message. Altough wit some ommissions, the dialogue as a
whole was well translated and concise, taking into account the subtitle editing constraints.
iv)
Subtitle Dialogue
c
Itab: Sindibad, awak suka menyanyi? (Sindibad, ‫ أﺗﺤﺐ اﻟﻐﻨﺎء؟‬.‫ ﺳﻨﺪﺑﺎد‬:‫ﻋﺘﺎب‬
do you like to sing)

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Sindibad: Ya. (Yes) .‫ أﺟﻞ‬:‫ﺳﻨﺪﺑﺎد‬

c
Itab: Zahr! Ambilkan kecapi saya. (Zahr! Fetch !‫ ھﺎت اﻟﻌﻮد‬.‫ زھﺮ‬:‫ﻋﺘﺎب‬
my oud)

Episode 5 Shahrazad
The above dialogue contains a musical instrument that is usually associated with the Arabs. The
plural form of ‫ اﻟﻌﻮد‬is‫ﻋﯿﺪان‬. The word ‫ اﻟﻌﻮاد‬means an oud player (Kamus Besar Arab-Melayu Dewan
2006: 1634). Kamus al-Ra’id (1981: 1058) defines oud as ‫ آﻟﺔ ﻣﻮﺳﯿﻘﯿﺔ ذات أوﺗﺎر‬،‫( اﻟﺨﺸﺐ‬kayu atau alat
muzik yang mempunyai tali) (a wood or a string musical instrument). Definition by Kamus Besar
Arab-Melayu Dewan is seen as the most appropriate to translate ‫ اﻟﻌﻮد‬in the above dialogue—
“gambus” (oud). Oud is also popular within the Malay culture itself. This instrument is usually played
with percussions in ghazal (a type of Malay melody typically infused with Arab musical elements).
According to Kamus Dewan Edisi Keempat (2007: 429) oud is defined as “sejenis kecapi Arab yang
bertali enam dimainkan dengan iringan gendang” (a type of Arabic 6-string instrument usually
accompanied by percussions).
The subtitle editors translated oud as "kecapi". It is defined as "sejenis alat bunyi-bunyian bertali
yang dipetik sebagai gitar” (a type of musical instrument with strings that one often pluckes the same
way as guitar). However, the similarities between these two instruments are unverifiable. In this
subtitle, the editors use synonymy to transpose the meaning from SL. Semantic analysis, along with
visual aid from the drama shows that this translation has managed to capture the meaning of oud.
This translation of oud as well as the whole sentence is therefore deemed as appropriate and was able
to convey the intended message in TL.
v)
Subtitle Dialogue

Pegawai: Tuanku nak pulang? (Would You like ‫ أﺗﻐﺎدران؟‬:‫رﺟل‬

to go home, Your Majesty?

Menteri: Awak fikir kami nak duduk di rumah ‫ أﺗظن أﻧﻧﺎ ﺳﻧﻘﯾم ﻓﻲ ھذا اﻟﺧﺎن؟‬:‫اﻟوزﯾر‬
penginapan ini? (Do you really think that we
would be interested to stay in this boarding-
house?

Episod 5 Shahrazad
Material culture elements can also be traced through their buildings. The above dialogue makes
reference to the word ‫اﻟﺨﺎن‬. This word means "hotel, kedai, premis (hotel, shop, premise) (Kamus
Ilmiah al-Khalil 2007:300). According to Kamus Besar Arab-Melayu Dewan (2006: 560) meanwhile,
‫اﻟﺨﺎن‬is defined as “tempat persinggahan sementara” (a temporary lodging place). Kamus al-Munjid

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(1986, 201) on the other hand, defines ‫ اﻟﺨﺎن‬as (‫ ﻣﺤﻞ ﻧﺰول اﻟﻤﺴﺎﻓﺮﯾﻦ وﯾﺴﻤﻰ اﻟﻔﻨﺪق )ﻓﺎرﺳﯿﺔ‬as “tempat
persinggahan para musafir dan dinamakan ‫( ﻓﻨﺪق‬hotel) dalam bahasa Parsi” (a lodging place for
travellers and named as ‘hotel’ in Persian).
These dictionary definitions of ‫ اﻟﺨﺎن‬point to the same basic definition: a lodging for travellers to rest
or spend a night. The contemporary definition of this word connotes the same function as what
“rumah tumpangan” (rooming-house), rumah rehat (rest-house), homestay, chalet, motel, hotel would
do. The subtitle editors in this case, used a generalised, cultural-free functional equivalence to match
the meaning in SL. The use of this strategy is appropriate and more importantly, was able to convey
the intended message to TL.
vi)
Subtitle Dialogue

Rayyan: Kenapa tuanku perlu buat begitu, ‫ وﻟﻤﺎ ﯾﻜﻮن ھﺬا ﻣﻨﻚ؟ وﻟﺪﯾﻚ ﺟﻮاري اﻟﻘﺼﺮ وﻣﮭﺪﯾﺎت؟‬:‫رﯾﺎن‬
sedangkan tuanku ada ramai gadis hamba di
istana? (Why Your Majesty need to do so, while
you have plenty of bondmaids in Your Court?)
Syahrayar: Sebab wanita yang beta nampak di ‫ ﻷن اﻟﺘﻲ وﺟﺪﺗﮭﺎ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺨﺪﻋﻲ ﻣﻊ اﻟﻔﺘﻰ اﻟﺬي أﺣﻀﺮت‬:‫ﺷﮭﺮﯾﺎر‬
katil beta dengan lelaki itu adalah ... isteri beta ‫ زوﺟﺘﻲ وﻟﻢ ﺗﻜﻦ ﺟﺎرﯾﺔ‬... .‫ ﻛﺎﻧﺖ زوﺟﺘﻲ‬... ‫أﻧﺖ‬
... isteri beta, bukan gadis hamba (Because the
woman that I saw with that man on my bed is my
wife...my wife, not a bondmaid

Episode 8 Shahrazad
The dialogue above contains material culture element that are usually associated with Arabs i.e.,
‫ﻣﺨﺪﻋﻲ‬. This word is defined as “bilik di dalam rumah, gudang atau peti” (a room in a house,
warehouse or a chest) (Kamus Besar Arab-Melayu Dewan 2006: 581). Kamus al-Munjid (1986: 170)
defines it as ‫( ﺑﯿﺖ داﺧﻞ اﻟﺒﯿﺖ اﻟﻜﺒﯿﺮ‬rumah di dalam rumah yang besar) (a ‘house’ in a mansion). While
Kamus al-Ra’id (1981: 1342) on the other hand, defines it as ‫( اﻟﺒﯿﺖ اﻟﺼﻐﯿﺮ داﺧﻞ اﻟﺒﯿﺖ اﻟﻜﺒﯿﺮ‬rumah kecil
di dalam rumah yang besar) (a small house in a mansion).
These dictionary forms explain ‫ ﻣﺨﺪﻋﻲ‬as a small room or room in a mansion. This dialogue was
uttered by Sultan Shahrayar to his Minister, Rayyan on his disappointment and anger towards the
affair between his wife and the royal gardener. Therefore, the word ‫ﻣﺨﺪﻋﻲ‬r refers to His Majesty's
bedroom, where the affair took place.
This word was translated as "katil" (bed) in the subtitle. “Katil” is defined as “sejenis perabot tempat
seseorang tidur atau baring” (a type of furniture for someone to sleep or lie down on) (Kamus Dewan
Edisi Keempat 2007: 688). Besides acting as a place to sleep and rest, this word also connotes a
meaning of a place of where conjugal relationship between a husband and wife takes place. Therefore,
a remark such as "gadis itu pernah sampai di katil Sultan", basically means that he has been in bed
with someone else besides the Sultan. This translation was made possible through couplets whereby
cultural equivalents as well as specific modulation strategies were used. Through cultural equivalent
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strategy, the editors translate culture material elements in SL with its closest match in TL. Although
the translation for ‫ ﻣﺨﺪﻋﻲ‬as "katil" was not the closest to its dictionary form, it was able to transfer
the cultural message from SL to TL.
vii)
Subtitle Dialogue

Hanthal: Tunggu dulu gadis hamba! Setanggi ‫ ﻋﻮد اﻟﺼﻨﺪل وﻟﺒﺎن؟ ھﻞ‬.‫ اﻧﺘﻈﺮي‬،‫ اﻧﺘﻈﺮي أﯾﺘﮭﺎ اﻟﺠﺎرﯾﺔ‬:‫ﺣﻨﺜﻞ‬
sandal dan kemenyan? Ini untuk Puan kamu ‫ھﺬا ﻟﺴﯿﺪﺗﻚ ﺟﻠﻨﺎر؟‬
Jullanar? (Bondmaid, wait a second! Sandal
incense and frankincense? This is for your
Madam Jullanar?)

Episode 5 Shahrazad
The above dialogue refers to a couple of words that typifies Arabic ecological elements i.e., ‫ﻋﻮد اﻟﺼﻨﺪل‬
dan ‫ﻟﺒﺎن‬. The analysis begins with the first word, ‫ﻋﻮد اﻟﺼﻨﺪل‬, which means “kayu, ranting kayu” (a
stick, twig) (Kamus Ilmiah al-Khalil 2007:660). ‫ اﻟﺼﻨﺪل‬is “sesuatu yang berbau harum” (something
that is aromatic), ‫ ﺗﺼﻨﺪل اﻟﺮﺟﻞ‬means “menggunakan haruman Sandal” (using Sandal aroma) (Kamus
Ilmiah al-Khalil 2007: 555). Kamus Besar Arab-Melayu Dewan (2006: 1634, 1368) defines ‫ ﻋﻮد‬as
"sejenis bauan" (a type of smell) the meaning of ‫ ﺻﻨﺪل‬is on the other hand, carries the same meaning
with the one in Kamus Ilmiah al-Khalil.
Kamus al-Munjid defines ‫ اﻟﺼﻨﺪل‬as ‫ ﯾﺤﻤﻞ ﺛﻤﺮا ﻓﻲ‬.‫ﺷﺠﺮ ھﻨﺪي أﺑﯿﺾ اﻟﺰھﺮ ﺧﺸﺒﮫ طﯿﺐ اﻟﺮاﺋﺤﺔ وﻣﺮﻏﻮب ﻓﯿﮫ ﺟﺪا‬
.‫ وﺧﺸﺐ اﻟﺼﻨﺪل ﻣﻦ اﻷدوﯾﺔ اﻟﻘﻠﺒﯿﺔ‬.‫( ﻋﻨﺎﻗﯿﺪ وﻟﮫ ﺣﺐ أﺣﻀﺮ‬Pokok yang berbunga putih, batangnya berbau harum,
sangat disukai ramai, menghasilkan gugusan buah yang mempunyai biji bewarna hijau) (A white-
flower tree with an aromatic trunk, loved by many, produces fruit bunches with green seeds).Al-
Mucjam al-wasit (n.d.: 525) defined it as ‫ﺷﺠﺮ ﺧﺸﺒﮫ طﯿﺐ اﻟﺮاﺋﺤﺔ ﯾﻈﮭﺮ طﯿﺒﮭﺎ ﺑﺎﻟﺪﻟﻚ أو ﺑﺎﻹﺣﺮاق وﻟﺨﺸﺒﮫ أﻟﻮان‬
‫( ﻣﺨﺘﻠﻔﺔ‬Pokok yang batangnya mengeluarkan bau harum apabila digosok atau dibakar dan mempunyai
pelbagai warna) (A tree with a trunk that produces aromatic smell when rub against and are of
multiple colours).
These dictionary forms explain ‫ اﻟﺼﻨﺪل‬as a white-flower tree with an aromatic trunk. The Malay
translation of these words is “setanggi Sandal” (Sandal incense). Kamus Dewan Edisi Keempat
(2007: 1480) defines “setanggi” as “sejenis kemenyan yang berbau harum apabila dibakar” (a type
of incense that produces aromatic smell once burnt). In the Malay culture, setanggi is typically used
in traditional medicine and séance.
The subtitle editors use couplets strategy in translating phrase of ‫ ﻋﻮد اﻟﺼﻨﺪل‬into “setanggi Sandal”
(Sandal incense) by combining cultural equivalent and transliteration strategies. The cultural strategy
can be seen in the translation of “setanggi” (incense). According to the dictionary definitions,
“setanggi” (incense) and ‫ ﺻﻨﺪل‬do not necessarily refer to the same thing. However, the editors make
the same reference to the ‘act of producing an aromatic smell whenever burnt’. Therefore, the
audience will be able to match the function of ‫ ﺻﻨﺪل‬to the meaning of “setanggi” (incense).
Transliteration strategy on the other hand, was applied to “Sandal”. The editors maintain the socio-
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cultural elements in the subtitle text by changing the Arabic script and way of writings into TL. The
combination of these two strategies is seen as a quick and concise way of introducing the socio-
cultural elements of SL to the target audience.
The word ‫ ﻟﺒﺎن‬on the other hand, is defined as "sejenis pokok seperti gaharu yang mengeluarkan getah
atau gam yang dinamakan ‫( اﻟﻜﻨﺪر‬a gaharu-like tree that produces sap or glue named *) Kamus Besar
Arab-Melayu Dewan 2006: 2061). Kamus al-Munjid (1986: 711) defined ‫ اﻟﻠﺒﺎن‬as ‫ اﻟﺼﻨﻮﺑﺮ‬or ‫اﻟﻜﻨﺪر ﻛﺄﻧﮫ‬
(‫ﻟﺒﻦ ﯾﺘﺤﻠﺐ ﻣﻦ ﺷﺠﺮة )ﯾﻮﻧﺎﻧﯿﺔ‬, (pokok kayu atau kemenyan putih seperti susu yang mengalir daripada
pokok) (wooden tree or white incense that flows like white milk from the tree) Alternatively, Al-
Mucjam al-wasit (t.th: 814) defined *i ‫( ﻧﺒﺎت ﻣﻦ اﻟﻔﺼﯿﻠﺔ اﻟﺒﺨﻮرﯾﺔ ﯾﻔﺮزﺻﻤﻐﺎ وﯾﺴﻤﻰ اﻟﻜﻨﺪر‬tumbuhan berbau
yang mengeluarkan getah dan dinamakan Kundur) (smelly plant that produces sap and named
"Kundur"). According to the definitions, ‫ اﻟﻠﺒﺎن‬is a type of plant or tree that produces sappy liquids
that smells.
This word was translated as "kemenyan" (incense). In the Malay culture, incense is often used in
séance, traditional medicine and usually burnt where a recent death took place. It is a substance that
gives off a sweet smell when burnt (Kamus Dewan Edisi Keempat2007: 732). According to these
definitions, there is however, a slight difference between these two.‫ﻟﺒﺎن‬is a type of plant or tree that
produces white liquid but “kemenyan” on the other hand, is a plant that produces a sap which gives
off a sweet smell. In this particular instance, the subtitle editors have used functional equivalence
strategy in translating this cultural element. Although the accuracy of such translation is unverifiable,
the visuals of the “jariah” that hold the smoky censer helps to transfer the message in SL to the target
audience.
Utilisation of the above strategies to translate and while at the same time, introducing new cultural
elements to target audience are indeed a wise move on the part of the subtitle editors. The subtitle as
a whole was well translated as itsound natural in TL. However, the researcher would suggest an
alternative, more concise translation using couplets of functional and transliteration strategies, as
follow:
“Tunggu dulu wahai jariah. Haruman Sandal dan Lubban?” (What a minute, jariah. Sandal and Lubban
perfume?)

viii)
Subtitle Dialogue
c
Itab: Jadi, awaklah orangnya? Tentera Sultan . ‫ ﻓﺄﻧﺖ ھﻮ؟ ﺟﺎء اﻟﺠﻨﺪ ﯾﺒﺤﺜﻮن ﻋﻨﻚ ﻗﺒﻞ أن ﯾﻐﻠﻘﻮا اﻟﺤﺎﻧﺔ‬:‫ﻋﺘﺎب‬
datang mencari awak sebelum mereka tutup
tavern ini (So, you’re the one? His Majesty’s
army are looking for you before they close this
tavern)

Episode 5 Shahrazad

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An important cultural element in Arab society’s social life that predates Islam is patronising
entertainment establishments for its alcoholic beverages while listening music performed by the in-
house singers. The cultural element in discussion came from the word ‫اﻟﺤﺎﻧﺔ‬. In Kamus Ilmiah al-
Khalil (2007:242) it is defined as "kedai minuman keras" (liquor store). According to Kamus Besar
Arab-Melayu Dewan (2006:537), the word ‫اﻟﺤﺎﻧﺔ‬comes from‫اﻟﺤﺎﻧﺎة‬that means "tempat pembuat arak"
(a place of liquor-brewer) and ‫"اﻟﺤﺎﻧﻮت‬kedai arak" (liquor store). On the other hand, Kamus al-Munjid
(1986:165) and Kamus al-Ra’id (1981:544) define ‫ اﻟﺤﺎﻧﺔ‬as ‫"ﻣﻮﺿﻊ ﺑﯿﻊ اﻟﺨﻤﺮ‬tempat menjual arak" (a
place that sells liquor). Meanwhile, Kamus Miftah al-Tullab (2010:238) defines ‫اﻟﺤﺎﻧﺔ‬as bar or pub.
The word ‫اﻟﺤﺎﻧﺔ‬was translated as tavern. Tavern is defined by New Oxford English-English-Malay
Dictionary (2012:845) as ‘an old fashion word for a pub’. The Malays however, are unfamiliar with
this term as the typical words use to describe a liquor store would be bar or pub instead.
In the above translation, the editors have utilised borrowing strategy to transpose cultural element of
SL into TL. The editors opt for equivalence from other language to explain the meaning of tavern.
The word was used because of its accuracy and its conciseness to consider the time and space
constraints. Bar and pub however, refer to the word’s more contemporary use and is not contextually
suitable.
However, the use ‘tavern’ is rather inaccurate especially to those audiences who are not able to
converse in English. They will have to search for its meaning in dictionary and will cause
inconvenience to the audience. Therefore, the researcher would suggest for a more audience-friendly
phrase of “kedai arak” (liquor store). The alternative translation would appear as the following:
“Jadi, awaklah orangnya?Tentera Sultan datang mencari awak sebelum mereka tutup kedai arak ini.” (So,
you’re the one? His Majesty’s army were looking for you before they close this liquor store)

ix)
Subtitle Dialogue

Hanthal: Bukankah tugas kita melindungi Sultan ‫ أﻟﯿﺴﺖ ﻣﺤﻨﺔ ﻛﻞ ﻣﻨﺎ أن ﺗﺤﻤﻲ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﺎن واﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ؟ إذن‬:‫ﺣﻨﺜﻞ‬
dan kesultanannya? Jadi kita cuma dapat .‫ﻻﯾﻤﻜﻦ أن ﻧﺤﻘﻖ ھﺬا اﻷﻣﺮ إﻻ ﺑﺸﺪة‬
melakukannya dengan kekerasan (Isn’t our job to .‫ إﻧﮭﻤﺎ ﻣﺘﺒﺎﻋﺪان ﯾﺎ ﻛﺎﺗﻢ اﻷﺳﺮار‬:‫رﯾﺎن‬
defend the Sultan and his Sultanate? We can only
do so through violence)
Rayyan: Kedua-duanya jauh berbeza,
penyimpan rahsia (Both are markedly different,
Keeper of the Seal)

Episod 1 Shahrazad
Translating administrative structures of a society is one of the challenges in translation process. There
are instances where the same designations in SL might have different forms or even perform different
functions in TL. Phrase such as ‫ ﻛﺎﺗﻢ اﻷﺳﺮار‬originates from .‫ ﻛﺘﻢ اﻟﺴﺮ – أﺧﻔﺎه‬،‫( ﻛﺘﻢ ﯾﻜﺘﻢ ﻛﺘﻤﺎ وﻛﺘﻤﺎﻧﺎ‬Kamus
al-Ra’id 1981: 226). Kamus Besar Arab-Melayu Dewan (2006: 1977) defines them as
“menyembunyikan” (to conceal), “merahsiakan” (to keep it secret). ‫ ﻛﺎﺗﻢ اﻟﺴﺮ‬was defined as
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“setiausaha sulit” (private secretary). Kamus al-Ra’id (1981: 226) and Kamus al-Munjid (1986:673)
on the other hand, define them as ‫ أﺧﻔﺎه‬: ‫( ﻛﺎﺗﻢ اﻟﺴﺮ أو اﻟﻤﺒﺎﻟﻎ ﻓﻲ ﻛﺘﻤﮫ‬concealer/secret keeper).
The given subtitle for the above phrase is “penyimpan rahsia” (Keeper of the Seal). The job scope
and tasks of the Keeper is comparatively the same with the contemporary private secretaries. The
editors use couplets by combining synonymy and literal translation strategies. Using synonym, the
editors matched SL word of ‫ ﻛﺎﺗﻢ‬with its closest match in TL—“penyimpan” (keeper). This is due to
the fact that the original definition of ‫ﻛﺎﺗﻢ‬, which is “penyembunyi” (concealer) was not the closest
match of the phrase. The editor then used literal translation of the remaining phrases and adapted
them according to the TL’s sentence structures. This dialogue is appropriately translated and need no
further improvement.
x)
Subtitle Dialogue

Bonda Shahrayar (Shahrayar’s mother): Cuba ‫ ﻟﻢ ﻻ ﺗ ﺤﺪﺛ ﮭﺎ ﺑ ﮭﺬا ؟ ﻓﻘﺪ ﺗ ﻜ ﻮ ن ﺳ ﻌﯿﺪة ﺑ ﻮ ﺟ ﻮد وﻟ ﻲ ﻟﻠ ﻌ ﮭﺪ‬:‫أم ﺷ ﮭ ﺮﯾﺎ ر‬
anakanda berbincang dengan dia tentang hal ini. . ‫وﺑﺄﻧ ﮭﺎ ﺳﻠ ﻄﺎﻧ ﺔ‬
Dia mungkin akan gembira sebab akan ada
putera mahkota dan dia akan jadi Sultanah (You
should discuss this matter with her. She woud be
happy as she will have a prince and will be the
Queen)

Episod 1 Shahrazad
In the above subtitle, assimilation strategy was applied on Arabic socio-cultural word of ‫ﺳﻠﻄﺎﻧﺔ‬, which
originates from ‫ ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ‬،‫ ﯾﺴﻠﻄﻦ‬،‫ ﺳﻠﻄﻦ‬that means “melantiknya menjadi Sultan” (to be appointed as
Sultan). ‫ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﺎن‬also means raja, sultan or governor (Kamus Besar Arab-Melayu Dewan 2006: 1167-
1168). This word has long been assimilated into Malay and is used as a reference to the wife of the
reigning Sultan. In Kamus Dewan Edisi Keempat (2007: 1539), Sultanah was defined as “raja
perempuan” (queen regnant), tengku ampuan2 or “permaisuri” (queen). The editor has avoided the
use of original translation is “permaisuri” (queen) and used the assimilated “Sultanah” instead as
there is also a ‫( اﻟﻤﻠﻚ ﺷﮭﺮﻣﺎن‬King’s Queen) character in the drama. Opting for “Sultanah” has therefore
allow for a better, more correct representation in the TL. However, the researchers would like to offer
an alternative translation as follow:
“Kenapa anakanda tidak berbincang dengan dia tentang hal ini?Dia mungkin akan gembira jika nanti ada
putera mahkota, dan dia akan jadi Sultanah.” (Why don’t you discuss this with her about this? She might be
happy as with a prince, she’ll be the Sultanah)

2
Also a reference to Queen in several Malay states
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4.0 Findings and discussions

The analyses on the data have shown the use ofseveral translation strategies such as literal, borrowing,
functional equivalence, cultural matching, synonymy, and couplets to translate Arabic cultural
elements into Malay. The analyses also show cultural and functional equivalences are able to help
the viewers to understand the original SL with relative ease as well as to help them to grasp the
intended message of the text. This is because, sociocultural elements in the SL were given general or
specific equivalences in the TL. Although the use of such strategies will lead to inaccurate
translations, it is more imperative for the subtitle to convey the intended message to the viewers. The
researchers would like to suggest translation methods or strategies that are appropriate in translating
cultural elements in SL into TL.
1. Well-known cultural elements amongst target audience can be dealt with literal translation
and synonymy as they are highly translatable i.e., ‫ﻛﺎﺗﻢ اﻷﺳﺮاﻟﺮ‬, ‫ اﻟﻌﻮد‬and ‫ﺑﻘﺎع ﺟﺒﻠﻲ‬.
2. Borrowing strategy can be applied whenever the cultural elements are well known in TL and
was already absorbed into the TL, i.e. ‫( ﺳﻠﻄﺎﻧﺔ‬sultanah) dan ‫( ﺟﺎرﯾﺔ‬jariah).
3. In dealing with highly specific cultural element inSL, the translation need to be done
according to the acceptability and suitability with the TL, with acute observations on its
functions and forms. The functional meaning of such word needs to take precedence over its
formal meaning. For example, the word ‫ﻣﮭﺪﯾﺎت‬can be translated into “gundik” (concubine),
which carries almost the same functional equivalence.
4. For cultural elements that do not have its equivalence in the TL, translation can be done with
visual aids. It is because, few cultural elements are best explained with visual that will either
come before and/or after the dialogue. In this instance, transliteration and functional
equivalence can be utilised. For instance, ‫ﻋﻮد اﻟﺼﻨﺪل واﻟﻠﺒﺎن‬can be translated as “Haruman
Sandal dan Lubban” instead.
5. Descriptive equivalence and synonymy translation strategies on the other hand, are more
suited for cultural elements that do not have its accompanying visual or other dialogues.

5.0 Conclusion

Translation of cultural elements is a challenge that needs its due attention and to be tactfully dealt by
translators or subtitle editors. It requires clear insight into both SL and TL cultures in order to apply
the correct strategy in translating such elements. Opting for the right translation strategy may well be
the most critical success factor in order to convey the intended message to readers and viewers alike.
Nevertheless, in any subtitle editing process, the main objective is not to introduce cultural elements
in SL to target audience but rather to help the audience to adapt and appreciate those elements, which
in the end, will facilitate the conveyance of the important messages.
References

Abdul Basir Awang. 2002. Ketidakbolehterjemahan katawi dari bahasa Arab ke bahasa Melayu
[Non-translatability of Arabic into Malay]. Disertasi Sarjana [Master Dissertation], Fakulti
Pengajian Islam, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
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Anzaruddin Ahmad. 2005. Penterjemahan teks yang mengandungi perumpamaan Melayu ke bahasa
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Goh Sang Seong. 2008. Strategi penterjemahan aspek-aspek budaya bahasa Mandarin-bahasa
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Dissertation]. Fakulti Bahasa dan Linguistik, Universiti Malaya.

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TOURIST GUIDE: ROLES, CHALLENGES AND CONTRIBUTIONS

AS A COUNTRY’S AMBASSADOR

Ahmad Taufik Hidayah Abdullah

Centre of English Language Studies, Faculty of Languages and Communication
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus, 21300 Kuala Nerus,
Terengganu, Malaysia
Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Tourism is one of the fastest growing businesses in the world nowadays. There are some elements involved as
far as tourism is concerned, namely accomodations, airlines, foods and sightseeing or tours. Many tourists
prefer visiting and exploring a country accompanied by a tourist guide who can help them explain and guide
during their stay at one destination. The objectives of this paper is to analyse the roles that a tourist guide plays
as the ambassador of a country. Besides, it also aims to depict some good characteristics of a tourist guide
besides exploiting some challenges faced. This is a library-research based studies and most importantly it is
also combined with the experiences of the researcher himself as a former professional English-speaking tourist
guide in Bali, Indonesia. It can be concluded that a tourist guide is a chalenging profession where one can
represent his own country as an ambassador thus portraying the contry itself in terms of culture, behaviour,
hospitality,etc. It is highly recommended that a body or centre is established to train future tourist guides. For
the sake of their future, an association also needs to be formed to protect their wellfare and well-being.

Keywords: Tourist, tourist guide, tourism, travelling, hospitality, challenges, roles, contributions

1.0 Introduction

Travel is the common thread in most descriptions of tourism. However, travel is also linked closely
to time availability in attracting potential tourists (Coltman, 1989).It is evidence that travelling is one
aspect in tourism industry where people would plan their suitable time in making their trip. When
defining tourism industry, one would opine that there are four groups that can be identified and must
be considered in defining tourism: the tourists, the suppliers, the government of the host destination
or area, and the residents of the host destination. In this context, one can then define tourism as the
interrelationships arising from the interaction of these four broad groups in the process of attracting
and catering to tourists (Coltman,1989).

Tourism is widely regarded as the growth industry of the 1990’s, continuing into the twenty-first
century (Hall, 1998). With the advancement of mode of transportation, especially in airline sectors,
the citizens of the world today have an ample and easy access to travelling. Besides, the growth and
development of infrastructures in support of the tourism industry are also available in abundance such
as accommodations, restaurants, attractions or entertainment and etc. with reasonable rates or charges
that can attract people or the so-called tourists to travel to a desired destination. In other words, the
tourism industry is actually built and developed to fulfil the desire and needs of these tourists.

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Who are the tourists? Generally, the word tourist derives from the word tour, meaning a circular trip
that starts at a specific place and eventually returns there following a particular itinerary. When most
of us think of a tourist, we think of a person on vacation to visit a distant location, see the sights, visit
friends and relatives, and do little else but relax or possibly participate in leisure or recreational
activities. Besides vacationers, however, there are many types of tourists such as business people,
convention delegates, and similar travellers (Coltman, 1989).

Some tourists prefer to visit a place or destination in pairs or in groups. In some cases, a tourist prefers
to travel by himself or herself for the sake of freedom and easy mobility in their trip. For the case of
the tourists who flock in groups, they usually engage a travel agent to organize their trip starting from
flight arrangements, hotel bookings as well as sightseeing or organized tours. They book through a
travel agent in their own country and this travel agent usually has a business partner in a country
where the group of tourist will visit. As for an organized tour, the travel agent in the visited destination
will arrange a vehicle or transportation with a trained tourist guide and a driver to guide and
accompany their trip based on their itinerary. A tourist guide is a person who is in-charge to guide
visitors or tourists in the language of their choice and interpret the cultural and natural heritage of the
visited destination.

A tourist guide is the one who gives company to the tourists during their stay at a destination or area.
He functions as an ambassador of his or her own country. The tourist guide must give the best possible
service to their guests, in terms of hospitality, competence, knowledge of local area, communicative
skills, etc. Their service will be judged by the guests or tourists who hire him or her and it indeed
portrays the image and reputation of a country. The tourist guide has a high role of being a good
ambassador of his or her country. The nature of work of a tourist guide is full of challenges yet so
rewarding and fulfilling. The tourist guide, in some way, can contribute to the country not only in
terms of financial gain but also a good reputation in order to attract more tourists to come in the
future.

The objectives of this paper are to portray the existence of tourist guides as a prestigious and noble
profession, some skills and qualities needed to be a good tourist guide and finally to arouse awareness
among the people , especially the young ones, on the good future if they want to pursue career as a
professional tourist guide.

2.0 Literature review

2.1 Tourism as source of income of a country

Malaysia is blessed with a country that is rich with natural beauty, friendly people and good facilities
to attract tourists to come and visit this country. The arrival of tourist to Malaysia has steadily
increased every year thus enabling this country to rake in decent income from this sector. Information
on the arrival of tourists to Malaysia is shown by a table below.
Tourist Arrival by Country of Nationality in 2012
No Country of Nationality January-December 2012/2011

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2012 2011

1 Singapore 13,014,268 13,372,647

2 Indonesia 2,382,606 2,134,381
3 China 1,558,785 1,250,536
4 Thailand 1,263,024 1,442,048
5 Brunei 1,258,070 1,239,404
6 India 691,271 693,056
7 Philippines 508,744 362,101
8 Australia 507,948 558,411
9 Japan 470,008 386,974
10 United Kingdom 402,207 403,940
11 South Korea 283,977 263,428
12 Taiwan 242,519 233,783
13 USA 240,134 216,755
14 Vietnam 211,008 173,783
15 France 136,172 127,980
16 Germany 131,277 124,670
17 Iran 127,404 139,617
18 Nepal 123,173 81,791
19 Saudi Arabia 102,365 87,693
20 Canada 86,931 86,015
21 Netherlands 88,404 90,590
22 Bangladesh 86,465 65,603
23 Myanmar 83,473 81,946
24 Pakistan 79,989 73,046
25 New Zealand 65,726 81,387
26 Sri Lanka 62,821 58,572
27 Cambodia 50,179 49,472
28 Russia 44,765 38,918
29 Italy 44,330 43,864
30 Sweden 38,418 44,138
31 Laos 38,364 29,520
32 Switzerland 27,360 25,802
33 Oman 24,977 22,062
34 Denmark 24,408 22,269
35 South Africa 23,635 31,441
36 Spain 23,594 22,104
37 Iraq 21,939 13,568
38 Ireland 21,639 22,593
39 Kazakstan 20,188 17,462
40 Norway 19,996 19,891
41 Nigeria 18,792 18,916
42 Belgium 17,151 16,436
43 Austria 13,679 13,082
44 Poland 13,432 13,055
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45 Others 337,093 419,574

Grand Total 25,032,708 24,714,324
Source: Tourism Malaysia with the cooperation of Immigration Department, 2013.

With the huge volume of tourist arrival to Malaysia, it results in the country to receive some
handsome income every year. According to the income recorded in 2012, Malaysia managed to rake
in more than 60 billion ringgit from tourism sector alone. A complete figure on the tourist arrival and
the receipts to Malaysia is shown in the table below.

Tourist Arrival and Revenues to Malaysia

Year Arrivals Revenues
(Million) (Billion Malaysia Ringgit)

2012 25.03 60.6

2011 24.71 58.3
2010 24.58 56.5
2009 23.65 53.4
2008 22.05 49.6
2007 20.97 46.1
2006 17.55 36.3
2005 16.43 32.0
2004 15.70 29.7
2003 10.58 21.3
2002 13.29 25.8
2001 12.78 24.2
2000 10.22 17.3
1999 7.93 12.3
1998 5.56 8.6
Source: Tourism Malaysia Corporate Website, 2013.

The importance of tourism as one of the main sources of income for a country is a common fact. This
is suggested in a journal article on the phenomenon of tourism in India that says that “ourism as a
phenomenon and also as a means of socio-economic good is becoming increasingly important for
communities and administrative leadership who are aggressively promoting it” (Chowdhary and
Prakash, 2008). Once again this is a proved fact that every country in the world is now accelerating
their drive towards getting more influx of tourists or visitors to visit their country thus enabling the
flow of income to their respective coffers.

2.2 Reasons and motives why people travel

An interesting issue to discuss here is why do people travel or in other word why do people leave
their homes for other places or areas? The complexity of travel motivations was highlighted by
Krippendorf (1987) as cited in (Hall, 1998), who identified a number of popular interpretations why
people travel. According to Krippendorf, travel is concerned with numerous motivations, including:
broadening the mind, escape, freedom and self-determination and self-realisation.
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One of the most cited studies of tourist motivation has been that of Crompton (1979) as cited in (Hall,
1998). Crompton noted that “the essence” of “break from routine" was the basic motivation for tourist
travel. In details he identified seven central travel motives, they are: escape from a perceived
mundane environment, exploration and evaluation of self, relaxation, prestige, regression (less
constrained behaviour), enhancement of kinship relationships and facilitation of social interaction.
The motivation factor of people to travel is also mentioned in (Mill, 1985)

Similar ideas have been expressed by Leiper (1984) as cited in (Hall, 1998) who distinguished
between recreational leisure which restored and creative leisure which produced something new. He
saw the three functions of recreation as being: rest (providing recovery from physical or mental
fatigue), relaxation (recover from tension) and entertainment (recovery from boredom).

There are many motivational factors affecting people to travel. This is summed up in the table below
that is sourced from many researchers.

Motivations of the Tourist

Motivational Category Motivations

Physical motivations Refreshment of body and mind

For health purposes
For participation in sports
Contact with an outdoor way of life

Cultural motivations Curiosity about foreign countries, people, culture and

places
Interests in arts, music, architecture and folklore
Interest in cultural heritage and historical places
Experiencing specific cultural events

Social motivations Visiting relatives and friends

Meeting new people
Seeking new friendships and relationships
Seeking new and different experiences
Prestige and status
Pursuit of hobbies
Continuation of education or learning
Seeking of contacts and professional goals
Conferences and meetings

Spiritual motivations Visiting places and people for religious reasons

Travelling as part of a pilgrimage
Contact with nature

Fantasy Personal excitement of traveling

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“anomic” (escaping from one’s own permanent social

environment (e.g. desire for a change)
“ego-enhancement” sensual indulgence (both real and
imagined)
Source: After Mathieson & Wall (1982), Pearce (1982), Mill & Morrisson (1985), Murphy
(1985),Goodall & Ashworth (1988), McIntosh & Goeldner (1990) , and Weiler & Hall (1992). All
these sources are cited in Hall (1998).

2.3 Tourist and tourist guide

For international purposes, one of the most commonly used definitions of a tourist was developed by
the 1963 United Nations conference on Travel and Tourism held in Rome and adopted in 1968 by
the International Union of Official Travel Organizations (later to become World Tourism
Organization).First, a visitor is defined as any person travelling to a country, other than that in which
he or she normally resides, for any reason other than following an occupation remunerated from
within the country visited. Another given definition given is that, a tourist is any visitor staying more
than 24 hours in a country and making an overnight stay for any of the following reasons: business,
congress, convention, family, friends, health, holiday, leisure, meeting, mission, recreation, relatives,
religion, sport, study, vacation. In other words, virtually everybody visiting a country or an area for
more than a day and making an overnight stay is a tourist. However, a person who travels to another
country or area for paid work would not fit into this definition of a tourist (Coltman, 1989). Visitors
who stay for less than 24 hours are defined by the United Nations as excursionists or day visitors.
The main difference between an excursionist and a tourist is that the former does not stay overnight
at the destination.

Another definition of tourist comes from the Australian Bureau of Industry Economics (BIE). It
defines a tourist as a person who undertakes travel, for any reason, involving a stay away from his or
her usual place of residence for at least one night; or a person who undertakes a pleasure trip involving
a stay away from home for at least four hours during daylight, and involving a round distance of at
least 50 km; however, for trips to national parks, state and forest reserves, museums, historical parks,
animal parks or other man-made attractions, the distance limitation does not apply (Australian
Government Committee Inquiry into Tourism 1987a,p.11) as cited in (Hall, 1998).

Many people think that the profession of a tourist guide is relatively new. However, the fact is quite
the opposite. As cited in Rabotic (2010), tourist guiding is one of the oldest human activities., but
along with the beginning of modern mass tourism they have become an important factor of the travel
industry ever since. In our organized tour today, it is quite difficult to conduct a tour without the
service of a tourist guide, both tour managers/tour leaders who accompany the group during the travel
as well as a tourist guide who welcomes the group at the destination. As for the profession of tourist
guiding, it has recently received more attention in academic literature in line with the awareness of
the heritage sustainability. Tourist guides are deemed as effective medium, being a spokesperson and
ambassador to convey and disseminate message to the tourist or guests on the importance of the sites
being visited (Rabotic, 2010)

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A profession of being a tourist guide needs explaining in terms of definitions and its context in the
job market. The term tourist guide is used a lot in European countries; meanwhile it is only called as
tour guide in the United States (http://www.en.wikipedia.org). A tourist guide here is defined as a
person who guides visitors in the language of their choice and interprets the cultural and natural
heritage of an area which that person normally possesses and specific qualification is usually issued
and/or recognized by the appropriate authority. From another source
(http://www.youthfortourism.eu), the notion of a tourist guide is a person who guides groups or
individual tourist to show them and interpret the cultural and natural heritage of the area they visit; a
person who also possesses knowledge of contemporary social and political life of a specific area.
From the above two definitions given, it is very clear that a tourist guide is someone who is in-charge
to guide and accompany the tourists or guests during their stay at the destination. The tourist guide
must have sufficient knowledge of the local area; master the language of their guests. And finally,
the tourist guide must be someone who is really fit and qualified to be one after obtaining proper
course or training before starting to handle their guest. This approval must come from the concerned
authority.

This paper is partially based on the library research as well as the researcher’s hands on experience
as a professional English-speaking tourist guide in Bali, Indonesia. Some books on tourism are
referred to as the basic theory and source of information besides the use of other resources from the
journal articles and articles from the website related to this topic.

The researcher’s own experience in handling and guiding English-speaking tourists in Bali in the
passage of three years (1994-1996) has been the catalyst of the formation of this paper. Hands on
experiences are things that cannot be obtained in the lecture or talk but thoroughly tasted with full of
joy and sometimes full of obstacles. The researcher used to work as a full time tourist guide at Tour
East Bali, Indonesia. It was one of the biggest travel agents in Indonesia. Tour East groups also spread
across Southeast Asia like in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.

A combination of basic theory adopted from books, journals and the researcher’s own experience are
the anchor and essence of the discussion in this paper where the researcher will addresses some
issues related to tourist guides that will be elaborated in the findings and discussions section.

3.0 Characteristics, roles, challenges and contributions of a tourist guide

3.1 Characteristics of a good tourist guide

There is a good term used to portray the success of a tourist guide’s job in his guiding the tourists. It
is often heard “A great tour guide makes history come alive”. This sentence really represents and at
the same time demands a great tourist guide to perform and ensure their guests are extremely satisfied
with their tourist guides. The way a tourist guide speaks, behaves, reacts and gives company to the
guest will remain intact in their memory. These are some of the reasons that can make them comeback
and visit the country again. In particular, the guests will surely request the same tourist guide. If the
happy guests return to their country they will surely recommend the successful tourist guide to guide

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their friends if they visit the place again. That is the sweet side of being a great tourist guide. How to
be one?

It is easily said than done, that is the saying. In order to be a great tourist guide it will come down to
information and communication that is the quality of the tourist guide. There are 10 essential
characteristics of a great Tour Guide that are adopted from :(http://travelblog.viator.com/) which the
researcher is in agreement with reflecting from his experiences. The 10 characteristics are as follows:

1. Understandable
Ideally a tour guide should speak a range of languages, and most importantly he speaks the
language of the guests. They should also speak clearly, audibly and with confidence.
2. Punctual
A tourist guide should be waiting for the guests rather than the other way around. Ideally,
they should also ensure that other tour members arrive and depart on time, and don’t cause
delays for the group as a whole.
3. Friendly
A relaxed and friendly manner is the key to a great tour guide. They also need to have a certain
level of authority, and be able to keep tour members together and focused without coming
across as intimidating, patronising or arrogant – not a good look in a tour guide.
4. Knowledgeable
A good tour guide has an in-depth knowledge of the site, its history and importance. A great
tour guide has a passion for their subject and can convey their enthusiasm to the group. Such
passion can be contagious and inspiring, and make the site really come alive. Being able to
convey a sense of the overall cultural background is also important, as it can greatly enhance
each tour member’s overall understanding of the site as a whole.
5. Engaging
Great tour guides share their knowledge in an engaging, illuminating and entertaining way,
rather than repeating a list of facts by rote.
6. Interactive
Effective tour guides also invite questions and interaction from tour members, rather than
treating the tour as a one-person show or a ‘be quiet and listen’ school lesson.
7. Funny
A certain level of friendly humour is essential. Equally, a good tour guide also knows when
to include a little quiet time, and when to let the site speak for itself.
8. Observant
The tour needs to be relevant to a broad range of people, including different age groups. A
good tour leader also needs to be aware of tour members with special needs.
9. Good Pacing
Whether the speed of the narrative or the pace of a walking tour, it should be neither too fast
nor too slow. Like Goldilocks, it should be just right.
10. Flexible
When appropriate, a flexible approach can make the difference between a good and a great
tour guide. Being flexible means being open to serendipity, taking a moment to enjoy
spontaneous moments like a particularly perfect sunset.
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3.2 Roles of a tourist guide

Tour guides play an important and central role in tourism (Prakash. M and Chowdhary N. -2010).
Tour guide performance was found to have a significant direct effect on tourist satisfaction with
guiding service (Ap, J. and Wong, K.K.F. - 2001). Being a professional tourist guide, one must bear
in mind that he or she is representing his or her own country as an ambassador to entertain their
guests. The guests or tourists must be well treated, informed and entertained. There are some basic
roles that a tourist guide must play, such as:
1. To lead the tourists or guests around the destination as stated in the itinerary. A tourist guide
must be fully prepared and responsible with the itinerary as guide to conduct the tour.
2. To help the tourists to understand the culture of the region and their way of life. This also
means to promote the cultural, natural and environmental heritage of the visited area.
3. To provide full information about the features and history of the location. The tourist guide
should educate and narrate the guests on the local stories, history and culture.
4. To mediate social interactions among the guests. Generally, a guide’s mediation is very
important especially if the tour groups come from different nationalities. It is the duty of the
tourist guide to mediate the social interaction among the guests.
5. To take care the guests’ safety throughout the trip. In an emergency case or the state of
eventuality, a tourist guide must be alert with any unexpected things that could happen, such
as road accident, a guest suddenly falls sick, etc.

Black (in Pastorelli, 2003) as cited in (Hall,1998) insisted on the fact that guides are of vital
importance both for tourism and tourist experience. She identified the roles of a tourist guide are as
follows: information provider, social facilitator, cultural host, motivator of conservation values,
interpreter of the natural and cultural environment, people mover. She also mentioned other roles and
responsibilities of tourist guides as : teacher or instructor, safety officer, ambassador for one’s
country, public relations representative or company representative, entertainer, problem solver,
confidant and counsellor.

3.3 Challenges of a tourist guide

Some people opine that tour guiding is an easy profession without realizing the huge responsibility
that is waiting ahead once the tour is on-going. Apart from the fun-filled activities and joyous moment
from an expected trip, some unexpected things could crop up out of the blue in any journey handled
by a tourist guide.

From the researcher’s own experiences, there are some challenges of a tourist guide such as:
1. Problems caused by the attitudes of the guests or tourists.
Tourist guides often see many types of characters in a group tour. Some of them are quite
irritating and pose a lot of trouble for the tourist guide and the other group members. One
simple example is if a tourist comes late for a scheduled trip. They sometimes go and roam
by themselves and it results them in coming back late to the bus where the other guests have
been waiting for.
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Another example is guests who always make noise during a tour. This will disturb the other
guest in the bus. Being a tourist guide, one must be patient and take it as part and parcel of
the profession.
2. Problems caused by weather situations.
The problem meant here is merely the tourist guide’s control. For example, when the weather
is so beautiful and the tour embarks on a bright morning. When they reach a volcano area
which has good view, the weather has totally changed to be overcast and in worst case, it rains
heavily. It spoils the whole mood of the tour. This is the situation that a tourist guide must
control how to turn the bad weather to be a good one. A tourist guide can make joke that their
journey is blessed by the rainfall or simply to say they must come again next time. A wise
tourist guide would turn the situation to be a blue ocean strategy, if possible.
3. Problems caused by the emergency cases.
This is something that every tourist guide anticipates but something they cannot avoid when
it happens. A case of road accident involving some guests get injured or in worst case
involving casualties will be the nightmare of a tourist guide. On one occasion, there was a
tourist bus plunged to the ravine in Bali. A few guests died. A tourist guide must take prompt
action to solve the problem.
Another case is involving a group member who suddenly falls ill. A tourist guide cannot spoil
the whole group just because of one member who falls ill. He or she can contact another
vehicle from his travel agent to send the guest to the hospital, or to call ambulance for help.
By then the tour can go on. The bus or vehicles also must have, at least, first aids kit to help
the guests in the emergency case.

3.4 Contributions of a tourist guide

As the front liner in the tourism fields who meet, treat and entertain the guests or tourists directly, a
tourist guide can contribute in many ways such as in promoting the hospitality of the country, the
beauty of the country as well as give good image and portraits of the host country.

A very polite, well-mannered and behaved tourist guide can make the tourists impressed thus giving
them an impression that most of the people in the visited country are polite and nice as well. This
can trigger the arrival of more tourists in the future since a testimony as the result of what the so-
called seeing is believing can instantly promote the place as a good destination to visit.

At times, there are certain circumstances that some tourists are very critical about the host country
based on their reading through media or simply from hearing rumours about the country. Some issues
related to politics, economy or even social problems are often raised by them. Some of them are so
tactful in seeking explanation about something but some of them ask straightforward to the point that
can make a tourist guide feel not at ease sometimes. Being a fully-trained tourist guide, this is actually
the time that a tourist guide is looking forward to. This is actually the best time and avenue to respond
and try to correct some misconceptions, misunderstandings that have been boggling the tourists’
minds. A good tourist guide can counter and subsequently give clear explanation in order to retain
and sustain the image of the country from being tarnished.

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A good tourist guide is a valuable asset to a country where it can be a good envoy and ambassador to
attract the future tourists to visit the country which will result in the arrivals of guests that can give a
lot of gain in terms of financial or income for the country. What they need to do is just simply by
giving the best possible way in handling the tourists, making them happy and having some lasting
memories that can easily be brought home to their country and subsequently shared and told to their
friends, colleagues so that their friends and colleagues will visit the country as well.

4.0 Conclusions

Tourism is now becoming one of the main sources of incomes in Malaysia. With the influx of tourist
visiting Malaysia every year, it is our duty to give the best possible service to the visiting tourists.
One of the main players in the tourism industry is tourist guides. They have played their roles in
ensuring the satisfaction of the guests. Despite of some challenges faced by them, they actually have
enormously contributed to this country. They have successfully become unofficial ambassadors for
the host country, trying to sell and promote the country by providing good services, hospitable, polite
thus impressing the guests during their stay.

It is highly recommended that tourist guides must be well trained by professionals in the fields. A
good course or training, organized by the government or private sector, will result in having such
highly professional tourist guides that can benefit the country. On the other hands, their welfare and
wellbeing must also be taken into consideration since the profession of a tourist guide is a bit risky
since they have to keep moving when handling their guests. A good model of training or course and
coupled with a good prospect of future for this profession will lead to more people, especially the
young ones, to indulge in this tasking but fun-filled profession. A formation of an association of
tourist guides is a timely move since it can cater to the needs and welfare of its members. It is hoped
that tourism will keep blooming and growing thus enabling all parties involved including tourist
guides to share the cakes in terms of financial gains as the result of the tourism.

References

Ap, J. and Wong, K.K.F. (2001) “Case study on tour guiding: professionalism, issues and
problems”, Tourism Management, Vol.22 (abstract)
Chowdhary,N. and Prakash,M. (2008) Challenges of tourist guiding-an assessment of situation in
India. Conference on Tourism in India – Challenges Ahead, 15-17 May 2008, IIMK:
Retrieved on: 27 July 2013
Coltman,Mitchael M. (1989).Tourism Marketing.Van Nostrand Reinhold: United States of
America.
Hall, Colin M.(1998). Introduction to Tourism. Longman:Australia
Mill,Robert C. (1985). The Tourism System:an Introductory Text. Prentice Hall: New Jersey
Prakash. M and Chowdhary N. (2010) Tour guides: Roles, challenges and desired competences A
review of literature - International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Systems, Volume 3 Issue
1 2010. Retrieved on 9 March 2016.
Rabotic,B.(2010) Tourist Guides in Contemporary Tourism. International Conference on tourism
and Environment. Retrieved: 27 July 2013
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_guide (26 july 2013: 00.59 am)

http://travelblog.viator.com/top-10-characteristics-ofa-great-tour-guide(26 July 2013 – 00.20
am)http://www.sanfranshuttletours.com/shuttle-articles/2008/10/role-oftour-guide.html (26 July
2013: 00.56 am)
http://bpsi.webs.com/apps/forums/topics/show/2881172 (27 July 2013: 01.10 am)

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THE POWER OF WORDS: IMPACT ON YOUNG MUSLIM READERS

Zanirah binti Wahab

Centre of English Language Studies, Faculty of Languages and Communication
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus, 21300 Kuala Nerus,
Terengganu, Malaysia
Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Physical colonialism may be over for most of the world, but certain texts could motivate a colonialism of the
mind as no text is neutral. This research aims to demonstrate the power of word and its impact on the
unassuming young Muslim readers. A short story is selected, namely “The Lamb to the Slaughter” by a Roald
Dahl, and a set of questionnaire is designed based on the reader’s response theory in collecting feedback from
78 University Sultan Zainal Abidin Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) students. It is found that
respondents perceive this text as harmless short story even though the values presented are contradictory from
Islamic teaching. The power of words in both texts can be concluded as a potential threat to the emancipation
and independence of the minds of the Muslim youth in general and Ummah as a whole as it could mould and
shape the way of thinking, especially among impressionable young Muslim youths.

Keywords: Fiction, muslim, readers, primer, Islamisation of knowledge

1.0 Introduction

Fiction has always been the composition of words that has delighted millions and will delight millions
more in the future. However, similar to other bodies of knowledge, fiction could also be embedded
with ideals and propaganda to suit the designs of certain parties and individuals. When published,
either hardcopies or online, some selected fiction will be disseminated to millions of readers of
different age, gender, race and religion around the world, in particular countries where English is a
prominent language as English is now considered the global language.

This dissemination of fiction that contain ideals contradictory to the teaching of Islam is a potential
threat to the emancipation and independence of the minds of the Muslim ummah as it could mould
and shape the way of thinking, especially among impressionable young Muslim youths, who think
that a story is just a story. Physical colonialism may be over for most of the world, but certain texts
could motivate a colonialism of the mind, where the former is more dangerous than the latter. (al
Faruqi, 1982, pp. 5-8)

This paper will demonstrate how an innocent, admirable, and harmless short story is actually littered
with contradictory principles that are far from Islamic. The story chose as the main case of this
research is “The Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, a well-known British writer. This paper will
also explore how damaging the impacts of this story onto unassuming Muslim minds and also how
this story could be Islamised to suit Muslim readers. In addition, two literature reviews namely
Resisting Colonialist Discourse by Zawiah Yahya and “Critical Discourse Analysis – A Primer” by

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Sue McGregor are analyzed to see how readers’ perception are influenced/changed by texts,
especially literary ones.

2.0 Literature review

Physical colonisations had ended decades ago but it does not mean that colonisation has really ended.
One of the legacies from these physical colonisations is the colonisation of the mind-set or way of
thinking which is more dangerous than the former ones. As the saying goes, “the pen is mightier than
the sword”3, might prove to be very true as the most effective way to control a man is through his
reasoning. Realizing the danger posed by this mental colonisation, McGregor (2003)4 dedicated her
article, “Critical Discourse Analysis – A Primer”, to alert readers of the hidden values and key
concepts and/or ideologies a writer(s) conveyed in their text and we found that this is in-line with
what our paper is trying to prove, the power of discourse, specifically literary texts and the danger it
possesses.

For people who are not familiar with the term and idea of Islamisation of knowledge (specifically
contemporary knowledge), this approach would seem a little bit redundant and pointless as they have
been trained by the western way of thinking or rather, what the western wanted them to think, that
text, be it scientific journals or literary pieces, are neutral and value-free. Despite being a western
scholar herself, McGregor disagrees with the passivity and the tendency of the readers to accept
whatever values conveyed in the text they read. McGregor shares our view on the need of a tool for
readers to evaluate what they read and not be deceived by the hidden agenda in the text. Hence, she
proposed the use of Critical Discourse Analysis or CDA in deciphering the underlying message and
promoted this method throughout this paper by introducing CDA, its roles and its importance along
with few techniques to deduce the lurking meanings embedded in the text.

One of McGregor arguments based on Fairclough (2000)’s theory is that, readers always take for
granted the fact that discourse is shaped and controlled by social structure and culture, and discourse
(the words and language we use) helps shape and constrain one’s identity, relationships, and systems
of knowledge and beliefs. Hence, a text is clearly not as neutral as the writer(s) claimed to be and
their writings are inevitably became more than just words on paper. According to Sheyholislami
(2001), as quoted by McGregor, “the way we write and what we write is not arbitrary, it is purposeful,
whether or not the choices are conscious or unconscious”. In other words, authors have freedom to
choose what they want to convey, be it good or bad. Each word used has high possibility to give some
impacts to the readers without them consciously realizing it and readers have the tendency to take
what they read as presenting the truths.

McGregor then takes another step further by giving one example to prove her argument where the
use of the word ‘protester’ instead of ‘demonstrator’ used by journalists prime out different
impression in readers’ mind. A protester, according to Huckin (1997), “is someone who is against
something while a demonstrator is trying to make something evident”. The former word conveys a

3
Oxford Advanced Dictionary: International Student’s Edition (7th ed.), p. 1075.
4
Dr. Sue L. T. McGregor is a Professor at Department of Education, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, NS.
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negative image of those advocating for peace as protesting against the government or corporate
establishment. Hence, it is clear that words have impacts on readers and even one word can covey
strong meaning unto them. Therefore, one has to bear in mind that no words are neutral.

Based on these reasons, Critical Discourse Analysis is one of the methods to make readers aware of
the message that is being subtly conveyed in the text and to be critical in their reading. The objective
of this paper seems to be similar to the objective of our case, yet, it is different as McGregor only
focuses on readers not to be duped by what the writers wrote while this paper aimed more than that
where the purpose of study is to make Muslim readers more aware of the propaganda in the text as
well as to be more critical in reading these texts especially ones that come from the west as to avoid
corruption of their mind with values that are not align with the Islamic teachings.

Another work on the refutable neutrality of literary texts is Resisting Colonial Discourse (1994). It
is a critical discourse analysis book centering on the colonialist strategy of using English literature to
imbed ideologies and propaganda of colonialists of one nation into the hearts and minds on the
colonized or formerly colonized. Even with the end of physical colonization, Zawiah Yahya5 believes
that the eradication of mental colonization has a long way to go due to the perilous impacts of
propaganda-infused literature. She describes discourse as a “seducer” and thus urges readers to take
up their responsibility and resist the urge to comply with the ideals that are inculcated into literature.
Therefore, the soul of the book lies in the mission to raise awareness on the dangers of textual
seduction.

To begin, the book sets the premise of the discussion by focusing on the deciphering of texts. She
argues that decoders in the form of literary critics and professors have seemingly “decoded” texts to
find the meanings and then disperse them to the masses. Thus, unsuspecting and unresisting readers
would then accept this dissemination of meanings and forego their rights as decoders, becoming
unreceptive at the same time. As an example, she refers to Hussein Al-Attas in The Myth of the Lazy
Native (1977) on the issue that colonizers have created the notion of the native to suit their purposes,
a construct that is no where near accurate.

Zawiah also states that the since we’ve been too institutionalized with this type of framework, that
it is difficult to identify its mechanics in today’s classrooms. In order to expound her point, she allows
a glance at what the KBSM (Integrated Curriculum for Secondary Schools) English Literature
syllabus in order to show how deeply rooted the problem is within our education system, which serves
as the most effective medium of shaping minds. These texts are chosen to be included into the KBSM
syllabus based on the assumption of universality. This universality of ideals that cuts across age,
gender, and creed is championed by the West and is now accepted as a standard for choosing the right
literature for inclusion. However, this is now seen as false and ideals that they deem to be universal
is tied to chronological, cultural, and even religious elements of one country or race, leading to the
development and acceptance of only one point of view.

5
Dr. Zawiah Yahya is a Professor of Postcolonial Studies and Critical Theory from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
(UKM).
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To tackle this pervasive illness, Zawiah proposes several strategies; by placing discussed imposing
texts in their exact ideological framework and context, by illuminating the bias nature of the author
towards the native voice, and by undermine the text’s ideological foundation. The book illustrates
these strategies by applying them to three different colonial texts which are Joseph Conrad’s Lord
Jim, Somerset Maugham’s “The Force of Circumstance”, and Anthony’s Burgess’s The Malayan
Trilogy. Within these techniques, there is a negation of the author or narrator as the source of
meaning, and that importance is replaced with the experiences of the reader to shape meaning.

Hence, what Zawiah is urging academicians, critics, and students alike is parallel to the intent of this
paper; to discard the attitude of takings things prima facie, take out un-Islamic aspects, and apply
Islamic observations on literary texts. The only difference between what Zawiah is championing and
what we are doing in the paper is that her strategies are more general in a sense that it could be applied
to any body of literature that emphasizes post-colonialism. In comparison, our study focuses on
specific strategies involving the total negation of un-Islamic elements and the incorporation of
Islamic values for the benefit of Muslims.

3.0 Methodology

This research used quantitative research design. A set of questionnaire which consists of 2 sections
with 8 eight items was designed to probe further into the subject-matter. The questionnaires were
distributed manually to 78 TESL Muslim students as the respondents who are currently taking an
Introduction to Literature class this semester (Sem. 1, 2015/2016).

4.0 Analysis

The following findings are on selected items from the questionnaire which aim to assess students’
understanding based on generated moral values from their readings and too analyse students’ critical
discourse analysis as Muslim readers on the values as propagated by Dahl.

2. What do you think is the moral value that Dahl would like to convey in the story?

The assorted answers were categorized into these respective key-word categories. The respondents’
initial impression of the value of the story can be seen from the chart above.
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3. How do you deduce the moral value?

In this item, respondents demonstrate their understanding beyond mere reading where they managed
to justify their reasoning and applied their prior knowledge gained from the lecture in class.

4. Do you think the story is suitable for young readers?

The importance of the first impression is evident as 69% are of the opinion that this story is suitable
for young readers while 31% disagree. Below is the breakage of their responses:

4 (a). Why?

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Despite of 90% respondents would gladly recommend this literary piece to their friends and use it as
teaching material, only 31% actually think that the story is suitable for young readers.

5. Would you recommend this story to your friends / future students?

5 (a). Why?

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6. As a Muslim reader, do you agree with the value propagated by Dahl?

It is interesting to note that when all respondents were asked to revisit the moral value they came up
with earlier from Islamic perspective, their answers were consistent with their initial response but
Islamised in the sense that they look at the good/bad values and supported/condemned it.
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From the findings as presented above, even though all respondents were able to point out the moral
value from the narration, it is alarming that only two respondents were able to see the real message
of the story. The story implies that you can hide your crime if you remain calm and think clearly. In
other words, no matter what happened to you, you will be fine if you stay calm and keep your head
clear.

5.0 Conclusion

In conclusion, the short story presented; “The Lamb to the Slaughter” is a story that on prima facie,
resembles story that adhere to Islamic principles. However, upon closer inspection, it is found that
the story which prior to analysis, contains admirable values that could be termed Islamic in nature, it
can be said that this work of fiction can be damaging if careful considerations are not met.

Discourse analyses based on Islamic principles should be carried out by educators and students to
ensure that the material used for learning is free from ideals contradictory to the teachings of Islam.
These inspections on discourse should be from the words used until the broad content itself. Without
proper inspections, there could be a possibility that Western ideals that are incongruous with Islam
will be embedded into the minds of Muslims young and old. This is why al-Attas and and al-Faruqi
emphasise on the importance of the Islamisation of knowledge to ensure the independent and positive
development of Muslims around the world.

References

Dahl, R. (1953). “Lamb to the Slaughter”. Retrieved December, 15, 2015, from
http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lamb.html
Ismail Raji al Faruqi. (1982). Islamization of Knowledge: General Principles and Workplan.
Maryland, United States: International Institute of Islamic Thought.
McGregor, S.L.T. (2003). Critical Discourse Analysis: A Primer. Critical Science and Critical
Discourse Analysis, 15. Retrieved November 10, 2015, from
http://www.kon.org/archives/forum/15-1/mcgregorcda.html
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas. (1993). Islam and Secularism. Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC.
Zawiah Yahya. (2003). Resisting Colonialist Discourse. Selangor: UKM Press.

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SEARCHING FOR AN APPROPRIATE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: A NARRATIVE

OF PERSONAL JOURNEY

Radzuwan Ab Rashid
Centre of English Language Studies, Faculty of Languages and Communication
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus, 21300 Kuala Nerus
Terengganu, Malaysia
Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

This paper describes in candour, the journey of a novice researcher in deciding the most appropriate
methodological approach to be applied in his doctoral research. After extensive reading on various research
methodologies, he finally decides that grounded theory is the most useful approach in providing insights into
the phenomenon being investigated. However, he found that he cannot wholly apply the grounded theory
approach in the research. This embarks him on a valuable journey in finding creative possibilities and solutions
where he critically analyses the practicality of the approach. The narrative reflection shared in this paper may
benefit other novice researchers in the sense that it helps them to realize that their decisions on research design
are inextricably linked with individual passions, justifications and values.

Keywords: Narrative, methodology, grounded theory, ethnography, research dilemma

1.0 Introduction

The aim of my research is to develop a substantive explanatory theory of teachers' informal learning
on a social networking site. Having this aim in mind, I am immediately attracted to grounded theory
methodology introduced by Glaser and Strauss (1967) as I found that it is the only methodology that
explicitly aims for development of theory instead of verifying existing theories. My initial reading of
grounded theory made me aware of the existence of three different schools of thought which are
Classic grounded theory associated with Glaser, Straussian grounded theory associated with Strauss
and Corbin, and Constructivist grounded theory associated with Charmaz (see Glaser, 1978,1998,
2003, 2012; Strauss & Corbin,1990, 1998; Corbin &Strauss, 2007; Charmaz, 2000, 2006 ).

My further reading of grounded theory encounters me with what Simmons (2011) described as
'superficial and distorted views of grounded theory' (p.15). For instance, Goldkuhl and Cronholm
(2003) despite presenting themselves as ‘supervisors for many PhD candidates using GT and variants
of it’ (p.2), clearly show lack of understanding in grounded theory methodology. For instance, they
wrote that;

We claim that the reluctance in GT to bring in established theories implies a loss of

knowledge. In certain stages of the process of theory development, the use of pre-existing
theories may give inspiration and perhaps also challenge some of the abstractions made.
There is a potential to compare and contrast the empirical findings and abstractions to other
theories (p.1).

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Their claim that I highlighted above clearly shows that they do not understand the true spirit of
grounded theory. By claiming that grounded theorists are reluctant to bring in established theories
thus leads to a loss of knowledge, it is discernible that they hold a misconception that in a grounded
theory process, the existing theories have no place at all. I argue that this is totally wrong as existing
theories are used in the process of developing a grounded theory to enhance one’s theoretical
sensitivity by comparing the emerging theory with the existing theories (see Glaser, 1978). What
Glaser and Strauss (1967) actually emphasize is to minimize preconception by not confining one’s
perspective to an existing theory or categories prior to analyzing the data (see Simmons, 2011).
Instead, the categories must emerge from the data so that a grounded theory can be developed.

Hence, Goldkuhl and Cronholm’s (2003) argument that the use of grounded theory methodology can
lead to the loss of knowledge is certainly a flaw. In addition, their argument that existing theories
need to be compared and contrasted with the empirical findings and abstraction in the process of
theory development is not something new as it has been discussed thoroughly by Glaser (1978). In
fact, all the issues that Goldkuhl and Cronholm (ibid) raise have been spelled out clearly in the
Discovery of Grounded Theory, a book written by Glaser and Strauss (1967) in which Hammersley
and Atkinson (2007) and I feel necessary to be read by those who want to get true understanding of
classic grounded theory.

The various misconceptions of grounded theory available in the literature force me to read the original
works written by the key players. Upon reading Glaser (1978, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2012), Corbin
and Strauss (2007) and Charmaz (2006), I realized that the main dispute between the key players in
grounded theory remains at the philosophical underpinnings of the methodology and to some extent
in the analysis process between Glaser and Strauss. Glaser is sceptical with his colleague Anselm
Strauss who associates grounded theory with symbolic interactionism as well as with his student
Kathy Charmaz who associates it with constructivism as he believes that by associating grounded
theory with these two epistemologies, grounded theory loses its freedom to stand as a general
methodology which should not be confined to any ideology or epistemology (see Glaser, 2002). At
the same time, Glaser has been criticized by others to have the positivist perspectives of grounded
theory even though he himself never declares that he espoused positivism as his epistemology (see
Age, 2011). Perhaps, this is mainly due to the fact that Glaser aims for generalization besides rejecting
the association of grounded theory with symbolic interactionism and constructivism which both fall
under interpretivist paradigm (see Glaser, 2002).

Despite the dispute, all the three key players share the same notion that grounded theory is a powerful
research methodology as it produces theories which are meaningful not only to sociologists but also
laymen besides being able to provide ‘relevant predictions, explanations, interpretations and
applications’ (Glaser and Strauss, 1967:p.1). To this end, I am torn between two choices as whether
to employ classic grounded theory or Straussian grounded theory as these two versions of grounded
theory do not only differ in the view of epistemological position but also in the methods, strategies
and techniques used to approach the research.

I reject the constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2000, 2006) on the basis that it is ‘a misnomer’
(Glaser, 2002). This is because grounded theory is a general methodology that should not be confined
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to any particular methodology (Glaser, 1978, 1998). By labelling it as ‘constructivist grounded

theory’, it seems to imply that grounded theory is exclusively belonged to constructivism and can
only be employed by those who espouse constructivist epistemology. The ‘rhetorical wrestle’
(Glaser, 1998: p.35) of philosophical underpinnings of grounded theory is tackled wisely by Holton
(2007) who argues that by accepting classic grounded theory as a general methodology, it does not
mean ‘that the classic grounded theory is free of any theoretical lens but rather that it should not be
confined to any one lens; that as a general methodology, classic grounded theory can adopt any
epistemological perspective appropriate to the data and the ontological stance of the researcher’ (p.
269). Hence, even though I espouse constructionism as my epistemological belief, I do not associate
this research with Charmaz (2000, 2006) as I do not want to imply that grounded theory is exclusively
belonged to constructivism or constructionism.

2.0 Choosing between Classic and Straussian Grounded Theories

The differences in the view of epistemological position and process of data analysis between Classic
and Straussian grounded theory are clearly discernible in the works of Glaser, and Strauss and Corbin
that were published after the Discovery of Grounded Theory (1967) (see Glaser, 1978,1998, 2003,
2012; Strauss & Corbin,1990, 1998; Corbin &Strauss, 2007). Glaser in his subsequent publications
holds to the original principles of grounded theory highlighted in Glaser and Strauss (1967) and
emphasizes the need to avoid preconception in the attempts to develop a theory that is truly grounded
in the data whilst Strauss seems to stray away from the original principles. For instance, reading
Corbin and Strauss (2007) makes one see grounded theory as just another style of qualitative analysis
which allows researchers to have predefined categories. Because of this, Glaser (1998) criticizes
Strauss’ approaches as to impose ‘forcing’ on data to fit the predefined categories thus is more
concern with theory verification instead of theory generation.

Simmons (2011) who has had the experience of being a student both of Glaser and Strauss reflects
the moment of being in the Strauss’s methods seminar in his attempts to show the different views of
grounded theory that these two key players have. He wrote:

When Strauss returned from his time away, I enrolled in his methods seminar. During the
first session of this seminar I immediately recognized that there were major differences
between the way Strauss and Glaser portrayed grounded theory, particularly regarding how
to analyze data. Glaser emphasized the importance at the outset of minimizing
preconceptions, including preconceived questions and categories. Strauss began providing
us with both. Strauss’ perspective and much of his language was drawn from the interests,
questions, and categories of the symbolic interactionist perspective, in which he had been so
thoroughly immersed during his years at the University of Chicago. Having studied under
some notable sociologists with a qualitative, symbolic interactionist bent, such as Stanford
Lyman, John Lofland, Fred Davis, and Leonard Schatzman, I was well familiar with that
approach to sociological research.

Although Strauss used some of the terminology (constant comparison, theoretical sampling,
etc.) from Discovery [short for Discovery of Grounded Theory, 1967], the content of what
he was saying did not always match the understanding of grounded theory that I had gained
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from reading Discovery and participating in classes and individual conversations with
Glaser. Because I assumed that the ideas of Glaser and Strauss would be consistent, I was a
bit taken aback (p.6).

Based on the reading of Glaser and Strauss (1967) and comparative analysis of Glaser’s and Strauss’
subsequent works, as well as the reflection put forth by Simmons (2011), I decided to employ classic
grounded theory as I believe that it will lead to the development of theory that is purely grounded in
the data since I need to analyze the data with no preconceived categories. Having decided to employ
classic grounded theory, I need to tackle some strategies put forth by Glaser (1998) which I found
less pragmatic.

3.0 Problems with Classic Grounded Theory

I have two main problems with classic grounded theory. The first one relates to the strategies
presented by Glaser (1998) in his attempts to guide grounded theorists in developing a theory that is
purely grounded in the data whilst the second problem relates to the nature of grounded theory which
does not seek to describe phenomenon being studied in detail. I will first discuss the problematic
strategies put forth by Glaser (ibid) followed by the problematic nature of grounded theory.

Glaser (1998: p.67) strongly emphasizes that ‘do not do a literature review in the substantive area
and related areas where the research is to be done’ (bold in original) as he believes that it will
ensure the openness in discovering the emerging concepts, hypothesis, properties and codes from the
data. I see this advice as less pragmatic as I believe that reviewing a literature prior to conducting the
research is necessary especially in identifying the gap in the literature as well as familiarizing myself
with the context of the phenomenon being studied. For me, it is justified to review literature for these
two reasons as long as we remain open and do not confine our perspective to existing theories and
develop preconceived categories to look at data.

Interviewing strategy that Glaser (1998:p.107) put forth is also problematic in which he strongly
emphasizes ‘DO NOT TAPE INTERVIEWS’ (capital in original). This is closely related to the nature
of grounded theory that does not aim to produce thick description of the phenomenon being studied.
For Glaser (ibid), it is a futile effort to tape and transcribe the interviews as most part of the
transcribed data will not be used as grounded theory is presented in the form of integrated abstract
concept. In Glaser (2002), he adds that grounded theorists must be a passive listener in the interview
as to allow the interviewees speak their mind without being directed by the interviewer.

For me, the two interviewing strategies highlighted above are less pragmatic to be employed in my
research. Not taping the interviews and act as a passive listener throughout the interview sessions
will not give me rich data as I will not be able to ask questions to explore various aspects of the
phenomenon being studied. I believe, if not prompted with questions, the interviewees will only talk
partially about the phenomenon and it is my task to encourage them to give further details to gain in-
depth understanding of the phenomenon understanding.

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I am aware that the conflictive views between Glaser (1998) and I are rooted in the nature of grounded
theory which does not aim to provide description but rather a conceptual explanation of the
phenomenon being studied. This is the biggest problem that I face when deciding to employ grounded
theory as my methodology. For me, description of the phenomenon in which the grounded theorists
based their conceptualization is necessary for readers to make sense of the grounded theory presented.
For instance, when reading a piece of grounded theory work, I feel reluctant to believe the presented
concepts as they are not accompanied by the descriptive data that have been used to derive the
concepts. I consider this as a shortcoming of grounded theory that I need to overcome in this research.

My aim is clear that in my thesis, I need to provide descriptions to illuminate the concepts generated.
This has brought me to Charmaz and Mitchell (2001) and Pettigrew (2000) who propose a pluralistic
approach to research combining ethnography and grounded theory to allow both description and
conceptualization of the phenomenon being studied.

4.0 Towards a pluralistic approach: Combining grounded theory and ethnographic methods

Fundamental to Charmaz and Mitchell’s (2001) argument of combining ethnographic and grounded
theory methods is to provide full description of the phenomenon being studied and develop a
grounded theory based on the rich data gathered. They argue that an ethnography often produces
‘low-level description and, if a bit more sophisticated, lists of unintegrated categories’ (p.161) whilst
a grounded theory is a ‘quick and dirty’ qualitative research (p.160). Hence, they argue that these two
approaches need to be combined as

using grounded theory methods can streamline fieldwork and move ethnographic research
toward theoretical interpretation. Attending to ethnographic methods can prevent
grounded theory studies from dissolving into quick and dirty qualitative research (p.160).

Charmaz and Mitchell’s (2001) criticism of grounded theory as ‘quick and dirty’ (p.160) is related to
the process of developing the grounded theory which does not require the researcher to provide
detailed description of the phenomenon since the theory is presented in an abstract conceptual form.
Since I aim to produce description to illuminate the categories in the grounded theory that will be
developed, I found that Charmaz and Mitchell’s pluralistic approach of combining ethnographic and
grounded theory methods suit the need of my study.

The literature review reveals that ethnography shares many common characteristics with grounded
theory. The main characteristic which makes these two approaches are compatible to be combined is
that no preconception or pre categories are defined prior to the fieldwork (Hammersley and Atkinson,
2007). Another common characteristic is that both ethnographers and grounded theories rely on
participant observation and interviews as their data collection methods (see Hammersley and
Atkinson, 2007; Glaser 1998).

In this research, ethnographic methods will be used from the beginning of the research process up to
data collection stage whilst grounded theory methods will be employed during data analysis to
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develop the theory. By employing ethnographic methods from the beginning of the research process,
I have the opportunity to review the literature and foreshadow the research problem (which is not
allowed in classic grounded theory) whilst at the same time remain open as not to have preconception
or predefined categories (see Hammersley and Atkinson, 2007). In addition, employing ethnographic
methods in data collection process enables me to gather detailed information of the phenomenon
being studied. Besides that, interviewing in ethnography can be ‘non-directive or directive, depending
on the function that the questioning is intended to serve’ (ibid: p.117) and this solves the problem
that I have with interviewing technique in classic grounded theory which requires me to be a passive
listener. It is at the data analysis stage that grounded theory methods will be employed so that I can
analyse and synthesise the data to develop a grounded theory.

5.0 Conclusion

Deciding on research design is not an easy task. It requires careful and critical analysis of the available
methodological approaches. At times, combining several approaches may offer rich insights into the
phenomenon being investigated. When combining the approaches, the compatibility of the
approaches needs to be taken into consideration and strong justifications should be given to readers.

References

Age, L.J. (2011). Grounded theory methodology: Positivism, hermeneutics and pragmatism.
The qualitative report, 16(6), 1599-1615.
Birks, M. & Mills, J. (2011). Grounded theory: A practical guide. London: Sage. London:
Sage.
Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing gounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative
analysis. London: Sage.
Charmaz, K. and Mitchell, R. G. (2001). Grounded Theory in Ethnography. In P. Atkinson, A.
Coffey, S. Delamont, J. Lofland, and L. Lofland (Eds.). Handbook of Ethnography. (pp.160-
174). London: Sage.
Corbin, J. & Strauss, A. (2007). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for
developing grounded theory (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Glaser, B.G & Strauss, A.L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for
qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company.
Glaser, B.G. (1978). Theoretical sensitivity: Advances in the methodology of grounded
theory. Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press.
Glaser, B.G. (1998). Doing grounded theory: Issues and discussions. Mill Valley: Sociology
Press.
Glaser, B.G. (2002). Constructivist grounded theory? Forum: Qualitative Social Research,
3(3).
Glaser, B.G. (2004). Remodelling Grounded Theory. Forum: Qualitative Social Research,
5(2).
Glaser, B.G. (2012). No preconception: The dictum. The Grounded Theory Review, 11(2), 3-
9.
Goldkuhl G & Cronholm S. (2003). Multi-Grounded Theory – adding theoretical grounding
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to grounded theory. 2nd European Conference on Research Methodology for Business

and Management Studies (ECRM 2003). 20-21 Mars 2003. Reading University, Reading,
UK.
Hammersley, M & Paul Atkinson, P. (2007). Ethnography: principles in practice (3rd ed).
London: Routledge.
Pettigrew, F.S. (2000). Ethnography and Grounded Theory: A Happy Marriage? Advances in
Consumer Research, 27, 256-260.
Simmons, O. (2011). Why classic grounded theory. In V. Martin & A. Gynnild (Eds.),
Grounded theory: The philosophy, method, and work of Barney Glaser. (pp. 15-30). Boca
Raton, FL: BrownWalker Press.

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NUSANTARA AND THE MALAY WORLD: THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN INDIGENOUS

MARITIME BORDERS

*1Mohamed Anwar Omar Din, 2Mahani Mohamad

1
Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, Universiti Sutan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus, 21300
Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
2
Faculty of Languages and Communication, Universiti Sutan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak Campus,
21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
*Corresponding author: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

This paper demonstrates the territorial boundaries of Nusantara and the Malay World from the indigenous
historical sources. Two main sources of the study are the Javanese Nagarakretagama and Pararaton, and also
a Malay classical text the Malay Annals. Based on these sources, Nusantara is a geopolitico-cultural territorial
enclosure with its northern tip boundary starts from Isthmus of Kra (Langkasuka), its eastern tip at southern
Philippines (Malano), southern tip at Western Papua New Guinea (Waning), and western tip at north-west
Sumatera (Barus). And the Malay World is also geopolitico-cultural territorial enclosure within the Nusantara
that encompasses the Isthmus of Kra, southern Philippines, whole Peninsular, Borneo-Kalimantan, Riau-
Lingga islands and Sumatra.

Keywords: Nagarakretagama, Pararaton, the Malay Annals, Nusantara and the Malay World

1.0 Introduction

The presence of the words ‘Nusantara’ and ‘the Malay World’ could suggest that the indigenous
people in this region had already constituted a vast and stable unified geopolitics-economic-
sociocultural region at supra-local level long before the coming of Europeans―who introduced the
terms such as ‘Indian Archipelago,’ ‘Netherlands Indies’ and ‘Southeast Asia.’ In fact, the existence
of Nusantara was identified by other ancient cultures. For example, the Indians called it as
Dvipantara and the Chinese called it Kun-lun.

Precise discussions among scholars on these subjects could be referred to in J. Avé (1989) and Russell
Jones (1973). Both could be accessed on the Internet. Among the earliest modern scholars who had
done a specific study on Nusantara was J. Levi (1931) (Avé 1989: 230). He concluded that the term
Nusantara might be a part of Javanisation of ancient Indian, Dvipantara―a Sanskrit term, which had
been used in Kalidasa, an ancient Indian written in 400 A.D. He ascertained that term ‘Nusantara’
refers to Archipelago par excellence with ‘dvipa’ been supplanted by ‘nusa’ as island and ‘tara’ as
‘between.’ Levi implied that Dvipantara is synonymous to Kun-lun in ancient Chinese term which
both referred to Southeast Asian region. Majority of scholars (such as Coedes 1965: 12, J. Gonda
1973: 603, Wolters 1967: 66, Pande 1999: 188, Behera 1999: 44, and Linehan 1949: 184) agree with
Levi’s conclusion.

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On the other hand, it has been generally accepted among scholars that the so-called ‘Malay World’
(or Alam Melayu) is a territorial state-of mind concept in Southeast Asia which consist of southern
Thailand, whole Malaysia (including Sabah and Sarawak in North Borneo), Singapore, almost all of
northern parts of Indonesia archipelago (including Sulawesi except Teroja territory, whole of
Kalimantan, whole of Riau-Lingga and whole of Sumatera), Brunei, and southern Philippines
(Geoffrey Benjamin and Cynthia Chou, 2002). The most tangible markers that constituted the
boundaries of the Malay World―although not officially recognised by each of their current central
governments―are the independence Islamic Kingdoms and the usage of Malay language (bahasa
Melayu) as the lingua-franca that coincided with those Islamic kingdoms in Southeast Asian region.
This means that the Malay World aspires almost half of Southeast Asian region.

The other ‘world’ in this region other than the Malay World is ‘the Javanese World’ (Alam Jawa)
which consists of whole Island of Java, Bali and few other small islands in its vicinity. In the past,
these two worlds were rival to each other.

Both Nusantara and Malay World are still relevant to the present day as both are still being used by
various societies till today. In fact, in the 1920’s the term ‘Nusantara’ was taken by some circles,
especially E.F. Douwes Dekker, as an appellation to supplant the word the ‘Netherlands Indies’
(Vlekke, 1959: 400; Resink, 1960: 21; Jones, 1973: 94).
This paper is divided into three parts. The first part demonstrates the contents of the texts that
described Nusantara. The second part presents the illustrations of the boundaries of Nusantara and
the Malay World based on those indigenous sources. The third part gives special focus on the Malay
World.

1.1 Problem statement

This paper intends to facilitate students of Southeast Asian studies to comprehend the concepts of
Nusantara and the Malay World more appropriately based on prime sources. These two concepts had
been frequently used by everybody whenever detailing with Southeast Asian but yet there is an
absence of explanation of what do they really mean.

1.2 Objectives

This paper attempts to present the concise and straightforward explanations on what are the meaning
of Nusantara and the Malay World based on indigenous sources. It will illustrate the boundaries,
hence the territorial space, of Southeast Asian maritime concepts from indigenous perspectives.

2.0 Methodology

In the construction of Nusantara’s boundaries, this study undertakes content analysis on classical
indigenous texts, namely, Nagarakretagama, Pararaton and the Malay Annals (Sejarah Melayu).
On the other hand, in construction of the Malay World, this study undertakes content-analysis on five
mains sources: 1) content analysis on Chinese sources, especially the seventh-century I-tsing’ records
translated by J. Takakusu, and Chao Ju-kua translated by Hirth & Rockhill (1911), 2) artifacts,
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especially copper plate found in Luzon, and stone inscriptions found in Palembang-Jambi vicinity
and other places in this region which had already been analysed by authorities such as Coedes (1965)
and Wolters (1982), 3) the Malay Annals/Sejarah Melayu and Tuhfat al-Nafis, 4) Portuguese sources
namely Afonso De Albuquerque 1995/1513: 71-78), Tome Pires 1512, and Valentyn (1884), and 5)
early British administrators such as Stamford Raffles (1988 from 1817 edition, and 1991 from 1830
edition), Marsden (1811), Crawfurd (1819) and Howison (1801).

3.0 Indigenous sources on Nusantara

There are three main indigenous sources that mentioned the word ‘Nusantara,’ namely,
Nagarathagama, Pararaton and the Malay Annals (Sejarah Melayu). The earliest source is
Nagarakretagama, a Javanese Majapahit poem written by Prapanca in 1365. The second is
Pararaton, also a fourteenth-century Javanese writing. The Malay Annals, written in sixteenth-
century, is the most important source about the fifteenth-century Melayu-Melaka Sultanate.
It is from these texts that we could trace the space extension of Nusantara, hence its
boundaries. What will follow are the translations of those texts.

1 3.1 Nusantara in Nagarakretagama

The most detail description about Nusantara is Nagarakretagama. The earliest scholar who studied
this text was J.L.A. Brandes (1897). The other important study on this text was Slametmulyana
(1979). The following translation is based from the latter.

The kingdoms in Nusantara under Daha as their leader bow down under the power of
Wilwatika (Majapahit). Careful examinations of the kingdoms under Majapahit from one
island to another are as follows:
The foremost is Melayu:
Jambi, Palembang, Toba and Darmasraya should also be mentioned the districts of Kandis,
Kahwas, Minangkabau, Siak, Rokan, Kampar and Pane, Kampe, Haru as well Mandailing,
Tamihang, the kingdoms Perlak and Padang L was with Samudra as well Lamuri, Batan,
Lampung and also Barus
Those are the most important Melayu kingdoms which bow to Majapahit
The kingdoms under Tanjungnegara island:
Kapuas-Katingan, Sampit, Kota Lingga, Kota Waringin, Sambas, Lawal, and should be
mentioned Kadandangan, Landa Samandang dan Tirem, and not to forget Sedu, Barune,
Kalka, Saludung, Solot and also Pasir Barito, Sawaku, Tabalung, and also Tanjung Kutei
Malano is still the most important in Tangjungpura island
In Hujung Medini:
Pahang has to be mentioned first,
follows by Langkasuka, Saimwang, Kelantan as well as Trengganu
Johor, Paka, Muar, Dungun, Tumasik, Kelang and Kedah
Jelai, Kanjapiniran, all are long assembled (under Majapahit?)
In east of Java are as follows:
Bali is the most important kingdom, Badan and Lo Gajah
Gurun as well as Sukun, Taliwang, pulau Sapi and Dompo

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Sang Hyang Api, Bima, Serantau, Hutan Kendali are at once

Pulau Gurun which commonly called as Lombok Merah
With posporous Sasak been entirely under its control
Bantayan in the province of Bantayan as well as Lombol Merah
up to Udamakatraya and other islands all bow

There are Makasar ilandss, Buton, Banggawi

Kunir, Galian aspek Salayar, Sumba, Solot, Muar
Nevertheless, Wanda (n), Ambon or Maluku islands, Waning
Serantau, Timor, a number of other islands

These are the name of foreign nations which have relationships with (Majapahit) and have
good relationship with:
Siam and Ayudyapura, as well as Darmanagari
Marutma, Rajapura, as well as well as Singanagari
Campa, Kemboja and Yawana are friendly nations.
(Transliteration by Slametmulyana 1979)

2 3.2 Nusantara in Pararaton

As mentioned Pararaton was also a Javanese Majapahit texts written in fourteenth-century but it was
written later than Nagarakretagama.
Gajah Mada, he the Prime Minister, said he will not taste any spice, said Gajah Mada; as long
as I do not nify Nusantara, I will not taste any spice. Before I conquer domain of Gurun,
domain of Seram, Tanjungpura, domain of Haru, domain of Pahang, Dompo, domain of Bali,
Sunda, Palembang, Tumasik, I will never taste any spice.

[Sira Gajah Madapatih Amangkubhumi tan ayun amuktia palapa, sira Gajah Mada: “Lamun
huwus kalah nusantara isun amukti palapa; lamun kalah ring Gurun, ring Seran, Tañjung Pura,
ring Haru, ring Pahang, Dompo, ring Bali, Sunda, Palembang, Tumasik, samana isun amukti
palapa]. (From Raden Mas Mangkudimedja & Harjana Hadipranata 1979: 111)

3 3.3 Nusantara in The Malay Annals (Sejarah Melayu)

In the Malay Annals (Sejarah Melayu) the word ‘Nusantara’ is only mentioned one time, which says:

The Betara or sovereign of Majapahit, had two sons by the daughter of the raja or the mountain
Sagantang. The name of the eldest was Raden Inu Martawangsa, who became raja of
Majapahit. The name of the younger was Raden Amar Pamari, who likewise became a raja in
Majapahit for it is a country of great extent. The Betara of Majapahit died, and his eldest son
succeeded in his place, and in his time the authority of the Betara was widely extended over
all the regions of the land of Java, and all the rajas of Nusantara likewise paid allegiance to
him for half their lands. The Betara of Majapahit heard of the extensive country of Singapura,
the raja of which did not own his allegiance, being of the same family and his cousin....
(Malay Annals Transl. Leyden 1821: 49-50).

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[Kata sahibul hikayat, maka tersebutlah perkataan Betara Majapahit. Maka baginda beranak
dengan anak raja Bukit Seguntang itu itu dua orang lelaki, dan yang tua Raden Inu Merta
Wangsa namanya, maka dirajakan baginda di Majapahit; dan yang muda Raden Masyarakat
Pamari namanya, maka diraja baginda jua di Majapahit, kerana negeri itu negeri besar.
Syahdan, telah Betara Majapahit sudah hilang maka ananda baginda yang tua itulah ganti
Betara Majapahit, terlalu sekali besar Kerajaan baginda pada zaman itu, seluruh tanah Jawa
itu semuanya di dalam hukum baginda dan segala raja-raja Nusantara pun setengah sudah
takluk kepada baginda. Setelah Betara Majapahit menengar Singapura negeri besar, rajanya
tiada menyembah pada baginda, dan raja Singapura itu saudara sepupu pada baginda... .]
(Sejarah Melayu ed. Shellabear 1977: 32).

4.0 The border of Nusantara

The extension and the boundaries of Nusantara could be conceptualized based on the spread of
kingdoms in it. Nagarakretagama and Pararaton had grouped various kingdoms in Nusantara into
certain number of domains. As stated in the respective texts shown above, Nagarakretagama grouped
all the kingdoms (negara) in Nusantara into five domains, whereas Pararaton grouped them (ring)
into ten domains. Sejarah Melayu only stated “the authority of the Betara was widely extended over
all the regions of the land of Java, and all the rajas of Nusantara likewise paid allegiance to him for
half their lands”.

Nagarakretagama gives the most complete toponyms of Nusantara compare to the other two texts.
Based on Nagarakretagama, Nusantara is a geopolitico-cultural territorial enclosure with its northern
tip boundary starting from Isthmus of Kra (Langkasuka), its eastern tip at southern Philippines
(Malano), southern tip at Western Papua New Guinea (Waning), and western tip at north-west
Sumatera (Barus). As shown in Table 1 and Figure 1, according to Nagarathagama, Nusantara was
compartmentalized into five major domains of nagaras or kingdoms. Those five domains in
Nusantara are Negara Melayu, Negara Tanjungnegara, Nagara Hujung Medini, Nagara Jawa, and
Nagara Makasar. In terms of territorial concept, these domains are called ‘Bumi’ or ‘Alam.’

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Figure 1: Map of The Division of Domain Negaras/Kingdoms in Nusantara during Singosari and Majapahit
Periods, 13th-14 century. Source: Nagarathagama (1365)

Table 1: Toponyms of Nusantara according to Nagarakretagama

Domains Nagara/Kingdoms Contemporary Modern Names
within Nusantara Stated in
Nagarakretagama
Melayu Entire Sumatera
Tanjungnegara Kalimatan and southern Philippines
Hujung Medini Malay Peninsula, Isthmus of Kra, and Singapore
Jawa Java Island
Makasar Isles Sulawesi, Western Papua New Guinea
Foreign countries Siam, Ayudyapura, Darmanagari
Marutma, Rajapura, Singanagari, Campa, Kemboja and Yawana

Figure 2 shows the distribution of indigenous languages in Nusantara.

Figure 2: Map of Distribution of Indigenous Languages In Nusantara

Source: Fisher (1963: 315)

A statement in Nagarakretagama that says “The kingdoms in Nusantara under Daha as their leader
bow down under the power of Wilwatika (Majapahit)” could be interpreted as Nusantara was a
political control area of Majapahit, and Java Island was not included in that area as it was. However,
based on what had been listed by Nagarakretagama itself that shows Java Island is also included in
Nusantara.

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4.1 The boundaries of the Malay world

There are ancient textual and inscription evidences that show that the space extension of the Malay
World experienced three stages of development. The first stage was during the period of Melayu-
Srivijaya dominating the Nusantara from 6th to 14th century. The second occurred during the period
of Singosari-Majapahit dominating the Nusantara from 1222 to 1292, and from 1293 to around 1500.
And the third took place during the Melaka-Johor Sultanate dominating the Nusantara from 1400 to
1511, and from 1528 to 1699.

The earliest evident on the existence of the Melayu-Srivijaya domination is the seventh-century I-
tsing’s record (I-Tsing 1896). He stated that Melayu-Srivijaya was a single central kingdom in the
whole of this region and its central capital, situated in Palembang-Jambi vicinity, was surrounded by
its dependencies and vassal-states that spread the whole of Nusantara. Thus, the Melayu-Srivijaya
Kingdom had been a confederacy. According to Wolters (1982: 16-33), the confederacy was set up
through the expansion of the so-called Mandala polity. This could be supported by the early
thirteenth-century Chinese record, which stated that Srivijaya had 15 colonies and was the mightiest
and wealthiest state in the western part of the archipelago. Those colonies were: 1) Palembang (Pa-
lin-fong); Jambi (Kien-pi); Lamuri (Lan-wu-li) at Aceh; Sunda (Sin-t'o); Tambralinga, Ligor, or
Nakhon Si Thammarat, in South Thailand; Cambodia (Si-lan); Pahang (Pong-fong); Terengganu
(Tong-ya-nong); Langkasuka (Ling-ya-si-kia); Kelantan (Kilan-tan); Kuala Berang (Fo-lo-an, a town
within the state of Terengganu); Cherating (Ji-lo-t'ing); Semawe (Ts'ien-mai in the Malay Peninsula);
Sungai Paka (Pa-t'a in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula); and Grahi or Krabi (Kia-lo-hi in the
northern part of the Malay peninsula (Chao Ju-kua, translated by Hirth & Rockhill 1911:12).

There are also overwhelming stony inscriptions written in Old Melayu language in the vicinity of
Palembang such as at Kedukan Bukit (Palembang dated 683 CE), Sabokingking (near Telaga Batu
in Palembang, undated), Talang Tuwo (Palembang, 684 CE), Karang Brahi (upper Batang Han in
Jambi, undated) Kota Kapur (Bangka, 686 CE), Palas Pasemah (Lampung, undated), and at Boom
Baru (Palembang, undated). The authorities, whom were in acquaintance with these materials, (such
as Coedes 1965, and Wolters 1970) suggested that based on the spread of these stone inscriptions,
the center of Melayu-Srivijaya empire was in Palembang and Jambi. Furthermore, with the findings
of copper plate inscriptions (written in Old Melayu language) at Laguna in Bulakan province in
southern Luzon in the Philippines, Andaya and Andaya (2004: 63) suggest that the Philippines was
at the edge of the empire. And with the presence of Bodhissattva Avalokitesvar sculptures (which are
identical to Srivijayan), plus another stony inscription (the Grahi Inscription) written in Melayu
language found in Ligor on the Malay Peninsula dated 775 CE, indicate that Melayu-Srivijaya’s
boundaries in northern part was the Isthmus of Kra, southern Thailand. These are the tangible land-
marks that constituted the boundaries of Melayu-Srivijaya political realm, They are also the markers
of the Malay World enclosure.

Based on the above mentioned of I-tsing and inscription evidences, the Malay World could be
illustrated as in Figure 3.

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Figure 3: Map of Boundaries of the Malay World during Melayu-Srivijaya

However, the early extension of the Malay World, which was constituted during the Melayu-Srivijaya
period, had been altered during Singosasi and Majapahit period. Singosari rise as a dominant power
in Nusantara during the thirteenth-century. It happened after it conquered the Melayu-Srivijaya
capital in Palembang, in the end of that century. Singosari succeeded by Majapahit in 1292. This new
Javanese power dominated the Nusantara while Melayu-Srivijaya demised. During Majapahit’s
period, as mentioned in Nagarakretagamaí’s above, the Malay World was vassal-states of Majapahit
and had been marginalised to only be confined around Sumatera that encompassed: Jambi,
Palembang, Toba, Darmasraya, Daerah Kandis, Kahwas, Minangkabau, Siak, Rokan, Kampar, Pane
Kampe, Haru, Mandailing, Tamihang, Perlak Padang Lwas, Samudra, Lamuri, Batan, Lampung, and
Barus. Worse still, in Pararaton, the Malay World was almost absent as the text only mentioned
Pahang when referring to the Malay Peninsula.

However, in the middle of fourteenth-century, there had been dramatically changes in this region.
This was marked by the declination of Majapahit caused by internal resurgent and the rise of Melayu-
Melaka Sultanate. The decline of the Javanese power recorded by Tome Pires, in his Suma Oriental
when he was in Melaka from 1512 to 1515:

They say that the island of Java used to rule as far as the Moluccas (Maluco) on the eastern
side and (over) a great part of the west; and that it had almost all the islands of Sumatra under
its dominion and all the islands known to the Javanese, and that it had all this for a long time
past until about a hundred years ago, when its power began to diminish (Cortesao 1944: 174).

At the turn of fifteenth-century, Melayu-Melaka Sultanate had been a major power in the Nusantara.
There are overwhelming evidences that showed Melayu-Melaka Sultanate was the descendant of
Melayu-Srivijaya. The most obvious are the usage of the vocabularies which had been commonly
used in all of the early inscriptions of Melayu-Srivijaya found almost every place in its empire
(Nusantara) which are also common in Malay writings related with Melaka Sultanate (such as Sejarah
Melayu and Hikayat Hang Tuah) and other Malays in Peninsular. Some of those vocabularies are:
bhumi (land, country), desa (territory/region), rajya (realm, kingdom), negeri (state, from nagara),
datu (chief of a group or a smaller political entity subordinate to Srivijaya), kadatuan (the ruler’s
palace), wanua/benua (community, settled territory), dara (a name), Mandalika (or Mandal, ruler of
a district) and huluntuhan/masuk hulung (voluntary lord’s slaves). The most common words, which
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had been found in the early inscriptions of Srivijaya and also commonly used in Malay writings
related with Melaka Sultanate such as Sejarah Melayu and Hikayat Hang Tuah are “derhaka” and
“daulat.”

The Melaka Sultanate’s territorial space had been marked by the expansion of its territories and
influences through military conquest, economic activities (centered at Melaka) and its role as Islamic
center. During its 111 years period (1400-1511), the Melaka Sultanate resuming the Melayu-Srivijaya
political power, hence maintain the existence of single central gravity force in the whole realm of the
Malay World. As a generally known fact, the empire had controlled the sovereignties of almost all
the States in the Malay World: from east coast of Sumatera including Bengkalis, Bintang, the
Carimon Klands, Palembang, Jambi, Kampar, Siak, Aru, Rokan and Indragiri; whole Malay
peninsula (Manjong, Bruas, Muar, Johor, Terengganu, Kelantan, Patani, Perak, Pahang and Kedah),
to Riau islands (Jemaja Island, Tambelan, Siantan and Bunguran) (Sejarah Melayu, Afonso De
Albuquerque 1995/1513: 71-78, and Tome Pires 1512: 152).

Political marriages between ruling house of Melaka Sultanate with its dependencies and vassal-states
had been a prolong phenomenon. And there had been rapid growth of Islamic promulgation all over
Malay World centered at Melaka. In that political circumstances, the Melaka Sultanate had
established a strong trading networks all across the Malay World. There were even Muslim Diaspora
traders of various ethnic-groups centered at Melaka who traveled to most parts of the Malay World
who claimed themselves as Melayu (Reid 2002).

Malay language, which already spread as a lingua franca all over Nusantara during the Melayu-
Srivijayan period, then flourished with the influence of Islam. This had been well documented by
Stamford Raffles (1988 from 1817 edition, and 1991 from 1830 edition), Marsden (1811), Crawford
(1819) and Howison (1801) accounts. For instance, Howison (1801: ii) depicts:

The Malays have no proper national character, except that which has been introduced by the
Mohammaden priest who had from time to time fêted on the peninsula of Malacca and the
adjacent islands.

Other important phenomena are the dissemination of kitab Jawi (Malay writings in Arabic characters
on religion and literature) together with the Jawi language (former name for Malay language) which
had disseminated universal mind among the natives of Nusantara, especially on the concept of
nationalism as mentioned above. There are some grounds to suggest that it was during the Melaka
Sultanate that the name ‘bahasa Jawi’ was replaced by ‘bahasa Melayu.’ Prior to the rise of Melaka
Sultanate, large scale Islamisation had set root in the northern part of Sumatera. This ancient Melayu-
Srivijaya language was the vehicle of Islam. At that time the language had no specific name. It called
bahasa Jawi, and was not the property of any entity. When the Melaka Sultanate was well established
as a great entrepôt and became a political, economic and cultural center, its Melayu as a name had
been attested to the language to become ‘bahasa Melayu’ (Malay language).

In 1511, the Melaka Sultanate attacked by Portuguese. The kingdom moved to Johor, and
reestablished itself as Melayu-Johor Sultanate (1528-1699). During the sixteenth and seventeenth-
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century, Tuhfat al-Nafis (1965: 100-101) describes that all Malay rulers in the Malay World were
still under the Sultanate. Valentyn (1884) who was in Melaka in 1687 stated that the Johor Sultanate
controlled the sovereignties of the former Melaka Sultanate dependencies and vassal-states including
Kampar, Siak, Indragiri, Linggi (Negeri Sembilan), Kelang (Selangor), Pahang, Terengganu, Sedili,
Dungun, Rembau, Muar, Bengkalis, Pulau Tinggi, Tioman, Pulau Auer, Pulau Temaja, Siantan,
Bunguran, Pulau Laut, Sarasan, Subi, Tambelan, Sudala and Lingga.

One of the most relevant sources to illuminate the scenario of the Malay World is Marden’s record
(1810) as he was staying in Sumatera during the time prior to the Treaty of London signed between
the British and the Dutch in 1824―which had imposed present-day political boundaries. Marsden
(1810: 2) writes:

Sumatra, the subject of the present work, is an extensive island in the East Indies, the most
western of those which may be termed the Malayan Archipelago, and constituting its
boundary on that side. The equator divides it obliquely, its general direction being north-west
and south-east, into almost equal parts; the one extremity lying in five degrees thirty-three
minutes north, and the other in five degrees fifty-six minutes south latitude. In respect to
relative position its northern point stretches into the Bay of Bengal; its south-west coast is
exposed to the great Indian Ocean; towards the south it is separated by the Straits of Sunda
from the island of Java; on the east by the commencement of the Eastern and China Seas from
Borneo and other islands; and on the north-east by the Straits of Malacca from the peninsula
of Malayo, to which, according to a tradition noticed by the Portuguese historians, it is
supposed to have been anciently united.

With all these political, economic, language and Islamic facts, we could now conclude that the
boundaries of the Malay World are as follows: to southward from Isthmus of Kra to southern Riau-
Lingga islands, and to westward from western Sumatra to southern Philippines. In essence, the
Melayu-Melaka Sultanate expansion was a re-establishment of the early boundaries of the Malay
World, which had been constituted by the Melayu-Srivijaya. Benjamin (2002:5) writes, “The Malay
region of the world is the region of the former Malay kingdoms and their hinterlands, which existed
or still exist along the coasts of Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, and Borneo, on the landmass of the
Sundic Shelf.”

5.0 Conclusion

We could appropriately perceive that based on Nagarakretagama, Nusantara is a geopolitico-cultural

territorial enclosure with its northern tip boundary starting from Isthmus of Kra (Langkasuka), its
eastern tip at southern Philippines (Malano), southern tip at Western Papua New Guinea (Waning),
and western tip at north-west Sumatera (Barus). However, the information given by
Nagarakretagama that the Malay World was only limited to Sumatera area, was only true during the
Javanese Singosari and Majapahit periods. During the Melayu-Srivijaya and Melayu-Melaka
Sultanate periods there were different scenarios. There were only two domain kingdoms in Nusantara,
the Malay World and the Javanese. The Malay World spread over a vast area encompassing the

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Isthmus of Kra, southern Philippines, whole Peninsular, Borneo-Kalimantan, Riau-Lingga islands

and Sumatra.

References

Albuquerque, Alfonso de. 1995 (from 1513). Albuquerque Caesar Timur: teks-teks pilihan dari
Alfonso dengan Albuquerque dan anaknya. Kuala Lumpur: Universiti Malaya. (Teks
terjemahan).
Andaya, B.W. & L. Y. Andaya. 2004. A history of Malaysia. Hamphire: PALGRAVE
Andaya, L.Y. 2000. A History of Trade in the Sea of Melayu. In International Journal on the History
of European Expansion and Global Interaction. Volume 24, Issue 1. pp: 87-110.
Avé, J. 1989. Indonesia, Insulinde and Nusantara; Dotting the is and crossing the t. In Bijdragen tot
de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. 145 no: 2/3. pp: 220-234.
Behera, Karuna Sagar. 1999. Title Maritime heritage of India. Aryan Books International.
Benjamin, G. and Cynthia Chou (eds) 2002. Tribal Communities in the Malay World. Historical,
Cultural and Social Perspectives. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Benjamin, G. 2002. On Being Tribal in the Malay World. In Geoffrey Benjamin and Cynthia Chou
(eds). Tribal Communities in the Malay World. Historical, Cultural and Social Perspectives.
Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Pp. 7-76.
Brandes, J.L.A. 1897, Pararaton (Ken Arok) of het boek der Koningen van Tumapěl en van
Majapahit. Uitgegeven en toegelicht. Batavia: Albrecht; 's Hage: Nijhoff. VBG 49.1.
Coedes, G. 1965. The Indianized states of Southeast Asia. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya.
Crawfurd, John . 1819. History of The Indian Archipelago: Containing An Account of The Manners,
Arts, Languages, Religions, Institutions, And Commerce of its Inhabitants. Vol. II. Edinburgh:
Printed for Archibald Constable and Co.
Fisher, Charles A. 1963. The Malaysian Federation, Indonesia and the Philippines: A Study in
Political Geography. In The Geographical Journal. Vol. 129, No. 3 (Sep., 1963), pp. 311-
328.
Gonda, J. 1973. Sanskrit in Indonesia. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture.
Hirth, Friedrich & W.W.Rockhill, 1911, Chao Ju-kua, His Work on the Chinese and Arab Trade in
the Twelfth and Thirteen centuries, entitled Chu-fan-chi. St Petersburg.
Howison, J. (MD). 1801. Dictionary of the Peninsula of Malacca, the island of Sumatra, Jawa,
Borneo, Pulo Pinang, & c. & c. T.P.
I-Tsing. 1896. A Record The Buddhist Religion as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago.
(A.D. 671-695). Transl. by J. Takakusu. Oxford: The Clarendon Press.
Jones, Russell. 1973. Earl, Logan and ‘Indonesia.’ In Archipel. Volume 6, 1973. pp. 93-118.
Linehan, W. 1949. The earliest word-lists and dictionaries of the Malay language. In Journal of the
Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 22 (I). pp: 183-187.
Malay Annals. Translated by John Leyden. 1821. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Brown.
Marsden, William. 1810. The History of Sumatra Containing An Account Of The Government, Laws,
Customs And Manners Of The Native Inhabitants. London: T. Heaphy delt. A. Cardon.
Nagarakertagama. ed. by Slametmulyana 1979. Jakarta: Bhratara Karya Aksara.
Pande, Govind Chandra. 1999. Kālidāsa and his age. Raka Prakashan.

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Pigeaud, T. G.T. 1960-63. Java in the fourteenth century; A study in cultural history; The Nagara-
Kertagama by Rakawi Prapanca of Majapahit, 1365 AD. The Hague: Nijhoff, Vol. 4, pp.
467-552.
Pires, Tome (1512). 1944. The Suma Oriental, and The Book of Francisco Rodrigue. Ed. and transl.
A. Cortesao. Vol. II. London: Hakluyt Society.
Raden Mas Mangkudimedja, Harjana Hadipranata. 1979. Serat Pararaton (Ken Arok). Proyek
Penerbitan Buku Bacaan dan Sastra Indonesia dan Daerah.
Raffles, Lady 1830. Memoir of the life and public services of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. London:
Murray.
Raffles. T.S. 1817 (eds. 1994). The History of Java. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.
Reid, Anthony. 2002. Understanding Melayu (Malay) as a Source of Diverse Modern Identities. In
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 32, no. 3: 235–254.
Resink, G.J. 1968. Indonesia’s History between the Myths. The Hague.
Sejarah Melayu. ed. Shellabear 1977. Kuala Lumpur: Fajar Bakti.
Slametmulyana 1979. Nusantara. Jakarta: Bhratara Karya Aksara.
Tuhfat Al-Nafis. 1965. Raja Ali Haji. Singapura: Malayan Publication Ltd. (republished by Penerbit
Fajar Bakti, Kuala Lumpur, 1982).
Valentyn, F. 1884. Valentyn’s Description of Malacca. Translation. In Journal of the Straits Branch
of the Royal Asiatic Society. No. 13, June 1884. pp: 49-246.
Vlekke, B.H.M. 1959. Nusantara, a History of Indonesia. Bandung: The Hague.
Wolters, O. W. 1967. Early Indonesian Commerce: A Study of the Origins of Srivijaya. Ithaca, NY:
Cornell University Press.
Wolters, O. W. 1970. The Fall of Srivijaya in Malay History. London: Lund Humphries Asia Major
Library.
Wolters, O.W. 1961. Srivijayan Expansion in the Seventh Century. In Artibus Asiae. Vol. 24, No.
3/4 (1961), pp. 417-424
Wolters, O.W. 1982. History, Culture, and Region in Southeast Asian Perspectives. Singapore:
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

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BAURAN SATIRA DALAM PAK PANDIR MODEN

*1
Mohd Faradi Rohani, 2Mohd Fairuz Mohd Padoli
1
Pusat Pengajian Bahasa Moden dan Komunikasi, Fakulti Bahasa dan Komunikasi, Universiti
Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kampus Gong Badak, 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
2
Pusat Pengajian Bahasa, Kesusasteraan dan Kebudayaan Melayu, Fakulti Sains Sosial dan
Kemanusiaan, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
*Corresponding author: [email protected]

ABSTRAK

Makalah ini menyorot perkembangan kisah Pak Pandir Moden yang sering menjadi konotasi kepada perilaku
manusia. Watak Pak Pandir yang sangat sinonim dalam kalangan masyarakat Melayu sejak zaman tradisional
dan sehingga kini sering mempamerkan riak personaliti yang menggambarkan kedunguaan seseorang
individu. Meskipun cerita Pak Pandir diklasifikasikan sebagai sebuah folklore dongeng, namun lewat masa
ini, ia masih dikembangkan sebagai salah satu bahan jenaka yang menjadi kesendengan dalam kritikan dan
sindiran. Kajian ini memberi penekanan kepada batasan/skop terhadap koleksi kisah Pak Pandir Moden yang
dipetik dari sumber berasakan media elektronik dan media baharu seperti, blog, facebook, twitter dan internet.
Kajian ini meneroka unsur satira yang disampaikan dalam teknik jenaka dengan menggunakan ikonik Pak
Pandir Moden sebagai tunjang penganalisisan. Oleh hal demikian, hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa kisah
tradisi Pak Pandir masih lagi menjadi semiotik dalam kalangan masyarakat moden kini dalam mencerminkan
kejelekan masyarakat. Malah penggunaan unsur kecindan melalui variasi bahasa dari elemen dialek sosial pula
mempengaruhi aspek penyampaian kepada sesebuah penceritaan yang dihasilkan. Maka kajian ini
menumpukan tentang apa yang diajukan pengarang, bagaimana ia diperagakan dan apakah kesan kepada
perkembangan masyarakat penerima. Berdasarkan kajian ini juga diharapkan dapat mempertingkatkan
perkembangan bidang Kesusasteraan folklore tradisi kepada folklore moden.

Kata kunci: Pak Pandir; moden; satira; folklore; media sosial

1.0 Pengenalan

Cerita jenaka ialah cerita-cerita yang mengandungi unsur kelucuan atau kejenakaan. Rasa geli hati
dan kesannya dalam bentuk ketawa terhasil daripada tingkah laku dan aksi watak-watak yang
diceritakan. Cerita-cerita begini bersifat universal. Oleh itu setiap bangsa di serata pelosok dunia
mempunyai cerita jenaka dan watak lucu popular masing-masing. (Shaiful Bahri Md. Radzi6,2005:
32). Amin Sweeney dalam artikel bertajuk The Pak Pandir Cycles Of Tales menjelaskan; “Pak Pandir
is an extremely well-known comic character in Malay oral tradition tales concerning his escapades
being found throught the Malay Peninsula, and it would be a difficult task indeed to find a member
of Malay society who can honestly say that he has never heard pak pander story”7.

6
Shaiful Bahri Md. Radzi menerima Ijazah Sarjana Muda Sastera (Kepujian) dalam bidang Persuratan Melayu dari
UKM pada 1994, Ijazah Sarjana Sastera (1996) dan Ijazah Doktor Falsafah (2000) dari SOAS, University of London
dalam bidang sastera lisan. Beliau kini merupakan pensyarah dalam bidang sastera lisan di Pusat Pengajian Bahasa,
Kesusasteraan dan Kebudayaan Melayu, FSSK, UKM.
7
Sweeney, Amin. 1976. The Pak Pandir Cycle of Tales. JMBRAS. 49 (1) : 15-88
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Umumnya, cerita Pak Pandir merupakan salah satu bentuk Sastera Rakyat Melayu. Ia merujuk kepada
seorang lelaki yang bernama Pak Pandir yang mempunyai sifat yang lurus bendul. Dia mempunyai
seorang isteri yang terpaksa menahan segala perbuatan bendulnya. Kisah tersebut menceritakan
kejadian yang menimpa diri dan keluarga Pak Pandir. Amat menarik mengenai cerita lelucuan adalah
ia merupakan satu genre cerita yang terdapat dalam banyak kebudayaan sehingga melampaui zaman
moden. Sebagai contoh Don Quixote dalam kebudayaan Sepanyol, 3 Stooges dalam budaya Amerika
Syarikat, Mr Bean dalam budaya British. Terdapat kemungkinan bahawa genre cerita sebegini
merupakan satu cara manusia melepaskan ketegangan dalam kehidupan seharian atau kesendengan
dalam sindiran terhadap unsur sensitif seperti politik, sosial dan ekonomi. Meskipun pelbagai
persepsi mengenai kisah Pak Pandir itu, namun wujudnya genre cerita sedemikian dalam pelbagai
kebudayaan menunjukkan unsur folkore kisah tradisi masih berlingkar dalam arus kemodenan
sebagai salah satu bahan jenaka yang tidak dipinggirkan.

Kewujudan saluran maya seperti penulisan blog, facebook, twitter dan internet merupakan salah satu
medium yang menjadi aspek pewadahan bercerita seperti cerita Pak Pandir. Tema dan persoalan yang
dibangkitkan tidak lagi berfokus kepada keterikatan tradisi lama malah telah melangkaui aspek
modenisasi yang berlaku dalam negara kini seperti politik dan sosial masyarakat. Walaupun begitu,
cerita-cerita tradisi telah digarapkan dalam situasi yang bersesuaian dengan pemikiran pembaca pada
era kini. Cerita Pak Pandir moden menjadi pilihan utama kajian kerana banyak memperihalkan
aspek-aspek yang terangkum dalam norma masyarakat. Kajian ini meneroka unsur satira yang
disampaikan dalam teknik jenaka dengan menggunakan ikonik Pak Pandir Moden sebagai tunjang
penganalisisan. Malah penggunaan unsur kecindan8 melalui variasi bahasa dari elemen dialek sosial
juga diperhalusi dalam mempengaruhi aspek penyampaian kepada sesebuah penceritaan yang
dihasilkan. Di samping kesan daripada revolusi9 teknologi multimedia telah membuka ruang
daripada urbanisasi kepada modenisasi yang mengubah tradisi bercerita daripada tradisi lisan kepada
medium siber. Maka kajian ini menumpukan tentang apa yang diajukan pengarang, bagaimana ia
diperagakan dan apakah kesan kepada perkembangan masyarakat penerima.

2.0 Cerita jenaka dalam alam siber

Kehebatan cerita jenaka Melayu terkenal seperti kisah Pak Pandir tidak ketinggalan mengalami arus
kemodenan semasa dengan wujudnya kisah Pak Pandir moden yang tersebar dalam laman sesawang.
Walaupun kisah Pak Pandir moden telah mengalami banyak perubahan dari segi isi ceritanya, tetapi
ia masih mengekalkan perwatakan dan fungsi didaktiknya yang sama sebagai mengkritik kehidupan
masyarakat. Penulis blog menjadikan laman sosial sebagai ruang untuk menulis dan meluahkan isi
hati serta pemikiran yang mahu dikongsikan bersama pembaca lain. Walaupun tidak memikirkan
soal keuntungan, mereka hanya mahu tulisan itu ditatap dan laman blog dan dikenali ramai dengan
tujuan hiburan. Ketika dunia kini dilanda arus pembangunan teknologi, proses penyebaran cerita

8
Kecindan atau ‘sense of humor’ diisitiahkan sebagai satu jenaka, lawak, dan kata-kata atau perbuatan yang kelakar.
Kecindan boleh ditakrifkan sebagai kebolehan seseorang manusia, objek, situasi atau perkataan untuk mencetuskan
perasaan gembira atau terhibur
9
David Noble dalam bukunya Progess without people menyatakan bahawa revolusi teknologi maklumat dan komunikasi
digunakan untuk meneruskan agenda dan matlamat golongan kapitalis bagi mendominasikan dunia.
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rakyat tidak ketinggalan mengalami perkembangan yang positif sepertimana kewujudan laman sosial
seperti facebook, Instagram, twitter, blog dan sebagainya. Ini selaras dengan cara penyebaran cerita
rakyat yang dikatakan tidak tetap . Penulis bebas di laman sosial secara tidak langung akan menjadi
ahli sastera rakyat (folklorist) moden.
Cerita Pak Pandir berbentuk moden dikutip daripada laman sesawang www.ceritakelakar.com,
www.jenaka-pak-pandir.blogspot.com, www.koleksi-lawak-pak-pandir.
com, www.beritaharian-online.com dan www.heeheh.blogspot.com. Kesemua cerita Pak Pandir itu
memberi sindirian kepada masyarakat dari segi kritikan tentang kebajetan politik dan sosial.
Kebangkitan budaya siber10 ini telah menjadi medan penyampaian pemikiran suara masyarakat
terhadap isu semasa yang berlaku. Jadual berikut menunjukkan tajuk-tajuk Pak Pandir moden yang
telah dipilih bersama tema ceritanya:

Jadual 1.1. Kelas klasifikasi teks Pak Pandir Moden melalui aspek sosial dan politik

Bil Tajuk Genre Ringkasan Cerita

1 Pak Pandir beli TV Politik Pak Pandir mahu beli TV warna

hijau.
2 Pak Pandir Terlampau Sosial Pak Pandir digambarkan mahu
merogol anaknya dalam bilik.
Rupa-rupanya mahu tunjuk jam
tangan.
3 Pak Pandir Dengan Wartawan Utusan Politik Pak Pandir tanam rambutan,
tumbuh jadi ubi
4 Pak Pandir Of Gambles Sosial Pak Pandir bertaruh bulu ketiak
dengan pengurus bank

5 Warkah Pak Kaduk Kepada Pak Pandir Politik Pak Kaduk menghantar surat
kepada Pak Pandir agar tidak
mengulangi kebodohan yang lepas
pada waktu sekarang
6 Cuti Sosial Pak Pandir yang bekerja sebagai
pengawal keselamatan memhon
cuti sebangak tujuh hari tetapi dia
terus bercuti hingga 14 hari
7 Sunat Sosial Pak Pandir mengadakan hubungan
seks dengan Mak Andeh
menggunakan kondom tetapi masih
juga mengandung

10
Budaya siber ditakrifkan sebagai bentuk interaksi sosial yang dihasilkan oleh jalinan komputer. Bentuk baru ini sering
menjadi sesuatu yang tidak difahami dan tidak disenangi jikalau masih berpegang pada paradigma pemikiran
konvensional di didunia sebenar.
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8 Pak Pandir Dengan Hartanya Politik Pak Pandir mempunyai harta dan
menyembunyikan dalam tanah,
kemudian dicuri oleh Si Luncai

Kehebatan pengarang mengungkapkan kisah jenaka Pak Pandir dalam bentuk baharu bercorak moden
ini secara tidak langsung telah mempopularkan lagi cerita rakyat dan menyebarkannya kepada umum
secara tidak disedari melalui ruang siber. Pengarang masih menyampaikan konsep bercerita
walaupun tidak secara lisan tetapi menggunakan perantaraan teknologi moden yang mampu berkesan
mempengaruhi pembaca dalam ruang maya. Malah, cerita yang ditulis dalam ruang siber secara
automatik akan tersimpan menjadi sebuah dokumen penting. Perubahan masa serta pengembangan
teknologi telah membawa corak perubahan penyampaian cerita-cerita lisan popular seperti kisah Pak
Pandir yang dikenali umum. Kreatifnya pengarang blog tersebut dapat dilihat melalui kebolehan
mereka mengaitkan isu semasa berdasarkan persekitaran terkini dari segi ekonomi, politik dan sosial.
Hal ini melambangkan kebijaksanaan akal budi Melayu masih meresap dalam kotak pemikiran
mereka sepertimana kehebatan pencipta cerita lisan melayu terdahulu.

3.0 Kritikan dari aspek ekonomi

Melalui kisah Pak Pandir moden, terdapat kisah memaparkan isu jurang antara ekonomi11 kelas
bawahan dan kelas atasan. Kebiasaannya, golongan kelas bawahan seperti petani lebih kerap
berusaha dan kerap juga dipingir dan ditindas oleh kelas atasan. Penoreh getah dikategorikan dalam
kelas bawahan. Contohnya, apabila getah dijual kepada pembekal dengan harga yang lebih tinggi,
harga getah menjadi jauh lebih murah. Golongan miskin akan terus menerus menjadi miskin dan
golongan yang kaya semakin bertambah kaya. Golongan petani kebanyakannya golongan yang tidak
berpendidikan tinggi. Hal ini digambarkan dalam perwatakan Pak Pandir yang tidak berpendidikan.
Perkara demikian, dapat dijelaskan berdasarkan penurunan teks yang dipetik daripada laman
sesawang (blog)12:

Pak Pandir akan berjalan kaki melalui sebuah jalanraya untuk sampai di kebun getahnya.
Semasa Pak Pandir berjalan di tepi jalanraya besar tersebut, ada sebuah papan tanda yang
baru dipasang betul-betul di depan kebunnya. Selepas dia membaca papan tanda tersebut, dia
pun pulang hampa. Mak Andeh heran Pak Pandir pulang semula ke rumah lalu bertanya,
“Kenapa Bang?" Pak Pandir pun menjawab, "Sejak bila la kerajaan tak bagi kita memotong
getah. Diletaknya papan tanda besar di tepi jalan depan kebun kita tu papan tanda
'DILARANG MEMOTONG'."
(Pak Pandir Ke Kebun Getah)

11
Definisi ekonomi merupakan satu bidang ilmu yang mengkaji tingkah laku manusia secara individu dan secara
berkelompok menggunakan sumber ekonomi atau faktor-faktor pengeluaran yang terhad untuk mengeluarkan barang dan
perkhidmatan bagi memenuhi kehendak manusia yang tidak terbatas
12
_____. 2007. Pak Pandir Ke Kebun Getah. http://heeheh.blogspot.com/2007/12/pak-pandir-ke-kebun.html. [1
Disember 2011].
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Dalam hal ini ada hubungkaitnya antara kerajaan dan masyarakat (penoreh getah) berkenaan masalah
harga getah. Harga getah di negeri Sabah berbeza dengan harga getah di Semenanjung Malaysia.13
Hal ini merujuk komen ditulis oleh Tuan Hj Masmin Kadad daripada teks dalam laman blog14
bertajuk ‘Apa yang ada dalam ahli lembaga LIGS negeri’:
...sampai sekarang kerajaan Negeri gagal memberi jawaban penyebab utama
perbezaan harga getah di Semananjung dan Sabah yang sangat mengecewakan
pekebun getah Sabah. Maka saya mencadangkan agar kerajaan Negeri membenarkan
agensi-agensi lain seperti RISDA, membeli getah di negeri ini agar harga getah pada
tahap harga sebenar. Kalau di Semananjung harga getah 11.50 sekilo tapi di Sabah
baru 7.90. Sila berikan alasan yang konkrit? ...atau adakah ada mainan dalam ahli
LIGS dengan kepentingan perniagaan peribadi sehingga syarikat-syarikat pembeli
yang wujud di negeri ini ada kaitan pemilikan dengan ahli-ahli lembaga itu sendiri?

Merujuk kepada petikan di atas dapat dinyatakan bahawa kecelaruan undang-undang yang ada telah
menjadikan ketidakseimbangan harga getah antara Semenanjung dan Sabah kerana insitusi yang
mengawal dan menyelaras harga getah berbeza. Hal ini kerana, keamasukan harga getah lain
menyebabkan harga getah di Sabah telah menurun. Persoalan ini menjadi tanda tanya kepada
golongan penoreh getah yang terus menerus menerima harga getah yang rendah kerana permainan
politik pihak atasan yang bersifat monopoli atas dasar kepentingan diri sendiri untuk mengaut
keuntungan.

Selain itu, pengarang juga mengkritik keterujaan segelintir penoreh getah yang terlampau kemaruk
mahu menorah getah. Dapat dilihat dalam konteks ini bahawa satu kritikan ekonomi bukan sahaja
kepada keuntungan pihak atas tetapi juga kepada penoreh getah itu sendiri. Apabila harga getah naik,
penoreh getah mula teruja mahu menjadi kaya. Segelintir daripada mereka bertindak menoreh getah
sebanyak mungkin tanpa mengikut prosidur kebiasaan. Pokok getah akan rosak jika penoreh getah
terus berdegil menoreh pokok mereka sesuka hati. Sebab itulah dalam teks tersebut diceritakan
terdapat papan tanda ‘Dilarang Memotong’ yang membawa maksud, penoreh getah tidak boleh
terlampau kerap memotong getah ketika harga getah sedang melambung tinggi. Penurunan teks
dalam sebuah laman blog15 menunjukkan pengarang telah menasihatkan penoreh getah agar tidak
terlampau agresif menoreh getah ketika harga getah melambung tinggi:

Satu perkara yang perlu diingatkan adalah pokok ini agak sensitif dan perlukan skill atau cara
yang betul semasa menoreh.Jika tersilap kulit pokok akan rosak dan ia tidak akan

13
Di Semenanjung harga getah dikawal oleh Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (RISDA) yang
merupakan sebuah Badan Berkanun Persekutuan di bawah Kementerian Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah (KKLW).
Di Sabah pula, Lembaga Industri Getah Sabah (LIGS) merupakan sebuah agensi Kerajaan Negeri Sabah yang
bertanggungjawab ke atas pembangunan sektor tanaman getah di negeri Sabah
14
______2011. Apa yang ada dalam ahli lembaga LIGS negeri,
http://www.keningaukini.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=534: penoreh-getah-peroleh-rm1500-
rm15000-sebulan&catid=1:keningau. [2 Disember]
15
______ 2011. Hati-Hati Menoreh. http://ozzy2u.blogspot.com/2011/02/hati-hati-menoreh.html. [2 Disember]
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mengeluarkan hasil yang diharapkan. Kerana itu jika ingin mengupah pekerja pastikan mereka
mahir dan tahu teknik menoreh yang betul.
(Hati-Hati Menoreh)

Dalam kenyataan lain tentang kisah Pak Pandir yang berbaur ekonomi, turut memperihalkan
mengenai sindiran sikap rakyat yang malas berusaha. Petikan yang diambil dalam laman blog16 di
bawah mengisahkan Pak Pandir dengan isu itik:

Sebelah kebun Pak Pandir ada kolam besar dan banyak itik liar berkeliaran.Dalam hati pak
pandir berkata…”kalo aku tangkap itik nie wat sup itik memang sodapppp”. Pak Pandir cuba
nak tangkap, tak dapat. Puas dicubanya..tak dapat….
Dengan bengang lalu Pandir celup roti ke dalam kolam lalu makan. Pak Kadok nampak: “Kau
buat apa?” Jawab Pandir: “Aku cicah roti dengan sup itik” Hah hah haaaaa
(Pak Pandir dan itik)

Isu berkenaan binatang itik dalam petikan mengkritik kebobrokan rakyat yang malas berusaha dan
hanya bergantung sepenuhnya kepada bantuan kerajaan. Kerajaan Malaysia telah sentiasa
mengekalkan nasionalisme ekonomi bagi meningkatkan pencapaian kebajikan, material, kuasa dan
kedaulatan. Konsep ini digunakan untuk merancang pembangunan ekonomi sebuah masyarakat
dalam negara. Dalam konteks ini, budaya ilmu harus disuburkan bukan sekadar kecintaan dan
penguasaan pelbagai bidang ilmu dan kemahiran tetapi hanya bermanfaat kepada kemajuan diri,
bangsa, negara dan dunia sama ada yang berjangka pendek atau panjang (Wan Mohd Nor Wan
Daud,2010:10).

Pak Pandir digambarkan mewakili masyarakat yang malas berusaha dan mahu melakukan sesuatu
kerja dengan pantas mengharapkan pulangan yang cepat. Pak Pandir pada mulanya mahu menangkap
itik untuk dimakan tetapi tidak berjaya kerana itik-itik yang berada di kolam itu lincah melarikan diri.
Pak Pandir kemudiannya bertindak mengambil keputusan untuk mencelup sahaja rotinya ke dalam
kolam dan memakan roti bersama sup itik yang dihidangkan. Pak Pandir menganggap, apabila
mencelup roti ke dalam kolam yang ada itik seolah-olah rasa air kolam itu sama dengan rasa daging
itik. Jelas hal ini menunjukkan kebodohan Pak Pandir yang malas berusaha dan mahu melakukan
kerja secara mudah. Kisah ini mengkritik golongan masyarakat terutamanya orang Melayu yang
malas berusaha walaupun kerajaan telah berusaha membantu rakyat dengan pelbagai insentif dan
kemudahan. Kesan daripada sifat malas tersebut, secara tidak langsung mewujudkan masalah
pengangguran yang kritikal.

Isu ini adalah suatu penyindiran bagi menyedarkan masyarakat tentang kebodohan mereka di tanah
air sendiri. Melayu sebenarnya mempunyai jati bangsa diri yang tinggi malah mampu bersaing
dengan bangsa-bangsa lain, tetapi yang menyebabkan masyarakat Melayu dipandang rendah kerana
sikap malas berusaha dan mahu mencapai sesuatu dengan mudah. Hal ini jelaskan sendiri oleh
mantan perdana menteri Malaysia keempat iaitu Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad melalui bukunya
bertajuk Jalan ke puncak; “Orang Melayu dan bumiputera lain berupaya memperoleh semua

16
______ 2010. Pak Pandir dan Itik. http://berita-harian-online.com/pak-pandir-dan-itik/ [2 Disember]
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kemahiran serta pengetahuan yang diperlukan asalkan ada kemahuan dan dorongan yang wajar
daripada masyarakat mereka dan kerajaan. Ada individu-individu yang berjaya sepanjang jalan, ada
yang berjaya separuh jalan. Ada pula yang kelihatan gagal, tetapi mereka diarahkan berusaha
mempelajari kemahiran-kemahiran lain, yang mungkin lebih sesuai dengan perangai dan watak
mereka” (Mahathir Mohamad,199:147)

4.0 Kritikan dari aspek social

Definisi sosial bererti kemasyarakatan dan sering merujuk keadaan di mana terdapat kehadiran orang
lain dalam sesuatu kelompok kehidupan. Dalam kehidupan sebagai anggota masyarakat istilah sosial
sering dikaitkan dengan hal-hal yang berhubungan dengan manusia dalam masyarakat, seperti
kehidupan kaum miskin di kota, kehidupan kaum berada, kehidupan nelayan dan seterusnya. Dan
juga sering diertikan sebagai suatu sifat yang mengarah pada rasa empati terhadap kehidupan manusia
sehingga memunculkan sifat tolong menolong, membantu dari yang kuat terhadap yang lemah,
mengalah terhadap orang lain, sehingga sering dikatakan sebagai mempunyai jiwa sosial yang
tinggi17.

Satu ciri penting budaya ialah budaya itu bersifat dinamik. Inovasi teknologi memperluaskan
pengaruh dan mengubah pemikiran sesuatu masyarakat untuk menjadi lebih kreatif dan inovatif
(Mustafa Dakian, 2007, 195)

Kritikan Pak Pandir sebagai alat kritikan sosial masyarakat adalah secara tidak konvensional kerana
cerita yang ditulis dalam laman blog mengkritik secara tersirat sebagai saduran kehidupan
masyarakat. Hal ini berdasarkan kenyataan yang dipetik daripada laman blog18 berikut:

Pak Pandir yang bekerja di sebuah kilang sebagai pengawal keselamatan berjumpa dengan
manager minta cuti

“Tuan saya mahu minta cuti seminggu balik kampung, ada urusan keluarga. Bolehkah?

“Cuti seminggu …oklah, saya bagi cuti seminggu,” balas manager.

Selepas 14 hari, baru Pak Pandir balik bertugas. Tanya si manager : “Kenapa dua minggu
cuti?”

Jawab Pak Pandir : “Saya minta seminggu cuti. Tuan bagi seminggu cuti. Jadi dua minggulah
.
(Cuti)

Petikan di atas memaparkan isu sosial di mana hubungkaitnya taraf hidup antara pekerja dan majikan
dalam isu cuti. Kebiasaannya, pekerja di kilang-kilang perindustrian mempunyai masa bekerja
selama lapan jam dan selebihnya sebagai kerja tambahan. Kadangkala, mereka terpaksa bekerja pada
hujung minggu untuk menambahkan pendapatan hidup di samping terpaksa mengikut arahan

17
Mana Sikana. Teori Sosiologi Sastera hlm, 271.
18
-----2011. Cuti. http://naktulisblog.com/koleksi-lawak-pak-pandir/2011. [6 Disember]
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majikan. Ketidakadilan sosial terjadi kepada masyarakat kelas bawahan terikat akibat sistem
autokratik pihak atasan. Dalam konteks isu cuti, Pak Pandir yang digambarkan bekerja sebagai
pengawal keselamatan mahu bercuti selama tujuh hari kemudian dia bercuti sehingga 14 hari ekoran
menganggap permohonannya diberikan. Rungutan pengawal keselamatan yang menerima gaji
rendah sudah lama berlarutan. Berkenaan isu tersebut sebuah artikel dalam laman web Berita Harian
Online19 melaporkan:

KUALA LUMPUR: Penantian lebih 20 tahun untuk menikmati gaji baru minimum bagi kira-
kira 100,000 pengawal keselamatan tempatan akhir bulan ini seperti diumumkan kerajaan
tahun lalu, kini menjadi tanda tanya. Ini berikutan,mesyuarat Persatuan Perkhidmatan
Kawalan Keselamatan Malaysia (PPKKM) yang dihadiri 500 ahlinya di sebuah hotel
Putrajaya, Khamis lalu sebulat suara memutuskan tidak menaikkan gaji minimum RM700
buat masa ini.

Era perkembangan dunia moden masa kini bukan sahaja memberi kesan positif kepada pembangunan
negara, tetapi juga memberi kesan negatif kepada keruntuhan akhlak golongan remaja apabila
terdapat banyak kes kelahiran anak luar nikah dan kes pembuangan bayi yang tidak terkawal. Dalam
kisah Pak Pandir moden, terdapat juga kisah yang memaparkan isu penggunaan kondom bagi
mengelakkan kehamilan. Isu ini dipetik dalam laman blog20 seperti di bawah:

Pak Pandir mengadu pada pegawai kesihatan,

"Doktor, doktor kata kalau pakai itu kondom, Mak Andih saya tak boleh beranak, tapi
selepas saya pakai, dia beranak juga, sudah berduyun-duyun anak saya."

Jawab pegawai kesihatan, "pakcik pakai kondom itu betulkah caranya?"

Jawab Pak Pandir pula, “saya pakai betul pada tempatnya, cumanya saya ini orang Islam,
bila saya tengok kondom itu tidak bersunat,saya pun sunatkanlah (khatankan)."
(sunat)

Kisah Pak Pandir berkenaan isu kondom jelas memaparkan kebimbangan masyarakat terhadap
budaya kelahiran anak luar nikah. Kerapuhan akhlak dan agama dalan diri remaja mendorong
berlakunya gejala seks bebas yang menggalakkan kelahiran anak luar nikah. Dalam teks tersebut
dinyatakan pula kondom yang tidak bersunat itu disunatkan oleh Pak Pandir. Maksud perkataan
bersunat atau khatan merujuk kepada orang Islam yang bersunat. Hal ini bermaksud, golongan remaja
Islam yang paling banyak melahirkan anak luar nikah. Jelaslah, keruntuhan akhlak remaja semakin
parah. Jarang kita dengar orang berbangsa Cina atau India melahirkan anak luar nikah tetapi
kebanyakan kes-kes yang kerap dilaporlkan oleh akhbar melibatkan bangsa Melayu. Fahaman
gagasan fardu ain yang tidak dinamik gagal menjelaskan pembiakan pelbagai masalah sosial,
kerapuhan integriti, keterlampauan dalam kalangan mereka yang tidak jahil akan asas-asas agama
dan menguasai pula pelbagai ilmu fardu kifayah (Shahlan Ismail,2010: 10).

19
___2011. Persatuan Tolak Gaji Baru Pengawal Keselamatan.
http://www.bharian.com.my/articles/Persatuantolakgajibarupengawalkeselamatan/Article/ [6 Disember]
20
_____ .2011. Sunat. http://naktulisblog.com/koleksi-lawak-pak-pandir/2011. [3 Disember]
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Berdasarkan petikan yang diperturunkan dalam laman blog21 bertajuk Pak Pandir King of Gambler
berikut menunjukkan kritikan kepada orang yang suka berjudi:

Pak Pandir: Iye ke? Kalau macam tu, jom kita bertaruh.
Manager: Okay. Sebutkan apa saja pak cik nak bertaruh dengan saya
Pak Pandir: Macam ni… dalam tempoh 7 hari, dari sekarang encik akan kehilangan bulu
ketiak encik. Kalau betul encik akan hilang RM 1000. Kalau tak, saya akan bayar encik RM
1000.
(Pak Pandir King of Gambler )

Masyarakat millineum abad ke-21 juga suka bertaruh dan akhrinya tabiat ini hanya akan memakan
diri sendiri. Masyarakat sekarang mahu hidup senang dan mewah pada kadar sekelip mata tanpa
memikirkan soal halal dan haram sesuatu pekerjaan itu. Justeru, bertaruh merupakan salah satu cara
yang mudah untuk mengaut keuntungan dalam tempoh yang singkat. Bulu ketiak melambangkan
simbol yang jijik. Objek itu jijik dikaitkan dengan benda yang haram sepertimana dalam teks. Jelaslah
di sini, penulis menyampaikan makna tersirat dalam nada mesej bahawa sesiapa yang bertaruh itu
diibaratkan bertaruh bulu ketiaknya sendiri. Dalam teks menceritakan Pak Pandir bertaruh dengan
manager (pengurus bank). Timbul tanda tanya mengapa menggunakan watak pegawai bank bukan
watak orang kelas bawahan. Ini juga satu kritikan sosial yang jelas bahawa golongan berpendidikan
yang bekerja di bank juga terlibat dalam judi dan pertaruhan. Pengakhiran cerita yang menjijikkan
apabila Pak Pandir berjaya memegang bulu ketiak manager. Hal ini dibuktikan berdasarkan
sambungannya dalam teks seperti di bawah:

Manager : mana pak cik dapat duit sebanyak tu?

Pak Pandir : Pak cik bertaruh dengan kawan pak cik guard kat luar tu tadi RM5000.
Manager : Bertaruh apa?
Pak Pandir: Bertaruh yang pak cik dapat pegang bulu ketiak Manager Bank..

PERINGATAN: SEBARANG BENTUK PERJUDIAN ATAU TARUHAN ADALAH

HARAM DI SISI ISLAM WALAUPUN KITA TAK MAKAN HASIL TARUHAN TU.

(Pak Pandir King of Gambler )

Kebiasaannya watak Pak Pandir digambarkan sebagai orang yang bodoh dan dungu mewakili kelas
bawahan. Golongan kelas atas juga dilihat tidak beretika dan tidak bertamadun. Pembinaan sesebuah
tamadun bangsa dalam sejarah peradaban manusia bermula dan berteraskan asas modal insan yang
kukuh dan dan berkualiti.22

21
______2008. Pak Pandir Of Gambler. http://ceritakelakar.com/2008/01/02/pak-pandir-king-of-gambler/ [2
Desimber]
22
Dalam buku The Philosophy of Civilization, Albert Schweitzer menggariskan hubungan tamadun kebendaan dengan
etika. Manusia bukan sahaja memerlukan kemajuan dari segi teknologi tetapi juga dari segi etika kehidupan, cara gaya
hidup, kepercayaan, nilai dan pelakukuan, dan budaya tinggi (Hight Culure)
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Kritikan sosial tidak yang diperihalkan tidak hanya berfokus kepada isu perjudian atau pertaruhan
sahaja, tetapi melalui saduran Pak Pandir moden ini, turut dinyatakan mengenai perkaitan isu
sumbang mahram. Isu sumbang mahram melibatkan ayah dan anak atau dikenali juga sebagai
‘haruan makan anak’ sering diperkatakan. Isu ini tidak penah selesai dan terus membimbangkan
masyarakat, selain meruntuhkan moral. 23Sumbang mahram telah dikenal pasti sebagai sejenis
penganiayaan seksual yang merosakkan kesihatan fizikal, mental dan sosial . Hubungan sumbang
mahram diketahui berpotensi tinggi menghasilkan keturunan yang secara biologinya lemah, baik
fizikal mahupun mental (cacat), atau bahkan merbahaya (membawa maut). Fenomena ini juga umum
dalam dunia haiwan dan tumbuhan sebagai pembiakbakaan dalam. Ini boleh terjadi akibat
pengumpulan homozigot atau gen-gen pembawa 'sifat lemah' daripada kedua-dua induk pada satu
individu (anak).

Analisis kajian Pak Pandir moden ini seterusnya melihat aspek sindiran kepada masyarakat secara
moral berkenaan isu sumbang mahram sepertimana dalam permulaan cerita laman blog24 berikut:

Pak Pandir memanggil anak gadisnya masuk kedalam bilik. Dialog dia lebih kurang macam
ni la...
Pak Pandir : Bedah, mai sini sat. Bapak nak tunjuk sesuatu ni. Bedah : Ya bapak, ada apa?
Pak Pandir : Mai masuk dalam bilik pastu tolong tutup semua tirai tingkap.
Bedah : Apa???!!! (isk? bapak aku ni? lain macam jerr)

(Pak Pandir Terlampau)

Pak Pandir dalam teks di atas dilihat sebagai seorang bapa yang mahu merogol anaknya apabila dia
mengajak anak gadisnya masuk ke dalam bilik dan menutup pintu serta tingkap. Cara yang dilakukan
oleh Pak Pandir itu adalah cara seorang bapa mahu merogol anaknya sendiri. Hal ini sebagai nasihat
kepada masyakakat agar berhati-hati apabila seorang ayah mengajak masuk ke dalam bilik dan
menutup pintu serta tingkap. Kemudian, dalam dialog teks tersebut Pak Pandir mahu tunjukkan
‘sesuatu’25, lantaran menimbulkan curiga kepada anak gadisnya. Kejadian seterusnya, Pak Pandir
mengajak anak gadisnya duduk di sebelahnya dan naik ke atas katil. Kemudian, Pak Pandir sama-
sana berselimut dengan anaknya. Kejadian seterusnya pula berdasarkan petikan berikut:

Bedah : Bapak...Bedah takut laaa. (nak nangis)

Pak Pandir : Bedah, tengok ni.. jengjengjenggg..
Bedah tak sanggup nak tengok... dia pejamkan mata. Dia tahu, bapak dia dok buang tebiat.
Bapak dia dah gila. Kiranya, bapak dia tunjuk tu konon- konon nak intro dulu ler tu. Tapi
dalam hati, Bedah teringin gak la nak tengok. Dia pun bukak la mata sikit.
Pak Pandir : Cantik tak jam G-Shock baru bapak ni. Dia ader cahaya bila gelap. Mahal
nih!!! Dah, pegi keluar

23
_____2008. Sumbang mahram: satu perbincangan.
http://www.jais.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=783&Itemid=1 [8 Disember]
24
Rajalawak. 2008. Pak Pandir Terlampau. http://ceritakelakar.com/2008/01/02/pak-pandir-yang-terlampau/ [10
Disember]
25
boleh ditafsirkan sebagai kemaluan
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(Pak Pandir Terlampau)

Kisah tersebut memaparkan kritikan sosial kepada masyarakat terhadap isu seks sumbang mahram.
Walaupun pengakhiran cerita itu secara komedi, sememang demikianlah fungsi cerita komedi
sebagai teladan. Cerita-cerita jenaka mengenai seks atau yang berbau seks biasanya tersebar dalam
kelompok-kelompok tertentu seperti di kalangan kaum lelaki dewasa sahaja atau kaum wanita dewasa
sahaja. Cerita seperti ini biasanya merupakan cerita ekslusif yang menjadi larangan pendengaran
kanak-kanak (Zalila Sharif & Jamilah Hj Ahmad, 1993: 102)

5.0 Kritikan dari aspek politik

Politik adalah proses pembentukan dan pembahagian kekuasaan dalam masyarakat yang antara lain
mewujudkan proses membuat keputusan, khususnya dalam negara. Pengertian ini merupakan upaya
penggabungan antara berbagai definisi yang berbeza. Politik adalah seni dan ilmu untuk meraih
kekuasaan secara konstitusional maupun non-konstitusional.26

Terdapat cerita-cerita jenaka tentang fahaman politik dan tokoh politik tertentu dalam masyarakat
Melayu. Cerita-cerita seperti ini wujud dan berkembang sesuai dengan perkembangan dan
pergolakan politik semasa. Tanpa memahami situasi, latar belakang atau konteks kemunculannya,
kita tidak akan dapat merasakan kelucuannya. Dalam kehangatan kempen pilihanraya umpamanya,
cerita-cerita sepertiini sering timbul hingga menyebabkan suasana menjadi hangat dan membuatkan
pihak yang terlibat tidak senang diam. Tidak kurang pula cerita-cerita seperti ini dijadikan senjata
untuk menyindir malahan menghina pihak lawan (Zalila Sharif & Jamilah Haji Ahmad, 1993: 102)

Permasalahan politik kini menjadi isu semasa yang hangat diperkatakan. Kewujudan parti-parti
politik tanah air seperti PAS, DAP, PKR dan BN pada waktu ini sering bertelagah sama sendiri dala
memonopoli autonomi masyarakat. Permasalahan politik telah ada dalam cerita-cerita rakyat seperti
Pak Pandir, Pak Kaduk, Nujum Pak Belalang, Si Luncai, Lebai Malang dan lain-lain.

Keupayaan teknologi yang tidak pernah dibayangkan dalam era moden suatu ketika dahulu, kini
menjadi wajah baru era pascamoden dan menguasai hampir segenap ruang komunikasi. Bagi
memenuhi apa jua keperluan hidup, manusia pada hari ini hampir tidak terelak daripada
berkomunikasi secara siber dan terlibat di dalamnya sebagai watak utama. Bidang kesuasteraan
Melayu di negara ini juga menerima kesan langsung ‘wabak’ siber yang ‘menyerang’ dan menguasai
secara berkesan ruang komunikasi. Dari situ muncullah istilah sastera siber, puisi siber, puisi maya,
e-sastera, e-novel, sajak siber dan bermacam-macam lagi. Semua ini memberi gambaran bahawa,
kesusasteraan sudah memasuki ruang siber dan menjadi sebahagian daripada dunianya (Harun Jaafar
dan Mohd Fauzi Khalid, 2005:52).

Medium televisyen menjadi wadah pihak kerajaan yang didominasi oleh parti politik yang
memerintah dalam menyebarkan maklumat untuk mengukuhkan kedudukan jentera parti. Contohnya,

26
Penilaian melalui aspek politik turut dinyatakan dalam teori yang diasaskan oleh Lucien Goldman dalam buku Mana
Sikana, 2009: 269.
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di saluran RTM 1, RTM 2, TV 3 terutamanya dalam slot berita semasa sering melaporkan isu
berkenaan kejayaan Barisan Nasional dan memuji-muji kepimpinan parti tersebut. Sebaliknya, parti-
parti pembangkang dikritik dan dicemuh. Petikan dibawah merujuk kepada suara rakyat yang
mengkritik medium televisyen27:

Pada suatu hari, Pak Pandir pergi ke pekan untuk membeli TV. Sampai di kedai
menjual TV, Pak Pandir pun bertanyalah kepada jurujual
Pak Pandir : Awak ada jual tv warna?
Jurujual : Ada.
Pak Pandir : Kasi saya tv warna hijau…
(Cerita Lucu: Pak Pandir beli TV)

Unsur perlambangan warna dalam sindirian sudah memberi maksud tersendiri. Dalam teks di atas,
Pak Pandir mahu membeli televisyen berwarna hijau. Warna hijau melambangkan bendera parti PAS.
Pak Pandir diibaratkan sebagai simbol masyarakat mewakili pihak pembangkang yang mahu
menonton televisyen daripada parti pembangkang. Artikel yang ditulis pada tahun 2009 ini
seterusnya berkesinambungan isunya apabila pada tahun 2011, sebuah lagi laman blog28 mengkritik
isu televisyen yang menjadi televisyen kerajaan berdasarkan petikan berikut:

Rata-rata rakyat kecewa dengan tindakan TV3 yang telah menjadikan siaran Buletin Utama
sebagai Buletin UMNO semasa persidangan Agung parti itu baru-baru ini. Tidak cukup
dengan siaran langsung, TV3 mengambil masa setengah jam untuk menyiarkan laporan
terperinci tentang perjalanan perhimpunan itu setiap malam. Apa yang jelas dapat dilihat,
seolah-olah TV3 sudah menjadi TV UMNO. Tindakan itu amatlah tidak wajar kerana mereka
harus ingat bahawa penonton yang menyaksikan siaran tersebut terdiri daripada berbagai
kaum dan fahaman politik.
(www. pahangdaily.blogspot.com)

Selain media televisyen yang menjadi provokasi politik kerajaan dalam meluaskan empayar politik,
media cetak seperti akhbar juga tidak berkecuali. Malah, pihak kerajaan juga berhadapan dengan
ancaman-ancaman penulis blog politik terus-terusan begitu berleluasa dalam laman web yang
sentiasa mengkritik kerajaan. Gerakan reformasi menggunakan peluang yang wujud di ruang siber
ini sebagai keperluan pergerakan politik pembangkang dengan mengelakkan daripada kongkongan
dunia sebenar yang dikawal ketat oleh media kerajaan.

Isu rampasan tanah dan merompak wang rakyat seperti sudah sebati dalam kepimpinan politik
semasa. Terdapat sebuah kisah Pak Pandir dipetik dalam laman blog29 yang mempunyai

27
______. 2009. Cerita Lucu: Pak Pandir beli TV. http://koleksicerita-lucu.blogspot.com/2009/11/cerita-lucu-pak-
pandir-beli-tv.html. [1 Disember].
28
______. 2011. Panas: TV3 Digesa Berhenti Dari Menjadi Saluran Pencacai UMNO, Jika Tidak Mahu Dibenci Rakyat.
http://pahangdaily.blogspot.com/2011/12/panas-tv3-di-gesa-berhenti-dari-menjadi.html. [2 Disember }
29
Rajalawak. 2008. Pak Pandir Dengan Hartanya. http://ceritakelakar.com/tag/cerita-lawak/page/24/ [4 Disember]
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hubungkaitnya dengan mantan Menteri Besar Selangor, YAB Dato Seri Mohd Khir Toyo serta
permainan politik UMNO untuk membuka pekung Khir Toyo seperti berikut:

Pak Pandir mendapat harta warisan tetapi ia bingung di manakah ia perlu simpan wang
tersebut. Hendak simpan di bank takut kalau-kalau banknya bangkrup. Diletak dibawah
bantal, nanti diambil pencuri. Setelah berfikir cukup lama, akhirnya ia mendapat ide, ia
menanam wang itu di tanah dibelakang rumahnya, lalu memasang papan peringatan dengan
tulisan yang sangat besar "TIDAK ADA WANG DISINI!". Ternyata temannya Pak Pandir
yang bernama Si Luncai melihat apa yang dilakukan Pandir.Setelah lewat tengah malam,
Luncai pun menggali tanah itu untuk mengambil wang tesebut. Setelah ia mendapatkan wang
itu dan supaya tidak dicurigai, maka Luncai mengganti tulisan yang ditulis Pandir dengan ayat
"BUKAN LUNCAI YANG AMBIL!".
(Pak Pandir Dengan Hartanya)

Sebidang tanah di Janda Baik dikatakan milik Khir Toyo30. Tanah ini jaraknya lebih kurang 1 KM
dari Pusat Latihan UMNO Malaysia dikatakan milik penama bernama Dato Shamsudin. Namun
daripada tinjauan yang dibuat, rumah tersebut didakwa milik Khir Toyo kerana Khir Toyo dilihat
menginap di rumah tersebut ketika kelapangan. Malah, ada orang kampung yang mendakwa melihat
kelibat Khir Toyo berada di Janda Baik dan menjadi perhatian seluruh penduduk. Khir juga dikatakan
telah membeli berpuluh ekar tanah lagi serta sedang berusaha sedang menambah koleksi tanah di
Janda Baik namun tidak dapat persetujuan daripada orang kampung (Mohamad Rafi Awang Kechik,
2005:86) . Pada 22 Disember 2012, mahkamah Tinggi Shah Alam mendapati bekas menteri besar
Selangor, Dr Mohd Khir Toyo bersalah atas tuduhan rasuah. Mahkamah menjatuhkan hukuman 12
bulan penjara berkuatkuasa tarikh tersebut, serta memerintahkan harta terbabit dilucuthak kepada
kerajaan Malaysia. Hukuman penjara itu dibuat mengikut Seksyen 165 Kanun Keseksaan berkuat
kuasa mulai hari. Perintah melucuthak harta tersebut pula dibuat mengikut Seksyen 36(1) Akta
Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia 199731.

Harta warisan dalam teks Pak Pandir di atas bermaksud harta rakyat. Pak Pandir menyembunyikan
harta itu dan Si Luncai pula mahu juga mengambil harta rakyat. Dapat digambarkan bahawa
pemimpin atasan sedang berebut merompak harta rakyat sesama sendiri. Si Luncai dan Pak Pandir
dalam teks di atas digambarkan pergolakan politik UMNO. Dalam mana-mana parti, sifat ‘jatuh-
menjatuhkan’ atau dengan erti kat lain ‘membuka pekung orang lain’ sesama sendiri akan wujud
dengan alasan mahu ‘menyelamatkan’ diri. Khir Toyo dianggap mangsa keadaan UMNO yang mahu
digulingkan sementara pemimpin yang lain bersembunyi di sebalik isu tersebut. Khir Toyo pula
menuduh ada pemimpin politk UMNO yang lain seperti Datuk Seri Noh Omar sengaja mahu
menggulingkannya. Perkara ini berdasarkan petikan artikel dalam laman blog32 berikut:

30
Nilai tanah di Janda Baik adalah sekitar Rm 200 ribu hingga ke Rm 300 ribu seekar kerana nilai ini ramai orang
janda Baik jadi jutawan segera. Salah satu tanah dan rumah dikelilingi kebun durian serta kolam mandi dianggarkan
bernilai 1.5 juta dikawasan seluas 21 ekar dikatakan milik Khir Toyo.
31
Hafiz Yatim. 2011. Rasuah: Khir Toyo dihukum penjara setahun. http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/184841 [25
Disember]
32
Abdul Rahim Sabiri. 2011. Konspirasi tumbangkan Dr Khir: Noh 'tak tahu menahu'.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/175897 . [25 Disember]
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Menteri Pertananian dan Industri Asas Tani Datuk Seri Noh Omar "tidak tahu menahu"
mengenai dakwaan bekas menteri besar Selangor Dr Mohd Khir Toyo bahawa tiga menteri
persekutuan dalam kabinet sedang berkonspirasi bagi mengenakannya.
"Saya tidak tahu. Saya tidak ada komen. Awak kena tanya dia (Dr Khir)," kata Noh ketika
ditemui pemberita sewaktu sambutan Aidilfitri anjuran kementeriannya di Serdang.
Diasak pemberita mengapa Dr Khir menimbulkan perkara ini di dalam blognya, Noh yang
juga ahli parlimen Tanjung Karang, sambil tersenyum, berkata:
"Saya tidak tahu, awak pergi tanya dia. Kena pergi tanya dia. Saya tidak tahu".
Dalam blognya 23 Ogos lalu, Dr Khir menulis ada menteri persekutuan yang sedang
berkonspirasi agar beliau dikenakan hukuman penjara atas tuduhan rasuah supaya
membolehkan Selangor dapat dirampas semula oleh BN dalam pilihan raya akan datang.
Bagaimanapun Dr Khir tidak mendedahkan nama menteri-menteri berkenaan walaupun
yakin sumbernya sangat boleh dipercayai.

“Dalam bulan yang mulia ini juga saya ingin mengingatkan tiga orang sahabat yang menjadi
menteri dalam kabinet sekarang agar jangan keterlaluan untuk mengenakan saya,” tulisnya.

(Konspirasi tumbangkan Dr Khir: Noh 'tak tahu menahu')

Dulu orang Melayu masuk UMNO hendak memerdekakan bangsa dan negara dari belenggu penjajah.
Hari ini tanyalahUMNO kenapa jadi ahli? Kalau tidak ada kepentingan sendiri, siapa yang hendak
jadi ahli parti ataupun mereka dibeli untuk menambah undi, betul atau tidak? Jawablah sendiri. Semua
orang tahu apa yang sedang berlaku di luar dan di dalam UMNO. Semangat perjuangan sudah pudar,
keikhlasan dan kejujuran terhadap orang melayu, tinggal macam itu sahaja. ‘Sense of belonging sense
of responsibility’, macam tidak ada dalam diri mereka para ahli. Sebab itu, untuk kekal berkuasa,
mereka terpaksa menunjuk dan cuba mengadukan kekuatan yang tidak kena pada tempatnya (S.H.
Alattas,1983:87).

Terdapat pula laman blog yang mengkritik Tun Dr Mahathir berkenaan isu Pengajaran dan
Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) yang tidak berkesan. Hal ini
berpadukan petikan dalam laman blog33 berikut:

Satu hari kecoh Pak Pandir panggil wartawan utusan merapu datang kerumah dia.Bila
wartawan2 sampai mereka pun bertanya ada apa yang menarik ni pandir.
Pak Pandir pun kata, “tengok ni.. aku tanam pokok rambutan tapi tumbuh pokok ubi kayu..
hehehe.”
“Waaa pelik ni Pak Pandir.. cuba cerita kat kami..”.
“5 bulan dulu aku ada tanam pokok rambutan kat sini..aku ingat lagi sebab aku ada
tandakanya kat sini...”
“Dengan apa Pak Pandir tandakan?”tanya wartawan....
“Dengan batang ubi kayu”. jawab Pak Pandir.
(Pak Pandir dan Wartawan Utusan)

33
____ 2008. Pak Pandir dan Wartawan Utusan. http://jenaka-pak-pandir.blogspot.com/ [12 Disember]
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Kisah Pak Pandir menceritakan Pak Pandir pada mulanya menanam benih pokok rambutan tetapi
akhirnya pokok ubi kayu pula yang tumbuh. Pak Pandir sanggup memanggil wartawan daripada
akhbar Utusan Malaysia untuk membuat liputan dan menggembar-gemburkan isu tersebut. Terdapat
dua kritikan yang mahu disampaikan oleh penulis blog berkenaan. Pertama, penulis mengkritik isu
PPSMI yang dilakukan Tun Dr Mahathir memandang ke arah barat dalam konteks kecelaruan linggua
dan cita-cita peribadi. Rakyat yang menderita akibat sistem pendidikan pertukaran Matematik dan
Sains ke dalam bahasa Inggeris. Hal ini diulas berdasarkan cerita Pak Pandir itu apabila Pak Pandir
menanam benih pokok rambutan tetapi yang tumbuh pula ubi kayu. Perkara ini menandakan
kegagalan kerajaan yang mahu menyemaikan benih pembelajaran Matematik dan Sains ke dalam
bahasa Inggeris. Hal ini diperakui kerajaan dalam laman blog34 berikut:

Jurang pencapaian antara sekolah bandar dan luar bandar dalam mata pelajaran Sains dan
Matematik semakin melebar semasa dua subjek itu diajar dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI)
sejak 2003. Menteri pelajaran juga berkata laporan Trends in Mathematics and Science
Study 2007 turut menyatakan kedudukan murid Malaysia dalam Sains merosot ke tangga 21
daripada tangga ke-20 pada 2003.
"Bagi mata pelajaran Matematik pula, kedudukan murid kita telah merosot daripada tangga
ke-10 pada tahun 2003 ke tangga ke-20 pada tahun 2007," kata Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
hari ini.
Menurut Bernama, beliau berkata kajian universiti-universiti tempatan pula mendapati tahap
peningkatan penguasaan bahasa Inggeris murid adalah nominal iaitu tidak lebih tiga peratus
sepanjang pelaksanaan PPSMI.
"Tahap penguasaan bahasa Inggeris di kalangan murid terutamanya di luar bandar masih
rendah menyebabkan mereka sukar untuk memahami pengajaran Matematik dan Sains
dalam bahasa Inggeris," katanya dalam sidang media khas mengumumkan pembatalan dasar
tersebut mulai 2012.

(Kerajaan Akui PPSMI Banyak Kelemahan)

Kedua, penulis blog memberi simbol wartawan Utusan Malaysia sebagai media penting yang
membuat liputan berkenaan isi ubi kayu yang tumbuh walaupun menanam benih pokok rambutan.
Dalam aspek politik semasa, pihak kerajaan sentiasa menjemput wartawan untuk membuat sidang
akhbar atau sidang media bagi memberitahu sesuatu kepada rakyat. Kemudian, jelas ditunjukkan
kebodohan wartawan yang sanggup datang ke kampung untuk bertemu Pak Pandir semata-mata
mahu membuat liputan berita tentang ubi kayu. Dalam dunia kewatawanan, sebagai orang media
mereka terpaksa ikut telunjuk kerajaan untuk membuat liputan walaupun berita yang remeh temeh.

Ulasan yang terakhir cerita-cerita Pak Pandir dalam skop politik berkenaan utusan surat. Surat ini
bertajuk ‘Warkah Pak Kaduk Kepada Pak Pandir’ yang dipetik dalam laman blog35:

Pak pandir yang belum bijaksana

aku pernah diperbodoh oleh orang berkuasa

34
______2009. Kerajaan Akui PPSMI Banyak Kelemahan. http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/108091. [20 Disember]
35
______2009. Warkah Pak Kaduk kepada Pak Pandir. http://esasterawan.org/azmirahman/blog/2009/06/22/warkah-
pak-kaduk-kepada-pak-pandir/) [22 Disember]
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aku sedar bahawa kehidupan ini

untuk menang berlidahkan penipuan
ayam aku menang
tapi aku kalah dalam pertaruhan.

Kini ayam laga aku jaga

menang dalam perlagaan
aku pula sudah berniaga ayam laga
aku juga berniaga ayam katik untuk pertandingan.

Aku terfikir dan tertanya-tanya, pak pandir

kaukah yang bodoh atau orang di sekeliling kau yang bodoh
atau arahan yang diberi kurang jelas oleh orang-orang bodoh?

Aku berharap kau dapat bezakan

antara hidup dan mati
air panas dan air sejuk
seorang berjanggut dan seekor kambing berjanggut.

Pak pandir, jangan lagi kita dikisahkan dengan kebodohan

kisah lepas kita jadi teladan orang melayu.
(Warkah Pak Kaduk Kepada Pak Pandir)

Merujuk kepada kenyataan di atas, Pak Kaduk telah menghantar warkah kepada Pak Pandir sebagai
peringatan berkenaan kisah-kisah kebodohan yang lepas agar tidak berulang. Watak Pak Kaduk dan
Pak Pandir dalam sastera rakyat yang sebenar merupakan watak yang ditimpa malang akibat
kebodohan mereka sendiri. Dalam teks di atas, watak Pak Kaduk dikonotasikan sebagai parti PAS
manakala watak Pak Pandir diperlambangkan sebagai parti UMNO. Menelurusi teks tersebut secara
mendalam banyak memperihalkan tentang sindiran –pergolakan dua parti politik antara PKR dan
UMNO. PKR adalah serpihan di bawah parti UMNO.

Pengarang juga mengkritik tahap kepimpinan bekas Perdana Menteri keempat iaitu Tun Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi tentang kegagalan beliau mempertahankan lima buah negeri yang telah jatuh ke
tangan parti pembangkang pada pilihanraya umum kali ke 12 yang lepas.

Maksud rangkap ketiga, pengarang mempersoalkan tahap kepimpinan pihak atasan dalam
mengendalikan pentadbiran yang dibentuk dalam gagasan parti politik. Masyarakat bawahan
digambarkan bodoh kerana kepincangan yang berlaku daripada kebodohan pihak atasan itu sendiri.
Hal ini umpama guru kencing berdiri, murid kencing berlari. Tujuan Pak Kaduk mengutuskan warkah
itu untuk menyedarkan Pak Pandir daripada kelelahan politik.

Pada rangkap terakhir, Pak Kaduk memberi nasihat kepada Pak Pandir agar tidak mengulangi
kesilapan lama dan menjadikan sebagai teladan. Jika dilihat dari aspek politik, pengarang seolah-olah
menyindir kepada pempimpin UMNO sekarang agar tidak menjadikan kegagalan yang lalu sebagai
landasan untuk tampuk pemerintahan yang baru.
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Kebebasan penulis alam maya mengkritik pemimpin politik dalam laman sesawang sedikit sebanyak
menggugatkan parti-parti politik. Mahaguru pengurusan Jepun, Dr Kenichi Ohmae menyokong teori
yang dikemukakan oleh Alvin Toffler apabila meramalkan akan muncul masyarakat pekerja
rangkaian network society iaitu golongan masyarakat industri pengguna teknologi maklumat (IT).
Masyarakat tersebut akan menggunakan teknologi maklumat khususnya multimedia bagi
berkomunikasi, bertukar maklumat dan melakukan aktiviti harian tetapi dalam masa yang sama masih
mengekalkan nilai ketimuran dan persekitaran alam semula jadi (Mustafa Dakian, 2007:16).
Persoalan keberkesanan Internet dalam mobilisasi sosial masih dipertikaikan. Setakat mana kehiatan
kolektif yang dapat disalurkan oleh Internet dari ruang virtual ke dunia sebenar dengan perasaan atau
tanpa perasaan terlalu dipermudahkan. Wujud dua pandangan lazim yang dipermudahkan yang
bertentangan antara satu sama lain. Yang pertama ialah pihak yang terlalu optimistik36. Yang kedua
ialah pihak yang terlampau pesimistik37

6.0 Unsur-unsur perlambangan dalam teks Pak Pandir Moden

Berdasarkan daripada kajian kisah Pak Pakdir moden melalui aspek politik, sosial dan ekonomi,
kesemua kisah itu dapat dikelaskan menggunakan objek (bahan) sebagai simbol penceritaan.
Penggunaan sistem perlambangan ini secara tidak langsung dapat dilihat melalui analisis
menggunakan teori semiotik. Semiotik mengkaji segala sistem perlambangan yang diciptakan
manusia dalam sepanjang kehidupan. Menurut Saussere, teori ini diciptakansebagai memahami
tanda-tanda dan lambang dalam budaya manusia (Mana Sikana, 2009: 35) .

Diturunkan jadual yang memperihalkan tentang perlambangan dalam teks-teks Pak Pandir moden.

Jadual 1.2 di bawah menunjukkan kelas kalsifikasi objek dalam symbol teks Pak Pandir
Moden
Bil Tajuk Genre Simbol
1 Pak Pandir ke kebun getah Ekonomi • Papan tanda ‘Dilarang
Memotong’
• Pokok Getah

2 Pak Pandir beli TV Politik • Televisyen

• Warna hijau
3 Pak Pandir Terlampau Sosial • Jam tangan
4 Pak Pandir Dengan Wartawan Utusan Politik • Pokok rambutan dan pokok
ubi
• Wartawan
5 Pak Pandir Of Gambles Sosial • Bulu ketiak
• Bank
6 Pak Pandir dan Itik Ekonomi • Itik

36
Bagi pihak yang terlalu optimistik, Internet amat berkesan dalam mempengaruhi dunia sebenar.
37
Bagi pihak yang pesimistik, Internet dianggap alat yang tidak akan membawa perubahan kepada dunia sebenar.
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• Roti
• Kolam
7 Warkah Pak Kaduk Kepada Pak Pandir Politik • Surat
8 Cuti Sosial -tiada-
9 Sunat Sosial • Kondom yang bersunat
10 Pak Pandir Dengan Hartanya Politik -tiada-

Semiotik mementingkan tanda, penanda dan petanda . Sesuatu tanda merujuk fenomena, sebab-
musabab, simtop isyarat disebabkan wujudnya peristiwa atau kaitan yang lain. Analisis teks dalam
symbol menunjukkan kebanyakan kisah Pak Pandir moden berkisarkan suasana persekitaran
masyarakat. Contohnya, pokok getah,pokok ubi, pokok rambutan, kolam itik melambangkan
kehidupan masyarakat kelas bawahan. Objek seperti surat pula sebagai warkah atau utusan antara
satu pihak ke satu pihak yang lain dalam hubungan interaksi. Prinsip dalam semiotik menjelaskan
apa sahaja yang ditulis pengarang boleh memainkan peranan penting dalam pembinaan sebuah karya.
Teks yang ditulis menghubungkan karya itu dengan hubungan persekitaran masyarakat. Misalnya,
dalam teks Pak Pandir moden bertajuk Pak Pandir Of Gambles bulu ketiak disimbolkan sesuatu
benda yang jijik menggambarkan keadaan masyarakat yang jijik. Kelahiran semiotik ini adalah
sebagai satu cara untuk menganalisis karya-karya yang ada kaitan dengan sistem karya-karya yang
dihasilkan (Mana Sikana, 2009: 39) .

7.0 Kesimpulan

Penghayatan terhadap cerita jenaka Pak Pandir berakarkan jatidiri orang Melayu memberi kesan
terhadap perkembangan kesusasteraan Melayu tradisional. Melalui cerita jenaka Pak Pandir moden ,
terpancarlah budaya mengkritik secara terang dan halus terhadap aspek ekonomi, sosial dan politik.
Kesemua cerita tersebut lahir daripada pengamatan suasana persekitaran semasa sebagai wadah
penyampaian emosi penulis mewakili kelompok masyarakat. Suatu ketika dahulu, cerita lisan
disampaikan dari mulut ke mulut. Kemudian, perkembangan dunia moden memperlihatkan cerita
lisan berkembang kepada tradisi cetak iaitu bertulis. Kini, tradisi cyber dalam jaringan Internet tanpa
sempadan menggalakkan lagi penyebaran ceirita rakyat yang telah diubahsuai dan ditulis oleh
sesiapapun tanpa sekatan. Walaupun cerita Pak Pandir ini telah mengalami perubahan cerita ke arah
transformasi tradisional ke moden, namun ia masih mengekalkan fungsi yang sama bahawa cerita
jenaka untuk menghibur dan mengkritik. Dapat disimpulkan, masyarakat Melayu telah menerima
cerita-cerita rakyat sebagai satu tradisi yang wujud pada masa kini walaupun penyebarannya secara
laman sesawang. Bentuk tradisi itu kini terus berkekalan dan dipertahankan dari satu generasi ke satu
generasi lain dengan kewujudannya dalam alam maya.

Rujukan

Harun Jaafar & Mohd Fauzi Khalid (peny). 2005. Kesusasteraan dalam kesenian Melayu. Tanjung
Malim: Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris.
Harun Mat Piah. 2000. Kesusasteraan Melayu Tradisional (Edisi Kedua). Kuala Lumpur: Dewan
Bahasa dan Pustaka.
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Mana Sikana. 1998. Kritikan Sastera Moden: Teori dan Pendekatan. Shah Alam:
Fajar Bakti
Mana Sikana. 2009. Teori sastera kontemporari. Bangi: Pustaka Karya.
Mohd Taib Osman (peny). 1991. Pengkajian sastera rakyat bercorak cerita. Kuala Lumpur:
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Mustafa Dakian. 2007. K-ekonomi pemacu ekonomi di Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publications
& Distributors Sdn. Bhd.
Mahathir Mohamad. 1995. Jalan ke puncak. Selangor: Pelanduk Publication.
Mohamad Rafi Awg. Kechik. 2005. Khir Toyo: Antara amanah dan khianat. Kuala Lumpur:
Channel Forty
Rogayah A Hamid & Wardati Md. Sherif. 2007. Tradisi lisan manifestasi cendekiawan Melayu.
Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka
Sahlan Mohd. Saman dan Shaiful Bahri Md. Radzi (pnye). 2005. Persuratan Melayu
tradisional ke moden. Bangi: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Sahlan Mohd Saman & Shaiful Bahri Md Radzi. 2003. Persuratan Melayu Pemerkasaan
Warisan Bangsa. Bangi. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Shahlan Ismail. 2010. 1Malaysia: Menjana negara sejahtera dan bahagia menjelang 2020.
KualaLumpur: Ilham Baru
S.H. Alatas. 1983. Tuah Nasib Pemimpin Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Al Nujum Enterprise
Syed Osman Syed Omar. 1984. Jurnal Institut Bahasa, Kesusasteraan dan Kebudayaan Melayu.
Jilid 2: 107-123.
Tai Lee Ooi. 2010. Dinamik ruang siber dalam gerakan reformasi di Malaysia. Selangor:
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Wan Nur Hasmy Wan Mansor. 2014. Penerapan Unsur Kecindan Dalam Proses Pengajaran dan
Pembelajaran Reka Bentuk Teknologi. Laporan Projek. Johor: Penerbit Universiti Tun
Hussien Onn Malaysia.
Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud. 2011. Budaya ilmu dan gagasan 1Malaysia membina negara maju
dan bahagia. Selangor: Akademi Kenegaraan BTN.
Zalila Sharif & Jamilah Haji Ahmad (pnyl). 1993. Kesusateraan Melayu tradisional. Kuala
Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka
Zalila Syarif dan Jamilah Hj Ahmad. 1993. Kesusasteraan Melayu Tradisional. Kuala Lumpur.
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka

LAMAN SESAWANG

http://heeheh.blogspot.com/2007/12/pak-pandir-ke-kebun.html

www.pangaro.com/published/cyber-macmilan.html

http://www.keningaukini.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=534: penoreh-
getah-peroleh-rm1500-rm15000-sebulan&catid=1:keningau

http://ozzy2u.blogspot.com/2011/02/hati-hati-menoreh.html
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http://berita-harian-online.com/pak-pandir-dan-itik/

http://naktulisblog.com/koleksi-lawak-pak-pandir/2011

http://www.bharian.com.my/articles/Persatuantolakgajibarupengawalkeselamatan/Article/

http://www.jais.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=783&Itemid=1

http://naktulisblog.com/koleksi-lawak-pak-pandir/2011

http://ceritakelakar.com/2008/01/02/pak-pandir-yang-terlampau/

http://jenaka-pak-pandir.blogspot.com/

http://ceritakelakar.com/tag/cerita-lawak/page/24/

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/184841

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/175897

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/108091

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KEAGUNGAN FILEM P.RAMLEE DI MALAYSIA: PERSPEKTIF ANTARA GENERASI

Nor Hafizah bt Abdullah

Pusat Pengajian Bahasa Moden dan Komunikasi, Fakulti Bahasa dan Komunikasi, Universiti Sultan
Zainal Abidin, Kampus Gong Badak, 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

P. Ramlee adalah satu nama besar dalam sejarah seni dan budaya bangsa khususnya dalam bidang
lakonan dan perfileman. Sebagai seorang insan seni, P. Ramlee telah berjaya membentuk cara, gaya dan
disiplin yang tersendiri dalam bidang berkenaan dan inilah yang menjadikan karya-karya beliau masih tetap
segar dalam sanubari anak bangsanya hingga kini. Bakat yang dimiliki oleh beliau itu membuatkan beliau
diminati oleh masyarakat Malaysia yang terdiri daripada pelbagai bangsa dan budaya termasuklah Melayu,
Cina dan India. Bukan itu sahaja, bahkan peminat-peminatnya itu juga terdiri daripada segenap lapisan usia,
tidak kira tua ataupun muda. Karya beliau jelas bukan sekadar hiburan sahaja malah ia adalah satu himpunan
khazanah yang membicarakan tentang cita-cita, harapan, impian, nilai, kesucian agama, kemelut sosial dan
keagungan sejarah. Justeru, kertas kerja ini sebagai satu penyelongkaran rahsia tersembunyi yang menjadikan
filem P.Ramlee seperti satu fenomena yang tidak pernah padam. Adalah penting untuk kita merungkai rahsia
terembunyi ini, kerana ia akan memberi formula kepada filem sekarang dan juga merungkai bagaimana
persepsi dan apresiasi antara dua generasi (“baby boomers” dan “generasi Y”) dalam penilaian mereka
terhadap kandungan elemen- filem-filem P.Ramlee dari segi nilai-nilai sejarah, pengawasan sosial,
pendidikan, norma dan adat budaya serta humor yang dipaparkan dalam filem beliau.

Keywords: P.Ramlee, keagungan filem, perspektif, antara generasi.

1.0 Pengenalan

Jika disebut sahaja nama P.Ramlee, pasti ramai yang terbayangkan gelagatnya dalam filem-filem
klasik lakonannya seperti Seniman Bujang Lapok, Pendekar Bujang lapok, Nujum Pak Belalang,
Madu Tiga, Anak Bapak dan pelbagai lagi hasil karyanya yang penuh tersirat mesej-mesej yang
bernilai. Di antara filem-filem Melayu klasik lain di bawah arahannya asas untuk filem-filem moden
adalah seperti Semerah Padi, Sumpah Pontianak, Penarik Becha dan Anakku Sazali. Malahan filem
Penarek Becha bukan sahaja berjaya dari segi mutunya, malah turut mengaut keuntungan besar
dengan pencapaian pecah panggung.
Generasi muda hari ini sungguh bertuah kerana bintang seniman agung ini terus bersinar hingga kini.
Sungguhpun tidak pernah bersua muka, namun sedar atau tidak kita dibesarkan dengan karya-karya
agung beliau (Arifuddin Ishak, 2008). Karyanya mencakupi semua aspek seperti senikata lagu,
melodi, cerita, lakon layar, nyanyian, gubahan muzik dan arahan. Gelaran seniman Agung terangkat
sendiri dengan karya berbisanya dalam semua kategori. Gelarannya bukan sekadar diterimanya tetapi
melekat di sanubari peminatnya. Tidak ada pengarah lain sehebatnya yang boleh melakukan serba-
serbi dalam menghasilkan karya filem. Allahyarham tetap menyumbang karyanya walaupun beliau

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tidak berlakon dalam hampir semua filem yang melibatkan dirinya(Abdul Rahman Ahmad Hanafiah,
2010).

Sememangnya, tidak dapat dinafikan lagi bahawa Allahyarham Tan Sri P. Ramlee merupakan
seseorang yang sangat berbakat di dalam industri seni dan perfileman tanah air kita. Bakat yang
dimiliki oleh beliau itu membuatkan beliau diminati oleh masyarakat Malaysia yang terdiri daripada
pelbagai bangsa dan budaya termasuklah Melayu, Cina dan India. Bukan itu sahaja, bahkan peminat-
peminatnya itu juga terdiri daripada segenap lapisan usia, tidak kira tua ataupun muda (Abdul
Rahman Ahmad Hanafiah, 2010). Jalinan dan anyaman perwatakan pelbagai kaum sesebuah filem
mendarjatkannya sebagai karya masterpiece. Ia menjadikan sebuah karya masterpiece disenangi dan
dipuja oleh penonton berbagai keturunan dan sasarannya( Abdul Rahman Ahmad Hanafiah, 2010).
Allahyarham Tan Sri P. Ramlee secara tidak langsung mengangkat filem sebagai aset milik negara,
malah semua bangsa menganggap filem P. Ramlee sebagai khazanah filem mereka, kerana
penampilannya menyumbang bakti perkembangan filem Melayu.

Sesebuah filem menjadi agung dan mendapat sanjungan serta kekal di sanubari penonton adalah
kerana ia merangkumi pelbagai aspek dan mesej tersurat di dalamnya. Kehebatan beliau terletak pada
keunikan dan pemikiran beliau dalam memberi kritikan dari segi sosial, politik, agama dan
sebagainya terutama budaya masyarakat Malaysia sendiri. Justeru, penulis merasa terpanggil untuk
mengkaji dan membongkarkan apakah rahsia yang menjadikan filem-filem P. Ramlee seperti tiada
tolok bandingannya di mana karya-karya beliau terus dipuja dan dinikmati buat sekian lamanya
daripada dahulu hingga mungkin beratus tahun akan datang sehinggakan menjadikan ia sebagai
sebuah fenomena yang tidak akan terpadam buat selama-lamanya.

Justeru, penulis cuba untuk merungkai persoalan apakah faktor-faktor yang menyebabkan terhasilnya
karya-karya agung Allahyarham Tan Sri P.Ramlee. Apakah faktor-faktor yang menyumbang kepada
terhasilnya filem-filem yang bermutu tinggi dan berkualiti itu. Pengkaji ingin mencari jawapan
kepada apakah faktor-faktor penyumbang atau penarik yang menjadikan filem-filem P. Ramlee
sangat ‘evergreen’ yang sukar sekali dapat ditandingi sezaman beliau dan selepas pemergian beliau.
Bagaimanakah beliau menghasilkan filem-filem yang pelbagai genre itu dan bagaimanakah beliau
mendapat idea dalam menyumbangkan karya-karyanya yang penuh sarat dengan mesej-mesej yang
tidak lapuk ditelan zaman. Selain daripada itu, tujuan kajian ini juga untuk mengetahui kenapa
lapisan generasi penonton filem dari dahulu hingga kini masih meminati karya-karya hebatnya dan
apakah corak penontonan filem P.Ramlee antara dua generasi (“Baby boomers dan Generasi Y”).

2.0 Permasalahan kajian

Sejak berdekad kita mendengar kenyataan “Tiada orang dapat menggantikan P. Ramlee” atau “Tiada
lagi yang sehebat P.Ramlee”(Mazir Ibrahim, 2010). Terlalu banyak ungkapan puja-pujaan yang
mengagumi karya-karya dan dirinya. Semua bangsa di Malaysia mengenali P.Ramlee dan mereka
tetap menonton filemnya walaupun sering diulang tayang. Walaupun Allahyarham tidak mempunyai
pendidikan tinggi dalam bidang perfileman tetapi boleh mengatasi mereka yang memiliki ijazah
bidang tersebut dalam pembikinan filem(Abdul Rahman Ahmad Hanafiah, 2010). Hampir semua

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filemnya mencapai tayangan pecah panggung (boxoffice) bukanlah daripada sokongan orang Melayu
seratus peratus, sebaliknya semua bangsa.

P. Ramlee memperlihatkan kehebatan beliau yang sukar ditandingi oleh pengarah lain. Kehebatan P.
Ramlee dalam bidang pengarahan terserlah melalui filem arahan kedua beliau, Semerah Padi. Malah,
ada pihak yang berpendapat bahawa Semerah Padi merupakan mahakarya P. Ramlee. Setelah
mengarah filem yang bercorak drama barat, P. Ramlee membuat kejutan dengan filem yang bercorak
komedi. Garapan filem komedi beliau seperti siri Bujan Lapok, Musang Berjanggut, Nujum Pak
Belalang, Labu Labi, dan lain-lain bukan sahaja lucu, malah pengisian ceritanya sangat menarik
kerana sarat dengan nilai-nilai kemasyarakatan, sindiran, dan kritikan sosial (Anon).

Pengukuran kepakaran P. Ramlee dan filemnya bukanlah dari segi sambutan tayangan box office
nya, tetapi pemikiran, persoalan dan falsafah yang dipaparkan dalam karyanya cukup bertembungan
dengan kehidupan manusia sejagat. Hampir kesemua filemnya bertitik tolak daripada pelbagai aspek
kehidupan sosio budaya, ekonomi, kebudayaan yang merangkumi adat dan falsafah kehidupan
bermasyarakat. Filem-filemnya yang memenangi anugerah, kesemuanya bersendikan ‘historical
poetics’ kehidupan masyarakat berbilang bangsa dan keturunan( Abdul Rahman Ahmad Hanafiah,
2010).

Industri perfileman Malaysia sekarang ternyata sedang kehausan filem-filem yang berkualiti seperti
filem-filem Semerah Padi(1956), Sumpah Pontianak(1958) dan Anakku Sazali(1956). Filem-filem
ini sememangnya akan tetap terus popular, walaupun hingga 200 tahun akan datang. Ini adalah kesan
penerapan nilai perpaduan di dalam filem yang sangat merakyat sifatnya, sehingga beliau seringkali
digambarkan sebagai hero perfileman dunia Melayu yang tidak ada tolok bandingannya.

Untuk mencari filem yang berkualiti pada zaman sekarang, umpama mencari sebutir beras di dalam
timbunan pasir. Filem Melayu hari ini adalah membosankan kerana mereka membawa propaganda
daripada pihak tertentu. Mereka seolah-olah cuba untuk menutup situasi sebenar yang berlaku dalam
kalangan masyarakat zaman sekarang. Masyarakat ingin melihat fakta yang yang betul dan telus,
bukan contoh bagaimana ini atau itu sepatutnya terjadi. Kita boleh melihat contoh selepas melihat
fakta yang benar dan telus dalam filem-filem Allahyarham P. Ramlee. Sebagai contohnya 'Antara
Dua Darjat' adalah satu tamparan dan sinis yang yang hebat kepada kelas atasan atau orang-orang
kenamaan dan raja-raja. 'Musang Berjanggut' pula menunjukkan bagaimana rasuah berlaku
dikalangan raja-raja. 'Tiga Abdul' menunjukkan rasuah yang berlaku dikalangan masyarakat melayu.
Jika soalan utama "mengapa filem Melayu hari ini tidak boleh dibuat seperti ini" ditanya, jawapannya
adalah mudah. Rakyat mahu melihat fakta yang sebenar dan telus dan mereka tidak mendapat apa
yang mereka mahu dalam filem masa kini. Permasalahan ini boleh diketengahkan kepada mereka
yang terlibat di dalam bidang atau industri perfileman perfileman.

Kalangan penggiat dan penerbit filem sering mengharapkan dapat melebarkan sayap filem tempatan
ke persada dunia. Tapi fahamkan kita apa keperluan yang mesti dipenuhi oleh filem kita yang mahu
ke persada dunia? Apa pelan jangka pendek dan pelan jangka panjang kita untuk sampai ke persada
dunia? Secara jujur kalau dengan gaya filem kita yang ada sekarang, usah bermimpilah ke persada
dunia. Apakah dengan lambakan filem seram yang setengah masak itu persiapan kita ke persada
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dunia? Apakah dengan filem hanya letak kesan visual ‘special effect/CGI’ saja membolehkan kita ke
persada dunia? Apakah sebenarnya formula untuk mempertingkatkan lagi mutu setiap karya filem
tempatan agar ia boleh diterima tanpa banyak rungutan. Apa pula ramuannya untuk menjulang filem
tempatan ini di mata dunia? Cukupkah sekadar bergantung pada penulisan skrip sahaja atau kegigihan
pengarah untuk mewarnai skrip yang diberikan. Namun, yang menjadi persoalan, sejauh mana
karyawan-karyawan Malaysia ini berani menyahut cabaran filem Malaysia ke persada dunia?
Cukupkah dengan hanya menghasilkan karya yang klise atau sekadar untuk mengaut keuntungan?
Bagaimana untuk menghasilkan karya-karya masterpiece seperti yang dilakukan oleh Allahyarham
P.Ramlee atau jika tidak dapat menandingi karya beliau paling tidak menghasilkan karya yang dapat
dibanggakan oleh penonton kita.

Biarpun P. Ramlee telah meninggalkan kita, namun karyanya masih tersemat di hati dan ingatan kita
tentang ceritanya dan filemnya juga filem beliau telah meninggalkan khazanah yang agung sehingga
sekarang di mana kebanyakan pemikir-pemikir filem dan pembikin-pembikin filem perlu mengambil
pengajaran dan cuba mempelajari daripada hasil karya beliau (Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied, 2005).
Justeru, apakah rahsia yang tersembunyi yang menjadikan filem P.Ramlee seperti satu fenomena
yang tidak pernah padam? Soalan itu masih bermain-main di benak dan masih tidak dapat
dirungkaikan oleh kita. Adalah penting untuk kita menjawab soalan ini, kerana ia akan memberi
formula kepada filem sekarang untuk dikenang pada masa akan datang. Ia juga penting untuk
merungkaikan rahsia ini untuk mengekalkan nilai sejarah, estetika, nostalgia dan nilai-nilai murni
bangsa Melayu terutama untuk generasi akan dating.

2.1 Objektif kajian

1) Bagi mengkaji apakah faktor-faktor penyumbang atau penarik yang menjadikan filem-filem P.
Ramlee sangat ‘evergreen’ yang sukar sekali dapat ditandingi sezaman beliau dan selepas
pemergian beliau.
2) Untuk mengetahui kenapa lapisan generasi penonton filem dari dahulu hingga kini masih
meminati karya-karya hebatnya dan mengkaji adakah terdapat persamaan atau perbezaan persepsi
dan apresiasi antara dua generasi (“baby boomers” dan “generasi Y”) dalam penilaian mereka
terhadap kandungan elemen- filem-filem P.Ramlee dari segi nilai-nilai sejarah, pengawasan
sosial, pendidikan, norma dan adat budaya serta humor yang dipaparkan dalam filem P.Ramlee.

3.0 Tinjauan Susastera

Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied (2005) dalam kajiannya yang bertajuk “Film as Social History-
P.Ramlee’s “Seniman Bujang Lapok” and Malays in Singapore (1950s-60s) telah memberikan
analisis kritikal terhadap salah satu filem P. Ramlee, iaitu “Seniman Bujang Lapok” yang telah
memenangi Filem terbaik komedi pada Festival Filem Asia di Tokyo yang ke 9. Dalam filem tersebut,
P. Ramlee menggambarkan masyarakat Melayu dalam beberapa perkembangan penting dalam
kehidupan dan era, dan beberapa tema utama telah diutarakan yang mana ia mencerminkan cabaran
dan kebimbangan yang dihadapi oleh orang Melayu ketika itu. Salah satu kebimbangan utama P.
Ramlee seperti yang ditunjukkan dalam filem-filem yang dihasilkan di Singapura bandar
kosmopolitan adalah kerumitan untuk mengekalkan nilai-nilai tradisional Melayu manakala pada
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masa yang sama, menyesuaikan diri dengan era kemodenan. P. Ramlee menekankan bahawa orang
Melayu mesti mengamalkan apa yang terbaik dari nilai-nilai yang diwarisi mereka serta tidak
terpengaruh oleh modernisasi barat. Beliau merasakan bahawa adalah penting menunjukkan
kepatuhan tegar terhadap nilai-nilai Melayu yang telah membawa kepada kesetiaan yang tidak
berbelah bagi kepada raja-raja mereka serta juga bentuk masalah sosial yang lain. Beliau
menggambarkan kritikan itu dalam filem Hang Tuah (1956), yang berdasarkan klasik Melayu. P.
Ramlee juga berjaya menekankan pemahaman yang jelas tentang Islam di kalangan orang Melayu,
yang mana pada hemat beliau ia adalah isu yang kritikal pada masa itu seperti isu poligami yang di
paparkan di dalam kebanyakan filemnya seperti Madu Tiga.Dalam satu babak di dalam filem
Seniman Bujang Lapok ini, seorang lelaki telah ditangkap isterinya kerana menari dengan wanita
lain. Selepas hujah diperjelaskan oleh lelaki itu yang kemudian mengaku tidak bersalah kerana dalam
konteks Islam dengan menyatakan bahawa wanita itu adalah isteri kedua beliau. Manakala isteri
pertama mengulas dengan mendalam dengan mengatakan, "Ooh! pasal nak berbini, ikut undang-
undang Islam! Tetapi apabila ia melibatkan solat dan berpuasa, mengapa anda tidak mengikut Islam?
". Itu adalah contoh bagaimana P.Ramlee cuba menggarapkan isu poligami ini di dalam filemnya. Ini
juga merupakan contoh bagaimana nilai atau elemen pendidikan atau norma adat budaya
diketengahkan di dalam filem-filemnya.

Lajoubert (2010) dalam Jurnal Terjemah Alam & Tamadun Melayu memanjangkan perbincangan
tentang keagungan karya P.Ramlee ini kepada karya sastera dan sinematografi yang dihasilkan sejak
tahun 1940-an yang mendapat ilham daripada dua teks Melayu lama dari abad ke-17, iaitu Sejarah
Melayu 1 dan Hikayat Hang Tuah. Satu-satunya filem dari genre ini yang dihasilkan sebelum
kemerdekaan adalah Hang Tuah (1956). Ia diterbitkan Malay Film Production(MFP) dari Shaw
Brothers. Pengarah kepada filem ini adalah tidak lain tidak bukan iaitu P. Ramlee, yang juga
memegang peranan utama. P.Ramlee kemudiannya menjadi lagenda seni filem Malaysia. Selain
menggubah muzik dan menyanyi, beliau juga mempunyai pelbagai bakat iaitu sebagai pelakon filem
(dia berlakon untuk pertama kalinya dalam Cinta, 1948), baik dramatik atau komedi, penulis senario
dan pengarah (filem pertama yang diarahnya adalah Penarek Beca, 1955). Filem Hang Tuah juga
mengandungi banyak nyanyian dan tarian. P. Ramlee yang mencipta muzik dan lagu dan
menyanyikan semua lagu itu di dalam filem itu. Filem Hang Tuah ini juga menerima anugerah di
Festival Sinema Asia.

Manakala Mahyuddin Ahmad (2011) yang menjalankan kajian mengenai perhubungan etnik dan
bangsa Malaysia di dalam filem Gadoh telah menjadikan filem P.Ramlee sebagai contoh dan idea
menonjolkan budaya Malaysia yang bersatu padu. Salah satu filem P.Ramlee yang diketengahkan
adalah sebuah filem yang diarahkan oleh P.Ramlee sendiri sendiri iaitu, Gerimis, yang berkaitan
mengenai isu percampuran bangsa. Filem Gerimis ini cuba untuk mencadangkan dan
mengetengahkan bahawa prasangka perkauman boleh dibanteras dan perbezaan kaum juga boleh
dielakkan dengan memberikan hak kesamarataan terhadap semua bangsa. P.Ramlee telah melahirkan
idea bahawa kahwin campur dianggap sebagai salah satu cara untuk membasmi prejudis dalam
hubungan etnik. Ini adalah salah satu sumbangan P.Ramlee dalam menerapkan nilai-nilai murni dan
budaya di kalangan masyarakat pada zaman itu.

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Lin & Tan (2010) telah menjalankan kajian mengenai industri humor Singapura melalui kanta teori
pembinaan sosial. Ia bertujuan untuk mengkaji ciri-ciri unik humor Singapura dan menyiasat
bagaimana budaya Singapura rojak dan pelakon sosial (pencipta kandungan, pasaran / penonton, dan
kerajaan / dasar) telah dibentuk dalam industri jenaka. Dinyatakan di dalam kajian mereka, asal-usul
industri humor Singapura boleh dikesan melalui permulaan industri filem tempatan. Contoh yang
diambil adalah hasil karya P.Ramlee. Dalam tahun 1950-an, P. Ramlee menghasilkan beberapa filem
pertama komedi, Bujang Lapok yang mengkritik kelemahan masyarakat Melayu (Millet, 2006).
Walaupun plot filem-filem zaman dahulu ini mungkin berbeza, ia adalah jelas bahawa pengarah
memberi tumpuan kepada urusan isu-isu semasa yang berkaitan di Singapura, bermula dari sistem
pendidikan dan isu-isu pekerja asing. Ini juga merupakan contoh bagaimana unsur-unsur humor juga
diketengahkan oleh P.Ramlee di dalam filem-filemnya.

Barnard (2005) didalam kajiannya yang bertajuk “ Sedih sampai buta: Blindness, modernity and
tradition in Malay films of the 1950s and 1960s”, mendalami mengenai tema buta yang menjadi
metafora dalam beberapa buah filem pada zaman itu yang mana ia juga menangani isu kemodenan
dan tradisi, dan ketegangan antara bandar dan luar bandar. Dalam filem-filem yang dihasilkan pada
awal 1950-an berlaku di kalangan mereka yang berada di kampung. Contoh filem arahan P.Ramlee
yang mengetengahkan tema buta ini adalah “Ibu mertuaku” (My mother-in-law) yang mana penulis-
pengarah-pelakon adalah P. Ramlee. Selain itu, Juwita (1951) juga merupakan satu lagi filem
P.Ramlee yang mengetengahkan tema buta ini di mana Ramlee, seorang pemimpin band yang berjaya
di Singapura, yang, selepas ketiadaan lima tahun, kembali ke kampung untuk melawat sahabatnya
pada zaman kanak-kanak yang telah menjadi buta selepas dipukul oleh pokok semasa ribut. Filem
Juwita mengandungi banyak tema yang sama yang muncul dalam filem kemudian yang memberi
tumpuan kepada watak-watak yang buta.

Manakala kajian yang dijalankan oleh Badrul Redzuan Abu Hassan & Faridah Ibrahim (2011) yang
diterbitkan di dalam Jurnal Komunikasi; Malaysian Journal of Communication, membincangkan
mengenai ‘sinema sikap’ dalam konteks pembangunan industri perfileman Malaysia. Kajian ini
mencadangkan ‘sinema sikap’ sebagai di antara problematik perfileman Melayu yang terpenting yang
diikat dan dibentuk wacana sosiobudaya, sejarah dan politik tanah air yang unik dan sistematik
sifatnya. Maengambil contoh filem-filem P.Ramlee yang kaya dengan kritikan sosiobudaya pada
tahun 1950-an dan 60-an antaranya Ibu Mertuaku(1962), Pendekar Bujang Lapuk(1959), Penarik
Becha (1955); dan juga kritikan sosiopolitik yang menarik juga diwacana dengan begitu baik seperti
tersirat di dalam Hang Jebat (1961) dan Sergeant Hassan (1958) dan Ali Baba dan 40 Penyamun
(1961). Filem-filem ini merupakan contoh yang mengangkat ciri-ciri sebuah ‘sinema sikap’ yang
mana mereka mengkonstruksi kritikan realisme sosiobudaya dan politik masyarakat
MelayuNusantara yang dihimpit kemunduran ekonomi, pendidikan dan jurang sosial. Dengan
menggunakan pendekatan analisis kritis wacana media Fairclough (1955), makalah ini mengkaji
beberapa sekuen terpilih dari filem Mukhsin (2006) yang mengangkat estetika ‘sikap sinema’
terhadap pembingkaian hubungan kekuasaan Melayu-Tionghua.

Menurut kajian yang dijalankan oleh Badrul Redzuan Abu Hassan (2012) yang diterbitkan di dalam
jurnal “Asian Social Science’, salah satu karya yang paling berkesan dihasilkan adalah melalui Hatta
Azad Khan yang menjalankan kajian mengenai kajian sinema Malaysia dalam The Malay Cinema
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(1997). Beliau mengkaji dan menilai kepercayaan Khan yang membuat perkaitan anatara realism
sosial sebagai tafsiran falsafah yang didorong ideologi sinema. Khan berpendapat bahawa sinema
Malaysia yang ideal perlulah dirangka bersandarkan pertindihan sejarah, politik dan budaya dan
beliau menyatakan kekaguman beliau terhadap filem-filem seperti P.ramlee seperti Antara Dua
Darjat (1960) dan Hang Jebat yang mana menurut beliau pembikin filem seperti P.Ramlee cuba
menggambarkan kebenaran yang sebenar mengenai isu-isu sosial dalam dimensi yang lebih besar.

Mazlan Nordin (2008) pula menyatakan bahawa pada tahun 1950-an -1960-an lebih 250 filem
Melayu terbit di Singapura. Bintang utama adalah P.Ramlee dan beliau dilihat sebagai wira paling
berbakat kerana meningkatkan mutu filem Melayu itu iaitu bukan hanya filem hiburan tetapi juga
berupa komentar mengenai masyarakat Melayu dan arah kemodenan mereka. Filem penarik Becha
(1955) merupakan contoh di mana pelbagai usaha P.Ramlee untuk mengajukan komentar sosial
selaras dengan aliran sastera.

Selain daripada membincangkan mengenai keagungan karya P.Ramlee dan bagaimana contoh niali-
nilai murni dan estetika daripada filem-filemnya diambil dan dirujuk daripada pelbagai ilmuwan,
tinjauan sastera ini juga akan membincangkan serba sedikit bagaimana kajian-kajian lepas mengenai
perspektif antara generasi terhadap filem-filem zaman sekarang. Merujuk kepada kajian yang
dijalankan oleh Macdonald (2011), yang diterbitkan di dalam European Journal of Cultural Studies.
Makalah ini meneliti perwakilan kenangan umat Islam British yang berasal dari Asia Selatan dalam
dokumentari televisyen dan filem British. Dokumentari memberi penekanan yang lebih kepada aspek
hubungan pembentukan identiti, menekankan pautan antara generasi dan interaksi di antara
prasangka pendatang dan pengalaman penganut Islam di Britain.

Singla (2005) dalam kajiannya yang bertajuk “South Asian Youth in Scandinavia : Inter-ethnic and
Intergenerational Relationships’ menggarapkan mengenai keadaan psikologi belia Asia Selatan di
Scandinavia, terutamanya di Denmark dan di Norway, melalui hubungan antara etnik dan antara
generasi belia. Belia Asia Selatan telah menjadi sebahagian daripada masyarakat penerima bersama-
sama yang membangunkan identiti ‘diaspora’ yang kompleks melalui strategi seperti membentuk
hubungan merentasi sempadan etnik, organisasi belia dan penggunaan media.

Manakala kajian yang dijalankan Juluri (2002) yang menjalankan kajian mengenai Muzik TV (MTV
) di India yang sering dikaitkan dengan kebimbangan mengenai penyeragaman budaya global dan
penyebaran budaya belia yang dikaitkan dengan suka memberontak. Atas dasar kajian penerimaan
televisyen muzik di India, artikel ini mengulas bahawa penonton membina rasa identiti generasi,
negara, dan global dalam cara yang memerlukan pemahaman yang lebih mendalam mengenai
imperialisme budaya dan sambutan penonton. Hasil kajian ini mendapati bahawa budaya belia yang
muncul di India tidak kelihatan berkonfrontasi dari segi generasi atau kebangsaan dan tidak begitu
banyak kes atau masalah yang melibatkan penonton belia seperti yang dijangkakan oleh pengkaji.

4.0 Teori

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Teori yang digunakan di dalam kajian ini adalah teori resepsi atau juga dikenali sebagai analisis
resepsi. Teori resepsi ini diperkenalkan oleh Stuart Hall pada tahun 1973 dan kemudian dibukukan
pada tahun 1980. Dalam memperjelaskan pandangan beliau mengenai mengenai kajian audien ini
yang dikenali sebagai analisis resepsi ini beliau menekankan bagaimana audien mampu dan boleh
membuat andaian dan penyesuaian terhadap bentuk kandungan daripada teks yang digunakan. Hall
juga mencadangkan satu cara media memahami teks ialah dengan memahami bagaimana teks ini
dibaca dan difahami oleh penonton. Pendekatan yang digunakan adalah dengan memberi penekanan
kepada konteks sosial dan politik di mana kandungan itu dibuat (encoding) dan andaian kandungan
media (decoding).Hall menyatakan bahawa kandungan media boleh disamakan dengan teks. Beliau
menyatakan bahawa teks boleh dibaca dengan beberapa cara (Baran & Davis, 2012).

Pembacaan dominan atau dominant reading adalah merujuk kepada bagaimana penerbit atau
pembuat mesej mahukan apabila mencipta mesej. Ia bermaksud penerbit mahukan penonton atau
pembaca teks itu memahami sebagaimana mereka mahu penonton memahaminya. Tambahan kepada
pembacaan dominan, ianya tidak mustahil untuk ahli penonton untuk membuat rundingan makna
atau negotiated reading yang mana penonton mungkin tidak bersetuju dengan penerbit atau pencipta
mesej atau menyalahtafsirkan beberapa aspek mesej dan datang dengan makna alternatif atau
rundingan yang berbeza atau berubah-ubah dari pembacaan. Dalam sesetengah kes, penonton atau
audien mungkin membangunkan atau membuat tafsiran atau interpretasi bertentangan kepada
pembacaan dominan. Dalam hal itu, mereka berkata untuk melibatkan diri dalam oppositional
reading.(Baran & Davis, 2012).

Teori ini bersesuaian digunakan di dalam kajian ini sebagai “theoretical framework” yang
mengaitkan kepercayaan seseorang itu terhadap mesej yang dipaparkan sebagai realiti kehidupan. Ini
terungkap dalam filem-filem P. Ramlee dari segi nilai-nilai yang dinyatakan terdahulu. Nilai-nilai
yang ditekankan di sini adalah seperti nilai-nilai sejarah, pengawasan sosial, pendidikan, norma dan
adat budaya serta humor yang dipaparkan. Kekerapan nilai-nilai yang dipaparkan itu membuatkan
seseorang itu lebih yakin akan erti kehidupan sebenar.

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Baran S.J & Davis.D.K.2012. Mass Communication theory; foundations, ferment and future.
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Krueger, R. A., Casey, M. A. (2000). Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research,3rd
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Lajoubert M.Z..2010. Karya Sastera Melayu Moden yang Berilhamkan Karya Sastera Melayu Lama.
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dan Pustaka.
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Reinard, J.C. 2001. Introduction to communication research. Ed.Ke-3. Boston: McGraw Hill.
Rubin, A., Babbie, E. (2011). Research Methods for Social Work., Ed.Ke-7. Linda Schreiber.
Singla. R. 2005. South Asian Youth in Scandinavia : Inter-ethnic and Intergenerational
Relationships Psychology Developing Societies 2005 17: 215
Severin W.J & Tankard J.W. 2001. Communication Theories; Origins, Methods and Uses in
the Mass Media. Ed-5. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied 2005. Film as Social History- P.Ramlee’s “Seniman Bujang
Lapok” and Malays in Singapore (1950s-60s). The Heritage Journal, Vol.2, no.1
Wimmer, R. D., & Dominick, J. R. 2006. Mass Media Research: An Introduction. USA:
Wadsworth Publishing.
Volz. Y, Lee.F, Xiao. G and Liu. X. 2010. Critical Events and Reception of foreign culture:
An Examination of Cultural Discount of Foreign-Language Films in the US before
and after 9/1. The International Communication Gazette, 1748-0485; Vol. 72(2): 131–149;
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Differences in Adolescents’ Perceptions and Understanding of Mythic Themes in Film
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PRamlee_banyak_dicedok_dari_luar&sec=mstar_beritaMstar.com.my (18/5/2012)
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P.Ramlee. http.//www.dj-wiramanja.blogspot.com (18/5/2012)
(http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/youth/ (20/5/2012)
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(24/5/2012)

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IMPLIKATUR DARI ASPEK KATA-KATA DAN UNGKAPAN KIASAN DALAM FILEM

PUTERI GUNUNG LEDANG

Sharipah Nur Mursalina Syed Azmy

Pusat Pengajian Bahasa Moden dan Komunikasi, Fakulti Bahasa dan Komunikasi, Universiti Sultan
Zainal Abidin, Kampus Gong Badak, 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
Email: [email protected]

ABSTRAK

Kertas ini mengkaji penggunaan implikatur atau mesej tersirat dalam dialog filem Puteri Gunung Ledang
(PGL). Analisis kandungan telah diaplikasi bagi mengenal pasti penggunaan implikatur yang dianggap sebagai
salah satu ciri perbualan dalam masyarakat Melayu. Penelitian kajian lebih tertumpu kepada implikatur yang
digunakan dalam dialog filem PGL yang dilihat dari sudut aspek kata-kata dan ungkapan kiasan. Kajian
menunjukkan pelbagai bentuk penggunaan implikatur dalam dialog pelbagai watak dalam filem PGL dari
sudut aspek kata-kata dan ungkapan kiasan, seperti kata kiasan anatomi, alam sekitar semula jadi, flora dan
fauna, perilaku, perhiasan dan makanan. Jadi, ini menunjukkan wujudnya perkaitan rapat antara masyarakat
Melayu dengan alam persekitaran kehidupan mereka sebagaimana tergambar dalam bahasa (implikatur).
Berikutan lingkaran kehidupan masyarakat Melayu yang sangat dekat dengan alam persekitaran menyebabkan
mereka menginterpretasikan elemen-elemen ini dalam penggunaan bahasa seharian mereka.

Kata kunci: Kepelbagaian kata kiasan, anatomi, alam sekitar semula jadi, flora dan fauna, perilaku, perhiasan,
makanan

1.0 Pendahuluan

Masyarakat Melayu tradisional sangat mementingkan “akal” yang bersinonim dengan “pemikiran”
atau “fikiran”. Justeru, fikiran yang bersih akan melahirkan manusia yang berakhlak mulia dan begitu
juga sebaliknya. Nabi Muhammad (Hamka 1998:134) pernah bersabda bahawa “tiap-tiap sesuatu di
dalam alam ini ada batas perjalanannya kecuali akal. Adapun manusia bertingkat-tingkat di dalam
darjat akalnya laksana darjat wangi daripada bunga-bunga”. Ini bermakna akal dapat membezakan
mana yang baik dan buruk, mengagih-agihkan sesuatu pekerjaan, menyelidiki hakikat dan kejadian
sesuatu matlamat kehidupan di dunia.

Asmah Haji Omar (1988:4) menyatakan bahawa “manusia menggunakan lambang bahasa untuk
merakamkan fikiran dan pengalamannya”. Jadi, dalam konteks bahasa kiasan, masyarakat Melayu
banyak menggunakan unsur-unsur alam sekitar dan alam sekeliling untuk menginterperitasikannya.
Pemilihan kata ini tidak dipilih sewenang-wenangnya tetapi mempunyai ketepatan makna yang
didukung sesuai dengan perkara yang disampaikan. Secara tidak langsung, ini memperlihatkan
hubungan yang erat antara masyarakat Melayu dengan alam persekitaran mereka.

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1.1 Permasalahan kajian

Pemilihan eleman daripada alam persekitaran memperlihatkan kepandaian dan kekreatifan orang
Melayu dalam menghasilkan bahasa kiasan yang dapat menyampaikan mesej dengan berkesan, indah
susunan dan tepat pilihan katanya (Mhd. Amin Arshad 2001:75). Elemen-elemen daripada alam
persekitaran akan diolah dan disusun menjadi bahan perbandingan dengan tingkah laku atau cara
hidup masyarakat Melayu. Secara tidak langsung, kata-kata yang digunakan dalam bahasa kiasan
yang berkaita rapat dengan alam sekitar dapat membantu orang memahaminya dengan lebih mudah.
Walau bagaimanapun, pemilihan eleman daripada alam persekitaran untuk penghasilan bahasa kiasan
pada masa sekarang semakin kurang digunakan. Jadi, kertas ini cuba meneliti penggunaaan eleman
daripada alam sekitar dan alam sekeliling dalam dialog PGL dari aspek kata-kata dan ungkapan
kiasan.

1.2 Objektif

Kertas ini akan membentangkan penjelasan ringkas mengenai penggunaan implikatur dalam dialog
filem PGL yang merupakan sebuah filem epik. Implikatur akan dilihat berdasarkan unsur binaan
implikatur utama dalam dialog filem PGL. Unsur binaan tersebut akan dilihat berdasarkan
penggunaan perkataan dari aspek kata-kata dan ungkapan kiasan dalam implikatur.

2.0 Metodologi kajian

Kaedah analisis kandungan digunakan dalam kajian ini untuk mengenal pasti penggunaan implikatur
dalam dialog filem PGL. Setelah dialog yang mengandungi implikatur dikenal pasti, binaan dari segi
kata-kata ungkapan akan dilihat dengan lebih mendalam. Kata-kata dan ungkapan yang digunakan
dibahagikan mengikut klasifikasi yang telah ditetapkan seperti elemen anatomi, alam sekitar semula
jadi, flora dan fauna, perilaku, perhiasan dan makanan. Penggunaan kata-kata dan ungkapan dalam
dialog filem PGL menjurus kepada perkara-perkara yang hampir dan dekat dengan manusia.

2.1 Implikatur

Implikatur ialah salah satu aspek penting dalam bidang pragmatik, iaitu satu bidang yang mengkaji
hubungan antara bahasa dan konteks. Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin menyatakan bahawa implikatur
dalam erti kata yang mudah ialah mesej yang tersirat yang cuba disampaikan dalam perbualan. Mesej
yang diperolehi merupakan mesej yang dideduksikan daripada apa-apa yang diperkatakan (Nor
Hashimah Jalaluddin 1992b: 677).

Gerald Gazdar (1979) pula menyatakan implikatur merupakan satu bentuk proposisi yang
diimplikasikan oleh ujaran bagi ayat yang berkonteks, walaupun proposisi itu bukan merupakan
sebahagian daripada atau pencakupan daripada yang sedang dikatakan.

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Carston (1988) pula berpendapat bahawa implikatur ialah mengenai mesej tersirat yang cuba
disampaikan dengan ujaran yang tersirat. Implikatur melibatkan apa-apa yang diujarkan secara
eksplisit dan juga apa-apa yang dilahirkan secara implisit.

Paul Grice, iaitu seorang ahli falsafah telah mengemukakan konsep “implikatur perbualan” dalam
makalahnya yang bertajuk Logic and Conversation pada tahun 1975. Mengikut Paul Grice (1957),
implikatur ialah satu bentuk pentafsiran makna yang melewati batas-batas makna literal sesebuah
ayat. Menurut Grice lagi, implikatur perbualan dianggap sebagai satu kenyataan yang harus diambil
kira oleh pendengar mengenai apa yang ingin atau hendak disampaikan oleh seorang penutur atau
pengirim untuk pendengar atau penerima membuat andaian. Beliau juga menyatakan bahawa
implikatur bukan merupakan infrens kepada semantik tetapi ia berlandaskan kepada dua kandungan
dalam ujaran yang disampaikan, iaitu:

i. Apa yang diperkatakan (peringkat semantik).

ii. Beberapa andaian khusus tentang sifat semula jadi prinsip perbualan bagi
interaksi dalam komunikasi seharian (peringkat pragmatik).

Secara tidak langsung, ini memperlihatkan bahawa pentafsiran makna dalam peringkat pragmatik
merupakan pentafsiran lanjutan kepada pentafsiran makna dalam peringkat semantik. Hal ini kerana
dalam peringkat semantik, makna dalam sesuatu ujaran akan ditentukan berlandaskan kepada makna
perkataan dan pengenalpastian bentuk hubungan struktur antara perkataan yang membentuk ayat
tersebut sahaja. Dalam peringkat pragmatik, makna sesuatu ujaran akan ditafsirkan melalui
penglibatan aspek-aspek bukan linguistik yang merangkumi faktor-faktor keperihalan keadaan
penggunaan, iaitu pengguna yang terlibat. Walau bagaimanapun aspek-aspek linguistik tetap
dititikberatkan dalam peringkat pragmatik. Salah satu aspek yang dapat dilihat dalam bidang
pragmatik ialah implikatur. Implikatur merupakan aspek yang melihat unsur tersirat dalam perbualan
seseorang penutur atau lebih.

2.2 Filem Puteri Gunung Ledang

Filem PGL merupakan sebuah filem epik berdasarkan cerita PGL yang terdapat dalam Sejarah
Melayu dan Hikayat Hang Tuah (Asmah Haji Omar, 2008a: 241). PGL dipilih berikutan banyak
kejayaan yang telah diperoleh. Pada peringkat antarabangsa, filem ini telah mencapai kedudukan ke-
49 dalam senarai tapisan Kategori Filem Asing Terbaik di Anugerah Akademi Oscar pada tahun
2004.

Pada peringkat kebangsaan pula, filem PGL turut dicalonkan dalam Festival Filem Malaysia ke-18
pada tahun 2005 dan telah memenangi beberapa anugerah seperti anugerah Pengarah Terbaik,
Anugerah Lakon Layar Terbaik, Anugerah Skor Muzik Terbaik, Anugerah Penataan Seni Terbaik
dan Anugerah Khas Juri bagi “Filem inovatif dan berinspirasi”. Pelakon utama filem ini, iaitu Tiara
Jacqualina juga turut memenangi Pelakon Wanita Terbaik dalam Festival Filem Asia Pasifik ke-50
di Kuala Lumpur pada tahun 2005. Ekoran daripada kejayaan yang dicapai, filem PGL telah
diadaptasi dalam bentuk teater muzikal di Istana Budaya pada tahun 2006 dan 2009. Pencapaian ini
menunjukkan tahap penerimaan terhadap filem PGL sangat tinggi dalam bidang perfileman.
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Sumber data bagi kajian ini adalah dialog pelbagai watak dalam filem PGL terbitan Enfiniti
Productions Sdn. Bhd pada tahun 2004. Filem ini memakan masa selama dua jam setengah.
Sungguhpun demikian, tumpuan diberikan kepada dialog yang mengandungi implikatur.

Filem PGL mengisahkan tentang percintaan puteri Majapahit dengan Hang Tuah. Versi filem ini
memaparkan seorang puteri Majapahit, iaitu Gusti Putri Raden Ajeng Retno Dumilah yang merajuk
dan membawa diri ke Gunung Ledang. Pemergiannya ke Gunung Ledang bertujuan mencari Hang
Tuah, iaitu kekasih hatinya. Pada ketika itu Empayar Majapahit diserang Demak. Bagi mengelakkan
peperangan ini bertambah buruk, raja Majapahit meminta pertolongan dari Sultan Melaka dengan
menjadikan Gusti Putri Raden Ajeng Retno Dumilah sebagai suri Sultan Melaka. Sehubungan dengan
itu, rombongan peminangan yang diketuai oleh Dato’ Laksamana Hang Tuah diutuskan. Ketaatan
Hang Tuah kepada Sultan Melaka menyebabkan Hang Tuah terpaksa mengorbankan cintanya kepada
puteri Majapahit.

3.0 Bahasa kiasan

Kiasan atau dalam bahasa Inggeris dipanggil figuratif ialah kata atau frasa yang digunakan sebagai
kiasan untuk menimbulkan kesan bagi sesuatu penyataan atau pemerian (Kamus Linguistik 1997: 31)

Istilah figuratif berasal daripada istilah bahasa Inggeris, iaitu figurative language yang bermaksud
penyimpangan daripada segi erti atau kedudukan susun letak perkataan daripada kebiasaan
pemakaian yang sudah umum. Tujuannya untuk menimbulkan erti atau kesan yang istimewa. Bentuk
figuratif ini merangkumi gaya retorik, gaya kiasan, ungkapan, peribahasa, perumpamaan, sindiran
dan seumpamaannya. Bentuk-bentuk ungkapan ini dianggap sebagai menyimpang daripada
pengucapan yang lazim (Keris Mas 1988: 153).

Hashim Awang (1987: 9) pula berpendapat bahasa kiasan ialah bahasa imaginatif yang membawa
maksud lain daripada apa yang ditulis. Bahasa kiasan ini timbul apabila seseorang
menghubungkaitkan fikirannya dengan sesuatu yang lain. Perkaitan hubungan berlaku melalui
persamaan pengalaman, citarasa, pertentangan dengan sesuatu atau bersamaan dengan sesuatu hal.

Bahasa figuratif mempunyai pelbagai makna. Peluasan makna secara figuratif seperti itu terjadi
melalui proses pengambilan salah satu atau beberapa unsur daripada makna sesuatu perkataan dan
kemudian digunakan terhadap benda-benda lain yang pada asalnya tidak terletak dalam bidang makna
perkataan yang asal itu. Unsur makna yang diambil itu mungkin terdiri daripada rupa bentuk, sifat
psikologinya, hubung jaraknya, bahagian anggotanya atau persamaan fungsinya. Makna-makna itu
dibina berdasarkan beberapa persamaan yang terdapat antara makna perkataan yang asal dengan
benda-benda lain yang dikaitkan dan benda-benda itu mempunyai persamaan yang dapat
dibandingkan (Ainon Muhammad 1985: 65).

Zainal Abidin Ahmad (1965: 190) berpendapat bahawa bahasa kiasan ialah bahasa yang
memperkatakan sesuatu perkara dengan mengiaskannya kepada perkara lain sama ada dengan

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menyebut perbandingan antaranya atau dengan tiada menyebut perbandingan lagi. Tujuannya adalah
untuk menjelaskan sesuatu yang dikatakan atau diceritakan dan menguatkan maknanya.

Justeru, kiasan ialah kata-kata yang mempunyai makna tersirat di sebalik penggunaan perkataan lain.
Kiasan selalunya digunakan untuk menggambarkan sesuatu perkara dengan perbandingan kepada
perkara atau benda lain yang disampaikan secara halus atau secara tidak langsung. Bahasa kiasan
atau figuratif diterbitkan oleh masyarakat Melayu berdasarkan sifat-sifat atau ciri-ciri yang dianggap
paling menonjol pada sesuatu benda. Unsur-unsur ini selalunya dikutip daripada unsur yang paling
dekat atau kerap dilihat dalam kehidupan mereka. Hasil kajian mendapati terdapat pelbagai jenis
perkataan dan ungkapan kiasan yang membentuk implikatur dalam dialog filem PGL. Kata-kata dan
ungkapan kiasan yang digunakan sebagai implikatur dalam dialog filem PGL ialah kata kiasan
anatomi, alam sekitar semula jadi, flora dan fauna, perilaku, perhiasan dan makanan.

3.1 Kata-kata dan ungkapan kiasan anatomi

Anatomi ialah kajian atau pengetahuan mengenai binaan tubuh hidupan seperti manusia, binatang
atau tumbuh-tumbuhan (Kamus Dewan 2005: 52). Anatomi manusia terdiri daripada bahagian-
bahagian yang mempunyai huraian dan fungsi masing-masing berdasarkan sifat-sifat manusia yang
dikaitkan dengan bahagian badan tertentu (Asmah Haji Omar, 2008b: 160). Kata-kata kiasan anatomi
merupakan kata-kata yang berunsurkan bahagian-bahagian badan manusia yang dikaitkan dengan
sifat-sifat manusia dalam bentuk kiasan. Hasil kajian mendapati terdapat beberapa kiasan
berunsurkan anatomi yang digunakan sebagai implikatur berdasarkan dialog filem PGL, iaitu lidah,
hati atau kalbu, jemala (kepala), muka, hempedu, rambut, jantung, dada, tangan, kaki, air
mata, jasad dan darah.

Penggunaan kata kiasan hati atau kalbu dan lidah mempunyai kekerapan yang tinggi berbanding
dengan unsur anatomi yang lain. Kiasan anatomi yang digunakan dalam implikatur memperlihatkan
kaitan antara sifat-sifat manusia dengan bahagian-bahagian badan yang tertentu. Misalnya perkataan
hati digunakan untuk menggambarkan perasaan, emosi serta sikap seseorang yang digambarkan
dalam simpulan bahasa kata hati dan harapan hati. Bagi menunjukkan kebahagiaan dan
kegembiraan digambarkan dalam simpulan bahasa besar hati, Gambaran kesedihan pula dikiaskan
dalam perumpamaan bagai racun menusuk kalbu dan maksud dalam rangkap pantun, iaitu yang
tinggal hati tak elok, yang pergi hati tak senang.

Hal ini kerana hati dalam pandangan dunia orang-orang Melayu merupakan satu organ yang penting
sebagai lambang keutuhan struktur tubuh. Ini bererti jika pusat pentadbiran tidak baik, maka tubuh
juga tidak baik dan sebaliknya. Jadi, hati berperanan besar untuk menentukan perwatakan dan
perlakuan seseorang individu. World view orang Melayu pada hati ada hubungannya dengan agama
Islam yang menganggap hati sebagai nadi keseluruhan kehidupan manusia. Oleh itu, penerimaan dan
penolakan sebarang maklumat atau fenomena dilakukan oleh hati (Asmah Haji Omar, 1996).

Penggunaan perkataan muka pula ialah kiasan untuk maruah seseorang yang digambarkan dalam
ungkapan seperti menconteng arang di muka sendiri, iaitu seseorang individu yang mengambil
tindakan tanpa berfikir secara rasional akan memalukan diri sendiri dan mencemarkan maruahnya.
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Muka merupakan bahagian anatomi yang kerap dilihat dan digunakan untuk mengenali seseorang.
Oleh itu, setiap individu dikenali dengan rupa paras yang tersendiri. Maka, muka membawa
gambaran sikap atau maruah yang bersesuaian dengan fungsi muka sebagai bahagian untuk dikenali
atau mengenali.

Perkataan lidah digunakan untuk menggambarkan percakapan seseorang seperti simpulan bahasa
lidah bercabang dan hiperbola terlalu tajam dan biadap lidahmu. Ini menggambarkan sikap
seseorang dalam perbualan mereka seperti tidak menepati janji dan tidak berbudi bahasa ketika
berkomunikasi. Umum telah diketahui bahawa penggunaan lidah adalah sebagai alat untuk bercakap
(Kamus Dewan 2005: 937). Tanpa lidah, seseorang itu tidak dapat berbicara atau bertutur dengan
sempurna.
Selain itu, telah diketahui umum bahawa penggunaan tangan dan kaki dalam kehidupan manusia
untuk melakukan sesuatu atau perbuatan. Oleh itu, penggunaan perkataan tangan dan kaki dalam
hiperbola tangan terikat di langit, kaki terpasak di bumi menggambarkan ketidakupayaan Hang
Tuah untuk melakukan sesuatu. Walau bagaimanapun, kebanyakan penggunaan perkataan tangan
dan kaki sebagai kiasan dalam metafora menggambarkan jenis aktiviti yang negatif seperti panjang
tangan, kaki judi dan kaki botol (Asmah Haji Omar 2008a: 161).

Malahan, gambaran kesedihan pula dianalogikan dalam ungkapan berendam air mata. Tambahan
pulu, wujudnya keserasian air mata dengan kesedihan dalam kehiduapan manusia melahirkan satu
interpretasi yang sangat berkesan kerana setiap kesedihan ditunjukkan dengan menitiskan air mata.

Gambaran kesukaran dan perasaan cinta yang tiada tandingannya dianalogikan dengan kata jasad.
Jasad ialah tubuh atau badan manusia yang wujud (Kamus Dewan 2005: 612). Kesukaran yang
digambarkan dianalogikan dengan ungkapan jasad tidak setanding mimpi. Gambaran kesukaran
dilihat dari segi kekuatan jasad untuk mengharungi sesuatu. Jika jasad tidak mempunyai kekuatan
untuk mengharunginya menyebabkan kesukaran yang dirasainya. Ini kerana kekuatan untuk jasad
mengharungi sesuatu mempunyai tahap keupayaan yang tersendiri dan dikaitkan dengan ungkapan
berdiri sama tinggi, duduk sama rendah, iaitu darjat atau pangkat dalam kehidupan.

Oleh itu, jika tidak mempunyai kekuatan yang secukupnya, jangan berangan-angan untuk memiliki
sesuatu yang tidak sepadan. Hal ini dikaitkan dengan kesukaran Hang Tuah untuk bersama Gusti
Putri kerana wujudnya perbezaan darjatr, manakala gambaran perasaan cinta yang tiada tandingannya
dianalogikan dalam ungkapan melepasi jasad ini. Betapa tingginya nilai cinta yang dimiliki
digambarkan dengan kata jasad, iaitu satu bahagian badan yang sangat penting kepada seseorang
manusia.

Walaupun begitu, unsur fisiologi yang diwakili oleh darah, banyak digunakan dalam menghasilkan
implikatur terutamannya metafora (Asmah Haji Omar 2008a: 160). Penggunaan perkataan darah
sebagai unsur implikatur dalam dialog filem PGL, kebanyakannya hadir dalam implikatur bentuk
metafora dan hiperbola.

Darah sangat penting kepada seluruh kehidupan kerana darah berfungsi untuk mengedarkan oksigen
ke seluruh badan bagi sistem pernafasan. Begitu besar fungsi darah untuk memberi hidupan terus
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bernafas bagi meneruskan kehidupan mereka, terutamanya manusia. Selain itu, darah juga berfungsi
untuk mempertahankan badan dari jangkitan kuman. Hal ini menyebabkan darah dianggap sebagai
simbol pertalian keluarga atau pertalian darah, iaitu mempunyai kaitan melalui leluhur dan bukannya
melalui ikatan perkahwinan. Perkataan darah yang digunakan sebagai unsur implikatur dalam dialog
filem PGL menggambarkan ikatan kekeluargaan yang wujud antara ayah dengan anak dalam
ungkapan darah seguntang tetap mengalir.

Selain itu, perkataan darah juga banyak dijadikan kiasan untuk menggambarkan darjat dan benda
konkrit yang wujud di dunia. Syarat peminangan dari Puteri Gunung Ledang, banyak menggunakan
kata kiasan darah seperti darah putih, darah kuning, darah merah, darah kuning dan darah seguntang
tetap mengalir. Darah yang mengalir dalam tubuh manusia menunjukkan betapa dekatnya unsur ini
dalam kehidupan mereka, menyebabkan perkataan darah digunakan untuk menggambarkan hidupan
lain yang wujud di dunia. Manakala benda konkrit yang dianalogikan sebagai darah ialah jambatan,
iaitu penghubung antara dua tempat. Kesungguhan untuk menentang pihak lawan juga
dianalogikan dengan darah dalam ungkapan titik darah penghabiasan kerana darah dikaitkan
dengan nyawa seseorang.

3.2 Kata-kata dan ungkapan kiasan alam sekitar semula jadi

Alam merujuk kepada dunia, buana, jagat, johan, rat, bumi, maya, khalikah, iaitu lawan akhirat
(Kamus Besar Bahasa Melayu Utusan 1995: 36). Alam sekitar semula jadi terdiri daripada perkara-
perkara yang berkaitan dengan persekitaran semula jadi sama ada berbentuk fizikal seperti suhu,
iklim, kelembapan, angin, keamatan matahari, badan air (kedalaman, air hujan, arus sungai, ombak,
laut, tasik dan sepertinya) dan topografi; atau berbentuk kimia seperti gas-gas, nutrien, keasidan,
garam mineral dan kemasinan (Mohd Noor Ramlan 1999). Pengalaman yang dialami oleh
masyarakat Melayu secara berterusan dengan alam persekitaran membuatkan wujudnya satu ikatan
dan kemesraan di antara mereka. Secara tidak langsung, lahirnya pemikiran Melayu yang
berunsurkan alam sekitar semula jadi seperti bulan, bumi, cahaya mentari, tanah, udara, laut, gunung,
angin, samudera, semesta, air, batu, maya, puncak Ledang (gunung Ledang), gerhana, senja dan
langit.

Implikatur yang menggunakan kata-kata bersumberkan alam semula jadi mencerminkan pemikiran
masyarakat Melayu berasaskan alam persekitaran mereka. Perkataan gunung hadir dengan kekerapan
tertinggi sebagai unsur implikatur dalam dialog filem PGL. Perkataan gunung digambarkan sebagai
harapan yang sangat diimpikan untuk dicapai walaupun menghadapi pelbagai rintangan seperti
contoh harapan yang menggunung tinggi dan mengharapkan cinta yang menggunung. Selain
itu, perkataan gunung juga menggambarkan cabaran atau dugaan dalam kehidupan seperti yang
dianalogikan dalam ungkapan merentas samudera membelah gunung dan demi cinta, tiada
gunung terlalu tinggi.

Gambaran kebebasan, kebersamaan, kelegaan dan perkhabaran maklumat pula dapat dianalogikan
dengan perkataan angin atau udara. Sifat dan tabii angin atau udara yang bebas bergerak ke mana-
mana sahaja tanpa ada halangan dapat digambarkan dalam ungkapan kuat hembusan angin. Hal ini
menggambarkan perkhabaran maklumat atau berita yang dianalogikan dengan ungkapan kuat
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hembusan angin yang berkaitan dengan cakap-cakap orang tentang sesuatu perkara. Keadaan ini
mengambarkan kebebasan manusia dalam bercakap atau menyampaikan sesuatu dalam masyarakat.
Manakala gambaran kelegaan dan kerinduan pula dianalogikan dengan ungkapan kini kurasa
deruan angin menusuk dada yang berkaitan dengan ketenteraman hati apabila dapat bertemu
dengan kekasih yang disayangi. Ungkapan bernafas pada udara yang sama pula dapat
menggambarkan kebersamaan dalam kehidupan. Udara itu menggambarkan kedudukan pada satu
tempat yang sama.

Faktor persekitaran yang dialami oleh masyarakat Melayu dengan laut seperti mendapat kemudahan
sumber makanan dan sistem perhubungan utama zaman lampau mendorong penggunaan lambang
laut dalam impliktur. Perkataan laut menggambarkan cabaran dalam kehidupan yang dianalogikan
dalam ungkapan jangan berangan meniti laut. Lautan merangkumi 2/3 daripada bumi sementara
daratan pula hanya 1/3 daripada bumi. Sifat dan tabii laut yang sentiasa berombak dan bergelora
membuatkan cabaran yang besar akan dihadapi sekiranya ingin merentasi lautan.

Gambaran kelemahan dan usaha yang sia-sia dapat diinterpretasikan dengan kata kiasan air.
Kelemahan seseorang untuk melawan sesuatu dapat dilihat dalam ungkapan jangan berangan
meniti laut, takut air menjadi api. Air merupakan unsur cecair yang boleh berupa pelbagai bentuk
mengikut bentuk bekas menyebabkan air tidak mempunyai bentuk yang tersendiri.
Penginterpretasian ini digunakan pada sikap manusia yang tidak kuat untuk menghadapi sesuatu jika
berlaku kesukaran dan sentiasa berubah. Selain itu, gambaran usaha yang sia-sia dianalogikan dalam
ungkapan air setempayan di ceduk segayong, dapatkah siram api di gunung, iaitu kuasa yang
ada pada golongan bawahan tidak akan dapat menandingi golongan atasan.

Sementelahan itu, perkataan api juga digunakan sebagai kata dalam ungkapan implikatur yang sama.
Api bersifat panas dan biasanya dikaitkan dengan kiasan untuk perasaan seperti marah, suka, rindu
dan cinta. Walau bagaimanapun, sifat kesukaran dan kekuasaan dianalogikan dengan perkataan api
seperti dalam ungkapan takut air menjadi api dan api di gunung. Sesuai dengan sifat api yang
panas dan sukar dikawal serta dihapuskan apabila terbakar dapat diinterpretasikan sebagai sifat
manusia yang menghadapi kesukaran dalam menghadapi sesuatu. Sifat kekuasaan yang ada pada
ketua juga dapat dianalogikan dengan kata kiasan api kerana setiap kehendak dan permintaan ketua
sukar untuk di lawan oleh golongan bawahan serta perlu dipatuhi.

Bagi mendatangkan kesan emosi yang lebih mendalam untuk menggambarkan keagungan cinta dan
kerinduan, kata kiasan bulan dan bumi digunakan dalam ungkapan umpama rindu bulan
mengelilingi bumi. Tidak dinafikan bulan dan bumi saling memerlukan antara satu sama lain dalam
fitrah kejadian cakerawala. Bulan ialah satelit semula jadi yang bergerak mengelilingi bumi dan akan
memberi cahaya malam kepada bumi yang dibalikkan dari matahari. Keperluan antara satu sama lain
menunjukkan betapa agungnya sesuatu perhubungan yang terbina. Lambang bulan dan bumi
merupakan simbol bagi pasangan kekasih, iaitu lelaki dan perempuan yang saling memerlukan.

Sikap kesetiaan dalam sesuatu perhubungan pula dapat dianalogikan dengan ungkapan menginjak
pada tanah yang sama. Kesetiaan antara kekasih dapat dilihat pada perkataan tanah, iaitu bahagian

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permukaan bumi yang mempunyai sempadan. Keinginan untuk hidup bersama di tempat yang
berdekatan serta bersempadan menunjukkan adanya tahap kesetiaan yang tinggi antara kekasih.

Batu merupakan benda maujud dalam alam atau kosmologi ciptaan Tuhan. Ia merupakan bahan
galian pepejal bukan logam yang bersifat tidak terbakar, tidak mudah ditempa dan tidak hancur dalam
air. Sifat ini dianalogikan dalam ungkapan biar beribu tahun air mengukir batu yang
menginterpretasikan tentang ketaatan anak buah kepada ketuanya. Sikap yang tidak mudah termakan
cakap, tidak mudah mempercayai orang luar dan tidak mudah mengikut tanpa usul periksa
menunjukkan ketaatan yang tiada batasnya kepada ketua sendiri.

Malahan, untuk mewujudkan perasaan yang sangat mendalam dan tiada tandingannya terhadap cinta,
kata kiasan maya dan puncak Ledang digunakan. Kesungguhan untuk mencintai seseorang yang tiada
tandingannya dianalogikan dalam ungkapan cinta dinda seagung mayadan cinta kanda melepasi
puncak Ledang ini, melepasi jasad ini.

Selain itu, kesedihan yang dialami oleh Tun Teja dan Gusti Putri dianalogikan dengan perkataan
gerhana. Gerhana terbahagi kepada dua, iaitu gerhana bulan dan gerhana matahari. Terjadinya
gerhana bulan apabila bulan berada bersetentangan dengan bumi dan terlindung daripada matahari.
Gerhana matahari pula belaku apabila bulan berada bersetentangan dengan bumi dan matahari
menyebabkan bayangnya terkena pada permukaan bumi. Berlakunya kejadian gerhana menyebabkan
bumi berada dalam keadaan gelap dan suram dalam jangka masa tertentu. Kegelapan yang berlaku
akan menjejaskan kehidupan seharian manusia. Sekiranya belaku kegelapan akan menyebabkan
kesedihan dalam kehidupan manusia seperti yang diinterpretasikan dalam perbualan antara Tun Teja
dengan Gusti Putri.

Begitu juga halnya dengan kata kiasan senja. Senja merupakan permulaan gelap pada waktu petang
dan biasanya langit masih terang dan biru untuk beberapa ketika setelah matahari terbenam. Suasana
ini menunjukkan berakhirnya waktu petang dan malam akan menyusul. Perkataan senja sebagai
implikatur dalam dialog filem PGL, menggambarkan usia yang semakin meningkat dalam ungkapan
menjengah senja. Peringkat umur yang semakin meningkat dari muda kepada tua yang dianalogikan
dari suasana senja yang akan beransur menjadi malam. Gambaran pergerakan peringkat dari petang
ke malam dan dari muda ke tua dianalogikan dengan kata kiasan senja.

3.3 Kata-kata dan ungkapan kiasan flora dan fauna

Flora merupakan keseluruhan tumbuh-tumbuhan yang terdapat di sesuatu daerah (Kamus Dewan
2005: 413). Fauna pula ialah seluruh binatang yang hidup di sesuatu daerah tertentu (Kamus Dewan,
2005: 208). Sejak dahulu lagi, kehidupan orang Melayu dikelilingi dengan unsur flora dan fauna.
Mereka bercucuk tanam dan menternak binatang. Tempat kediaman dan alat kelengkapan serta
sumber makanan mereka bersumberkan daripada flora dan fauna yang wujud di sekitar mereka (Nik
Safiah Karim, 2000: 19). Jadi tidak hairanlah, unsur flora dan fauna banyak digunakan untuk
melahirkan implikatur dalam dialog filem PGL. Berdasarkan data yang diperoleh, penggunaan unsur
fauna lebih banyak berbanding unsur flora sebagai implikatur dalam dialog filem PGL. Antara kata-

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kata kiasan berunsurkan flora dan dan fauna yang digunakan dalam dialog filem PGL ialah bunga
Melati, akar, kerbau, ayam, musang, burung Kedidi, Raja Wali, helang dan burung Merpati.

Wujudnya hubungan yang erat antara orang-orang Melayu dengan alam sekitar membuatkan mereka
banyak menggunakan flora dan fauna untuk menginterpretasikan sesuatu. Hal ini dipersetujui oleh
Siti Zainon Ismail (1985: 37) yang menyatakan bahawa orang-orang Melayu sejak dari awal
kehidupan mereka telah mengenali dan mendiami persekitaran rimba dan ruang terbuka di sepanjang
sungai dan persisiran pantai. Kehijauan rimba, dusun, lembah dan pantai mendekatkan mereka
kepada bentuk-bentuk alam tersediri.

Oleh kerana orang Melayu amat peka dengan unsur-unsur flora dan fauna di sekeliling mereka, maka
banyak penggunaannya menjadi latar belakang utama dalam penghasilan pantun sama ada untuk
pembayang ataupun maksud pantun. Kata-kata kiasan flora dan fauna seperti bunga Melati, akar,
helang dan Merpati digunakan dalam pembayang pantun, manakala kata kerbau pula digunakan
dalam maksudnya. Gambaran kesengsaran yang sangat bijak dianalogikan dengan macam kerbau
hidup dikasi pada maksud pantun. Kerbau merupakan binatang peliharaan yang kuat dan selalunya
dipelihara oleh para pesawah pada zaman dahulu kerana kerbau digunakan untuk membajak sawah.
Oleh itu, sifat kejantanan dan kekuatan seekor kerbau akan hilang sekiranya dikasi atau dimandulkan
yang menyebabkan kesengsaraan dalam hidup.

Gambaran kekuatan pula, digambarkan dengan burung Helang seperti ungkapan dalam pembayang
pantun, iaitu disambar helang bukan merpati. Seperti yang telah diketahui umum, burung Helang
merupakan burung pemangsa yang mempunyai kehebatan dan kekuatan yang digeruni oleh haiwan
lain. Berbeza dengan burung Merpati, iaitu sejenis burung yang jinak dan disukai manusia. Jadi, tidak
hairanlah jika sesuatu barang itu akan disambar Helang dahulu berbanding Merpati yang agak lemah
dan jinak. Perbezaan dari segi sifat ini menyebabkan burung Helang lebih dikenali dengan gambaran
kekuatan. Burung Merpati pula dikenali dengan gambaran kelemahan atau jinak seperti dalam
peribahasa jinak-jinak merpati.

Bunga Melati pula dipilih sebagai pembayang dalam pantun kerana bunga Melati merupakan bunga
yang istimewa dan dikenali oleh masyarakat Melayu kerana kecantikannya, berwarna putih dan
mempunyai jangka hayat yang lama. Kecantikannya menjadikannya sasaran kumbang, lebah, burung
dan pelbagai hidupan yang sukakan madu. Sifat dan tabii bunga Melati ini dapat dianalogikan dengan
keistimewaan ubat yang dijual oleh penjual ubat dalam filem PGL.

Sifat dan ciri flora serta fauna digunakan sebagai kiasan dalam pelbagai bentuk implikatur
berdasarkan dialog filem PGL. Penggunaannya menunjukkan adanya kaitan antara sifat flora dan
fauna dengan manusia. Gambaran yang ingin disampaikan dapat dilihat di sebalik gambaran sifat dan
tabii semula jadi unsur flora serta fauna. Sifat dan tabii ayam yang selalu mengais-ngais tanah seperti
sedang mencari makanan dianalogikan dengan ungkapan metafora pura-pura mencari ayam. Sifat
ini mengambarkan perilaku yang sengaja dilakukan walhal mempunyai niat yang lain. Walaupun
begitu, kata kiasan ayam dijadikan unsur kiasan dalam pelbagai konteks yang berbeza berdasarkan
implikatur dialog filem PGL. Penggunaannya juga menunjukkan perbezaan dari segi kekuatan yang
dibandingkan dengan kata kiasan musang.
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Gambaran kekuatan antara manusia telah digambarkan dengan kata kiasan musang yang merupakan
sejenis binatang liar dan tinggal di dalam hutan. Penginterpretasian ini telah dianalogikan dengan
ungkapan masakan ayam boleh selari musang!!. Perbezaan kekuatan yang sangat ketara dapat
dilihat antara musang dengan ayam kerana ayam merupakan sejenis unggas yang biasa diternak dan
tidak setangkas musang. Perbezaan sifat dan tabii fauna ini dijadikan gambaran kepada kehidupan
manusia dengan diperluaskan dan diperkuatkan dengan makna konotasinya.

Namun, penggunaan perkataan Raja Wali dalam ungkapan jika patah sayap Raja Wali, bertongkat
jua... adalah untuk menunjukkan kesungguhan dan kesanggupan Hang Tuah mengharungi
kesusahan. Bersesuaian dengan tabiat burung yang suka mengembara dari satu tempat ke satu tempat
dan ini melambangkan kehidupan manusia yang menghadapi duri dan ranjau sebelum menuju ke
sesuatu tempat. Manakala burung Kedidi pula melambangkan kesanggupan Gusti Putri mengetepikan
maruahnya untuk mendapatkan sesuatu. Walaupun burung Kedidi merupakan seekor burung yang
kecil dan tidak sekuat burung Helang tetapi sanggup melakukan sesuatu untuk diri sendiri yang
digambarkan dalam ungkapan sekecil burung Kedidi, mengharapkan cinta yang menggunung.
Walaupun berbadan kecil tetapi sanggup mengetepikan maruah dirinya sebagai puteri raja untuk
menerima cinta rakyat biasa.

3.4 Kata-kata dan ungkapan kiasan perilaku

Perilaku ialah tindak-tanduk atau reaksi seseorang terhadap sesuatu (rangsangan) yang
menggambarkan sikapnya (Kamus Dewan 2005: 1186). Perilaku juga dikenali dengan tingkah laku
ataupun kelakuan. Tingkah laku ialah sesuatu yang dilakukan oleh oganisma (Mahmood Nazar
Mohamed 1990: 131). Rutin kehidupan manusia adalah melakukan sesuatu yang boleh
mendatangkan keuntungan. Hubungan yang erat antara tingkah laku dengan manusia dapat dilihat
dengan jelas kerana setiap pergerakan yang dilakukan merupakan tingkah laku atau perilaku mereka
seharian dengan persekitaran. Hasilnya masyarakat menggunakan banyak unsur perilaku dalam
memanipulasikan bahasa dan lahirlah satu gubahan bahasa yang boleh membawa pelbagai makna.
Implikatur dalam dialog filem PGL, banyak menggunakan perkataan berunsurkan perilaku untuk
menggambarkan kemarahan, kerinduan, perjanjian, hidupan, kekecewaan, kekesalan, kegembiraan
dan ketaatan. Antara kata-kata kiasan berunsurkan perilaku yang digunakan ialah masuk campur,
junjung, merangkak, terbang, terikat, menurut, mengikut, menconteng dan cincang.

Perkataan junjung hadir sebanyak tiga kali untuk gambaran ketaatan. Ini kerana junjung bermaksud
mematuhi atau menurut. Perkataan junjung kasih merupakan satu ungkapan dalam bahasa Diraja.
Oleh itu, penggunaannya melibatkan golongan atasan, iaitu Sultan dengan golongan bawahan.
Penggunaan perkataan ini melambangkan betapa hormat dan taatnya orang suruhan akan perintah
rajanya.

Penginterpretasian berkenaan dengan kemarahan pula dianalogikan dengan perkataan cincang dalam
ungkapan sudah kucincang kau. Cincang biasanya dikaitkan dengan menghiris atau memotong,
iaitu menetak kecil-kecil atau halus-halus sesuatu dengan menggunakan parang ataupun golok.

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Perkataan cincang dalam dialog filem PGL menunjukkan kemarahan yang tidak dapat dibendung lagi
sehingga sanggup membunuh.

Kata kiasan terikat pula diinterpretasikan sebagai perhubungan antara Hang Tuah dengan Gusti Putri
yang tidak dapat dipisahkan seperti dalam ungkapan kita sudah saling terikat jika adat
menyucikan kaki ini kita lakukan. Perhubungan yang terikat bermakna perhubungan yang telah
tertakluk atau terikat antara kedua-dua pasangan.

Melalui unsur perilaku, gambaran mengenai hidupan juga dapat ditunjukkan dalam bahasa kiasan
terutamanya dalam dialog filem PGL. Implikatur yang digunakan dalam permintaan hantaran
perkahwinan Puteri Gunung Ledang ada menggunakan unsur perilaku untuk menggambarkan
nyamuk dan hame. Gambaran ini dianalogikan dengan ungkapan merangkak bebas untuk hame dan
terbang bebas di udara untuk nyamuk. Perlakuan atau pergerakan yang menjadi sifat tabii nyamuk
dan hame digunakan untuk menggambarkan hidupan ini dalam kiasan yang digunakan.
Perilaku manusia yang suka menurut dan mengikut, kadangkala akan mendatangkan kesan yang
negatif dalam diri berbanding kesan positif. Oleh itu, sebagai individu berakal dan cerdik seharusnya
berfikiran secara rasional sebelum mengambil sesuatu tindakan disamping menimbang baik buruk
akan perbuatan yang diambil. Perilaku ini telah dianalogikan dalam ungkapan bidalan yang
berunsurkan nasihat, iaitu kalau nak menurut biar berakal, kalau mengikut biar pintar.

Selain itu, perilaku yang suka menconteng sesuka hati, tidak mengira tempat juga akan mendatangkan
kesan yang negatif dalam kehidupan seseorang. Hal ini dianalogikan dalam ungkapan perumpamaan
seperti menconteng arang di muka sendiri. Hal ini akan mendatangkan perasaan malu apabila
seseorang itu bertindak tanpa memikirkan kesudahannya terutamanya apabila muka diconteng
dengan menggunakan arang. Arang yang hitam akan menyebabkan muka menjadi hodoh dan comot.

Manakala perkataan buta digunakan untuk menggambarkan kekesalan yang dialami atas tindakan
yang dibuatnya sendiri. Buta selalu dikaitkan dengan organ penglihatan, iaitu mata yang berfungsi
untuk melihat. Tanpa mata, manusia tidak dapat melihat terutamanya apabila berlaku kehilangan
penglihatan (buta). Buta yang dianalogikan dalam dialog filem PGL menggambarkan sikap atau
pebuatan yang dilakukan tanpa disedari akan kesudahannya.Tanpa disedari keputusan yang dibuat
mengundang luka pada kekasihnya dan menyebabkan kekesalan dalam hidup. Oleh itu, sikap yang
tidak menyedari akan perbuatan yang dilakukan dianalogikan dengan kata kiasan buta.

Gambaran kesakitan pula dapat diungkapkan dengan perkataan racun dalam ungkapan bagai racun
menusuk kalbu. Racun ialah sejenis bahan yang boleh menyebabkan kecederaan, kesakitan,
kemudaratan atau kematian kepada hidupan kerana racun merupakan satu bahan yang berbisa. Sifat
dan tabii racun yang menunjukkan kemudaratan dalam kehidupan telah diinterpretasikan dalam
implikatur bagi menggambarkan kesakitan yang dirasai dalam memilih sesuatu yang disayangi.

Ungkapan laksana insan haus dahaga, bertemu air satu telaga pula menggambarkan
kegembiraan Hang Tuah apabila dapat bertemu kekasih hatinya. Perilaku kegembiraan apabila dapat
memiliki apa yang dihajatkan diinterpretasikan dengan ungkapan peribahasa yang sungguh berkesan.
Gabungan perkataan haus dahaga dengan telaga menunjukkan betapa gembiranya si penutur. Begitu
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juga halnya dengan ungkapan bagai racun menusuk kalbu yang menggambarkan kekecewaan
kerana tidak dapat memiliki apa yang dihajatkan.

3.5 Kata-kata dan ungkapan kiasan perhiasan

Perhiasan merupakan sesuatu yang digunakan untuk berhias atau menghias (Kamus Dewan 2005:
530). Perhiasan selalunya dikaitkan dengan wanita kerana wanita mempunyai sifat semula jadi yang
sukakan keindahan dan kecantikan. Jadi, keharusan memakai perhiasan dipandang sebagai satu
rahmat dan nikmat daripada Allah S.W.T kepada hamba-hambanya (Jawiah Dakir 2000: 98). Walau
bagaimanapun, dalam bidang penginterpretasian, unsur perhiasan seperti mutiara dan manik
membawa pengertian yang berbeza dari makna harfiahnya. Hal ini kerana penggunaan lambang
mutiara dan manik dalam implikatur boleh membawa pelbagai makna konotasi.

Kata kiasan mutiara dan manik digunakan sebagai implikatur dalam dialog filem PGL untuk
menggambarkan perbandingan yang ketara antara kerabat Diraja dengan rakyat biasa. Mutiara adalah
objek bulat dan keras yang dihasilkan oleh haiwan yang dikenali sebagai tiram. Penghasilan mutiara
mengambil masa yang lama dan nilainya amat tinggi berbanding dengan manik yang hanya diperbuat
daripada kaca. Sifat ini dianalogikan dalam kehidupan manusia yang mempunyai pelbagai status dan
keturunan. Hal ini digambarkan dengan mutiara yang lebih berharga dan tinggi nilainya yang
menginterpretasikan kedudukan dan kekuatan serta kuasa yang dimiliki oleh golongan atasan
berbanding golongan bawahan. Golongan bawahan dianalogikan dengan manik yang tidak setaraf
mutiara kerana nilai dan harganya tidak setinggi mutiara.

3.6 Kata-kata dan ungkapan kiasan makanan

Makanan merujuk kepada apa sahaja yang boleh dimakan seperti roti, nasi dan lain-lain (Kamus
Dewan 2005: 981). Hubungan antara makanan dengan kehidupan masyarakat Melayu amat rapat
sejak dahulu lagi sehinggalah kini. Kerap kali masyarakat Melayu mengadakan jamuan makan
ataupun kenduri untuk meraikan sesuatu yang baik atau buruk seperti berlakunya kematian. Selain
dijadikan juadah untuk jamuan, makanan juga dijadikan sebagai hantaran dalam peminangan ataupun
perkahwinan dalam tradisi masyarakat Melayu. Oleh itu, makanan merupakan unsur yang sangat
penting dalam kehidupan masyarakat Melayu dan seluruh kehidupan di dunia kerana makanan
diperlukan untuk meneruskan kehidupan. Kepentingannya menyebabkan masyarakat Melayu
memilih unsur makanan untuk dianalogikan dengan kehidupan masyarakat melalui implikatur atau
bahasa kiasan.

Sejak dahulu lagi, masyarakat Melayu tradisional dikenali dengan masyarakat pertanian terutamanya
dalam aktiviti bersawah, iaitu menanam padi. Padi merupakan satu daripada tanaman bijirin yang
dihasilkan oleh masyarakat Melayu. Padi yang diproses dan dibuang kulitnya dikenali sebagai beras.
Beras yang dimasak pula dikenali sebagai nasi yang merupakan makanan ruji bagi masyarakat
Melayu dari dahulu sehingga kini. Setiap hari, masyarakat Melayu akan menjadikan nasi sebagai
menu utama dalam menu harian berserta dengan lauk-pauk yang enak dan kuah yang berasaskan
daripada gulai. Sudah menjadi kebiasaan masyarakat Melayu menjamu selera sebegitu pada setiap
hari.
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Hasil dari ikatan yang erat antara nasi dan kuah, menyebabkan kata kiasan nasi dan kuah dianalogikan
dengan kehidupan masyarakat yang mempunyai asal kejadian mereka yang tersendiri dan seterusnya
diwarisi oleh keturunan masing-masing. Jelas menunjukkan paduan yang sangat sesuai antara nasi
dengan kuah kerana rutin harian masyarakat Melayu dalam menjamu selara, semestinya dijamu
dengan nasi dan kuah. Begitu juga yang ingin dianalogikan dalam perumpamaan tak ke mana
tumpahnya kuah kalau tak ke nasi.

Selain itu, tepung juga sangat dekat dalam kehidupan masyarakat Melayu dahulu. Hal ini kerana
kebanyakan makanan tradisional diperbuat daripada tepung. Contohnya seperti lepat pisang, tepung
ubi dan bermacam-macam jenis kuih-muih yang lain. Hubungan yang erat ini menyebabkan
masyarakat Melayu memanipulasikan bahasa dengan menggunakan perkataan tepung dalam
peribahasa rambut yang ditarik, tepung tidak berselerak.

Kehalusan tepung yang mudah diterbangkan angin dan diselerakkan kerana ringan menyebabkan
tepung perlu digunakan dengan cermat serta berhati-hati. Hal ini diinterpretasikan dengan kehidupan
manusia yang perlu bijak dalam menangani masalah supaya masalah dapat diselesaikan tanpa
mendatangkan sebarang musibah. Kecenderungan masyarakat Melayu menginterpretasikan kata
kiasan dalam pelbagai makna konotasinya menunjukkan betapa bijaknya mereka berfikir untuk
melahirkan satu idea yang berbeza dan pelbagai.

Sehubungan dengan itu, kata kiasan minyak juga digunakan sebagai implikatur dalam dialog filem
PGL. Minyak merupakan bahan penting yang digunakan untuk memasak. Selain itu, sifat minyak
yang tidak boleh bercampur dengan air memerlukan penjagaan yang rapi supaya minyak tersebut
dapat digunakan dalam keadaan yang baik. Jadi, penjagaan yang rapi diperlukan untuk mendapatkan
sesuatu yang baik. Sesuai dengan itu, kata kiasan minyak digunakan sebagai kiasan kepada anak.
Oleh itu, seseorang anak yang disayangi perlulah ditatang bagai minyak yang penuh. Hal ini
dianalogikan dalam kehidupan manusia yang dikaitkan dengan anak yang disayangi dalam keluarga.
Jadi, setiap ahli keluarga akan menjaga dan memastikan anak yang disayangi itu terjaga dengan baik.

4.0 Penemuan

Hasil kajian mendapati pelbagai jenis kategori kata-kata dan ungkapan kiasan yang digunakan
sebagai implikatur dalam PGL. Kata-kata dan ungkapan kiasan tersebut berunsurkan anatomi, alam
sekitar semuala jadi, flora dan fauna, perilaku, perhiasan dan makanan. Kata-kata kiasan berunsurkan
anatomi, alam sekitar semula jadi dan perilaku agak menonjol jika dibandingkan dengan penggunaan
kata kiasan yang lain. Ini kerana kiasan berunsurkan anatomi, alam sekitar semula jadi dan perilaku
merupakan sumber yang paling mudah dikutip untuk melahirkan implikatur. Setiap penggunaannya
mempunyai fungsi masing-masing dan dikaitkan dengan sikap manusia. Unsur anatomi merupakan
unsur yang paling dekat dengan manusia dan merupakan sumber yang paling mudah diterjemahkan
dalam bahasa kiasan atau implikatur yang mempunyai pelbagai maksud. Secara tidak langsung
memperlihatkan betapa eratnya hubungan di antara orang Melayu dengan unsur anatomi.

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Selain unsur anatomi, unsur alam sekitar semula jadi juga sangat erat dalam kehidupan manusia.
Kehidupan manusia yang sentiasa dilingkari dengan alam sekitar semula jadi sejak dari lahir lagi
mewujudkan satu ikatan keperluan antara kedua-duanya. Hal ini kerana alam merupakan tempat bagi
manusia bernafas, mencari kehidupan dan penyumbang kepada keperluan asasi mereka. Pengalaman
yang dialami secara berterusan dengan alam sekitar semula jadi menyebabkan berlakunya tindak
balas kepada keadaan sekeliling dan secara tidak langsung mencerminkan pandangan masyarakat
kepada alam.

Kata-kata kiasan berunsurkan perilaku juga agak sebati dalam penggunaan bahasa mereka seharian.
Perilaku yang kerap dilihat atau dilakukan setiap hari dimanipulasikan dan dapat memberi gambaran
tentang hidupan dan juga perasan yang dialami. Contohnya seperti perasaan marah, rindu dan
ketaatan. Tindak-tanduk atau perbuatan yang memang sebati dalam kehidupan masyarakat Melayu
dapat menyumbangkan kepada terhasilnya bahasa kiasan yang dapat memberi kesan mendalam pada
hati dan fikiran pendengar.

Kata-kata kiasan flora dan fauna juga kerap digunakan sebagai implikatur dalam dialog PGL. Sifat
dan ciri-ciri flora serta fauna memainkan peranan yang penting dalam mengungkapkan sesuatu yang
dikaitkan dengan kehidupan manusia. Kewujudan flora dan fauna yang telah sebati dengan kehidupan
manusia telah menjadikannya sumber untuk orang Melayu menginterpretasikannya dalam ungkapan-
ungkapan yang mempunyai nilai estetika tersendiri. Kecantikan dan keindahan yang dapat dilihat
pada keadaan fizikal flora dicerminkan oleh masyarakat Melayu untuk gambaran sesuatu objek yang
baik atau elok rupanya. Begitu juga halnya dengan keadaan fizikal yang dilihat pada fauna dapat
digambarkan dengan kekuatan dan kelemahan objek dalam kehidupan mereka.

Begitu juga hal dengan gambaran yang digambarkan dengan kata-kata kiasan berunsurkan makanan
dan perhiasan. Keakraban yang sangat erat antara masyarakat dengan makanan dan perhiasan dapat
diinterpretasikan dalam bahasa yang sangat tinggi nilainya. Makanan merupakan sajian rutin yang
perlu diambil oleh manusia supaya kehidupan dapat diteruskan. Manakala perhiasan pula disukai
oleh semua generasi masyarakat Melayu terutamanya wanita yang sentiasa ingin menjaga kecantikan.
Ketajaman pemikiran masyarakat Melayu dapat dilihat dengan jelas apabila terhasilnya pelbagai
bahasa kiasan yang digambarkan berdasarkan objek-objek yang dilihat setiap hari.

5.0 Penutup

Secara dasarnya, setiap benda yang melingkari kehidupan manusia dapat diinterpretasikan dalam
bentuk implikatur dan disampaikan secara halus. Setiap penggunaannya digambarkan dengan begitu
sempurna dan dikaitkan dengan berkesan berdasarkan bentuk atau ciri-cirinya. Kata-kata kiasan
bukan sahaja boleh diinterprestasikan dengan kata-kata konkrit sahaja bahkan kata-kata abstrak juga
boleh digunakan. Walaupun hanya dapat dapat dikhayalkan tetapi kata-kata abstrak juga dapat
digunakan untuk menggambarkan sesuatu perkara dalam bahasa kiasan atau implikatur. Begitu juga
halnya dengan kata-kata berunsurkan konsep yang sesuai dijadikan kiasan untuk mendasari sesuatu
benda atau perkara. Justeru, keunikan dan kebijaksanaan pemikiran masyarakat Melayu dapat dilihat
dengan ketara sekali kerana mereka dapat menginterpretasikan segala benda di persekitaran dalam
bentuk kiasan. Oleh itu, tidak wujud keterbatasan benda atau perkara untuk masyarakat Melayu
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gunakan dalam membentuk bahasa kiasan. Segala benda atau perkara di persekitaran yang dirasakan
sesuai dengan perlakuan dan sifat manusia dapat dijadikan implikatur dalam komunikasi.

Rujukan

Abdullah Hassan. 1993. “Bahasa Kiasan”. Jurnal Dewan Bahasa, 907 - 913. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan
Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Ainon Muhammad. 1897. “Analisis Semantik Ayat Melayu untuk Tujuan Pemahaman Komputer”.
Dewan Bahasa, 27, 65.
Asmah Haji Omar (Ed.) 2008a. Ensaiklopedia Bahasa Melayu. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan
Pustaka.
Asmah Haji Omar. 2008b. Bahasa Melayu di Samudera. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Asmah Haji Omar. 2005. “Budaya dan Bahasa Kiasan”. Jurnal Peradaban (Jurnal of Malay
Civilisation), 3, 1-13. Tanjung Malim: Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris.
Asmah Haji Omar. 2002. Setia dan Santun Bahasa. Tanjong Malim: Universiti Pendidikan Sultan
Idris.
Asmah Haji Omar. 1996. “Metaphora of Anatomy as a Refelection of Malay Cultural Belife”. Jurnal
Bahasa Jendela Alam, 1, 7-29.
Asmah Haji Omar. 1992a. Aspek Bahasa dan Alam Pemikiran Melayu. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan
Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Asmah Haji Omar. 1986. Bahasa dan Alam Pemikiran Melayu. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan
Pustaka.
Carston, R. 1988. "Saying and Implicating”. Journal of Linguistics 1: 1 - 32.
Gerald Gazdar. 1977. Implicature: Presupposition and Local Form. Indiana: Univercity Linguistics
Club.
Grice, H.P. 1957. Meaning. Philosophical Review 67. Dicetak semula dalam D. Steinberg &
Jakobovits 1971:53 – 59. Semantics: An Interdisciplinary Reader in Philosophy, Linguistics
and Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Grice, H.P, 1975a. “Logic and Conversation”, dlm. Cole, P. (ed) Syntax and Semantics Vol. 3, hlm.
41 -58.
Grice, H.P, 1975b. “The Synchronic and Diachronic Status of Conversational Implicature”, dlm.
Cole, P (ed) Syntac and Semantics Vol. 3, hlm 257-288.
Hashim Awang. 1987. Glosori Mini Kesusasteraan. Petaling Jaya: Fajar Bakti Sdn. Bhd.
Jawiah Dakir. 2000. Pakaian dan Perhiasan Wanita mengikut Perspektif Islam. Kuala Terengganu:
Yayasan Islam Terengganu.
Kamus Dewan (Edisi Empat). 2005. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Kamus Linguistik. 1997. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Kamus Besar Bahasa Melayu Utusan. 1995. Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn.
Bhd.
Keris Mas. 1988. Perbincangan Gaya Bahasa Sastera Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Mahmood Nazar Mohamed. 1990. Pengantar Psikologi: Satu Pengenalan Asas kepada Jiwa dan
Tingkah Laku Manusia. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka & Kementerian
Pendidikan Malaysia.

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Mohd Noor Ramlan. 1999. Ekologi Asas dan Alam Semulajadi Terpilih. Shah Alam: Universiti
Teknologi MARA.
Nik Safiah Karim. 2000. “Unsur Flora dan Fauna dalam Pemikiran Orang Melayu: Satu Tinjauan
dari Sudut Pengungkapan”. Bahasa Melayu dalam Dekad 90-an. Kuala Lumpur: Akademi
Pengajian Melayu.
Nor Hashimah Hj. Jalaluddin. 1992. “Implikatur : Satu Aspek Seni Berbahasa Orang Melayu”. Jurnal
Dewan Bahasa, 36, 676-690. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Siti Zainon Ismail. 1985. Reka Bentuk Kraftangan Melayu Tradisi. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa
dan Pustaka.
Zainal Abidin Ahmad. 1965. Ilmu Mengarang Melayu. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

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LEKSIKOGRAFI MELAYU: MENYOROTI SEJARAH

Nazilah Mohamad
Pusat Pengajian Bahasa Moden dan Komunikasi, Fakulti Bahasa dan Komunikasi, Universiti Sultan
Zainal Abidin, Kampus Gong Badak, 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
Email: [email protected]

ABSTRAK

Makalah ini meneliti sejarah perkamusan di Alam Melayu. Perkamusan merupakan bahan dokumen penting
dalam sesebuah masyarakat kerana hampir sebahagian besar kosa kata yang dituturkan oleh pengguna bahasa
dirakamkan dalam kamus. Catatan kosa kata yang terdapat dalam kamus dapat memberi gambaran sejarah dan
peristiwa yang pernah berlaku pada masa dahulu. Bahasa dan masyarakat berkait rapat, jika corak perubahan
hidup masyarakat berubah maka kosa kata turut mengalami perubahan. Oleh itu, makalah ini akan melihat dua
aspek dalam perkamusan iaitu sejarah perkembangan awal kemasukkan kamus di di Alam Melayu dan catatan
kosa kata yang terdapat dalam kamus. Dalam penelitian ini kosa kata yang diberi tumpuan ialah kosa kata
pinjaman Arab dalam bahasa Melayu dari segi perubahan setelah dipinjamkan ke dalam bahasa Melayu.

Kata Kunci: Perkamusan, leksikografi, Barat, Alam Melayu, Islam, Kosa kata Arab

1.0 Pengenalan

Leksikografi atau juga dikenali sebagai ilmu perkamusan merupakan satu displin yang mengkaji seni
dan ilmu penyusunan kamus (David Cystal 1992, R.R.K Hartman 1993, P.G.J. Van Sterkenburg
2003). Selain mengkaji ilmu penyusunan kamus bidang leksikografi juga membuat pemerian dan
penjelasan kosa kata sesuatu bahasa atau pelbagai bahasa (R.R.K Hartman 1993, P.G.J. Van
Sterkenburg 2003). Takrifan mengenai leksikografi memadai dengan maksud perkataan leksikografi
yang berasal daripada Yunani iaitu kata ‘lexicon’ leksikon bermaksud perkataan. Manakala perkataan
‘graph’ grafi bererti penulisan yang merujuk kepada seni dan ilmu penulisan penyusunan kamus.
Bidang leksikografi berkait dengan dua perkara iaitu kajian mengenai perkataan dan seni dalam ilmu
penyusunan kamus.

Penelitian ini memfokuskan kepada kosa kata yang terakam dalam kamus. Kajian kata yang dilihat
dalam bidang leksikografi lebih menjurus terhadap rakaman cara penggunaan perkataan oleh
pengguna dalam satu-satu bahasa (S.Nathesan 2010). Kamus merupakan catatan dokumen yang
menghimpunkan sebahagian besar kosa kata yang digunakan oleh penutur pada satu-satu masa.
Catatan kosa kata dalam sebuah kamus seiring dengan sejarah dan peristiwa yang berlaku ketika itu.
Oleh itu, kamus bukan sekadar menjadi tempat rujukan bagi mengetahui betul atau salah dari segi
ejaan atau makna perkataan, bahkan kamus memberi gambaran peristiwa dan sejarah yang berlaku
dalam sesuatu masa. Kajian ini ingin memperlihatkan penggunaan kosa kata yang terakam dalam
perkamusan Melayu pada abad ke-17.

2.0 Awal perkamusan Melayu

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Istilah leksikografi mula muncul pada tahun 1680 apabila perkataan tersebut dimasukkan dalam
kamus Oxford English Dictionary (S.Nathesan 2011). Peristilahan tersebut baharu diperkenalkan
dalam dunia perkamusan. Sebelum istilah tersebut diperkenalkan telah wujud sebuah kamus
berbentuk loh tanah liat di Sumeria pada kurun 3 yang mencatatkan 1400 kata (Henri Bejoint 2010).
Perkamusan dunia dilihat bermula dengan bentuk daftar kata sebelum berkembang menjadi sebuah
kamus yang memenuhi kriteria-kriteria tertentu seperti mempunyai makna, sebutan, ejaan, contoh
penggunaan ayat, dan etimologi.

Permulaan penyusunan kamus di alam Melayu mahupun Barat turut bermula dengan penciptaan
kamus yang berbentuk daftar kata (Ibrahim Ahmad 2002). Kamus awal Melayu bermula dengan
dwibahasa dalam bentuk daftar kata Cina-Melayu berjumlah 482 kata yang dikumpulkan pada tahun
1403 hingga 1511 dan diikuti daftar kata Itali- Melayu yang dihasilkan oleh Antonio Figafetta pada
tahun 1522. Selepas percetakkan kamus tersebut, kamus Melayu terus berkembang dengan
penghasilan kamus-kamus berbentuk dwibahasa yang dihasilkan oleh pedagang dan sarjana Barat
pada abad ke 16 sehingga abad ke 20.
Penghasilan kamus dwibahasa iaitu kamus Malayo-English dan English-Malayo yang dihasilkan oleh
Thomas Bowrey (1701) dan kamus Melayu-Inggeris dan Inggeris-Melayu oleh William Marsden
(1812) memperlihatkan tahap kemajuan yang nyata berbanding dengan kamus-kamus lain. Antara
pembaharuan dilakukan oleh Bowrey dan Marsden ialah penambahan jumlah kosa kata Melayu yang
meliputi agama, perdagangan, pentadbiran, ilmu pengetahuan, dan sosial serta pepenambahan
maklumat dalam kamus dengan meletakkan perlabelan etimologi.

Penghasilan kamus di dwibahasa Melayu dalam masa 400 tahun telah memperlihatkan kemajuan
yang memberangsangkan apabila bentuk daftar kata telah berkembang menjadi bentuk kamus
dwibahasa sehingga terbentuknya kamus monolingual yang ada pada masa kini seperti kamus
Dewan. Di samping itu, pertambahan jumlah kosa kata Melayu semakin banyak dicatat dalam kamus,
penambahbaikan ejaan dan makna, perletakkan maklumat dalam kamus seperti contoh penggunaan
ayat, dan etimologi.

3.0 Pertembungan dunia barat

Permulaan perkamusan Melayu mempunyai kaitan dengan perkembangan percetakkan kamus di

Eropah semasa zaman Renaissance Eropah. Kamus Latin dihasilkan oleh Giovanni Balbi merupakan
kamus pertama yang dicetak di dunia pada tahun 1450 dan menjadi perintis kepada percetakkan
kamus-kamus lain (Collins 2001). Selepas 65 tahun percetakkan kamus tersebut, kamus Melayu
pertama dalam bentuk daftar kata Melayu-Itali telah dihasilkan oleh Antonio Figafetta pada tahun
1522 (Collins 1998). Selepas penerbitan kamus tersebut, menyusul pula beberapa kamus dalam
bentuk dwibahasa dan tribahasa yang dihasilkan oleh bangsa Belanda, Perancis dan Inggeris.
Kemajuan percetakan perkamusan didorong dengan kemasukan intelektual dan teknologi percetakan,
perdagangan, dan perkapalan daripada Eropah kesan zaman Renaissance. Pada abad ke-17 dan 18
pendidikan dan percetakan berkembang seiringan di Eropah. Perkara ini dinyatakan oleh Albert C.
Baugh & Thomas Cable (1951: 201) menyatakan abad ke-17 sebagai berikut:

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In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there arose a prosperous trades class with the means to
obtain an education and the number of schools, the tremendous journalistic output of a man like
Defoe, and the rapid rise of the novel’’.
Perkembangan intelektual dan teknologi telah mendorong orang Eropah untuk menghasilkan kamus
di Alam Melayu bagi kegunaan orang Eropah untuk mempelajari bahasa Melayu. Permulaan
penghasilan kamus Melayu adalah bertujuan memudahkan orang Eropah berinteraksi dengan
masyarakat di Alam Melayu dalam berurus niaga. Matlamat tersebut semakin ke hadapan apabila
penghasilan kamus dwibahasa Inggeris-Melayu pada tahun 1701 oleh Thomas Bowrey mula
menampakkan ke arah patriotisme apabila mencatatkan bahawa penghasilan kamus ini dituju kepada
bangsanya dan kamus tersebut disertai dengan lakaran peta yang menandakan tempat-tempat yang
menggunakan bahasa Melayu.

Penghasilan kamus berbentuk sedemkikan tidak berlaku secara kebetulan kerana pada tahun 1650
sehingga 1800 dikatakan sebagai zaman menuju ke arah pemerintahan di Eropah (Albert C. Baugh
& Thomas Cable 1951). Pada tahun 1640 berlaku perang saudara antara negera Eropah, kemudian
disusuri dengan penurunan takhta Charles 1660. Selepas 100 tahun penghasilan kamus Bowrey,
muncul penerbitan kamus Melayu yang bersifat saintifik diusahakan oleh William Marsden (1812).
Penghasilan kamus tersebut berasaskan kepada pengetahuan ilmu bahasa Eropah yang mengubah
perkembangan kamus Melayu ke arah pengkajian ilmu pengetahuan (Yusof Hitam 1961) .
Pertengahan abad ke-18, Eropah mula melihat pengkajian bahasa sebagai prinsip penggunaan
(doctrine of usage). Motovasi dan tujuan penghasilan kedua-dua kamus ini berbeza mengikut sejarah
dan peristiwa yang berlaku ketika itu. Pertembugan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi Barat
membolehkan kosa kata Melayu didokumenkan dan diterbitkan yang khazanahnya dapat diperlihara.

4.0 Pertembungan dunia Arab

Kedatangan Islam ke Tanah Melayu dikesan dengan penemuan Batu Bersurat Terengganu bertarikh
1303. Tulisan yang terdapat pada batu bersurat ditulis dengan tulisan Jawi. Tulisan Jawi dipengaruhi
tulisan Arab yang sesuaikan mengikut sebutan melayu. Namun berdasarkan bukti penemuan batu
nisan Syeikh Abdul Kadir Ibn Husayn Shah Alirah bertarikh 290 H/902M di Tanjung Inggeris Alor
Setar Kedah dan batu nisan bertulisan Arab di Teluk Cik Munah Pekan Pahang bertarikh 419/1028m.
Kedua-dua penemuan batu bersurat tersebut menunjukkan Islam sudah bertapak di Alam Melayu
pada abad ke-10.
Abad ke-17, merupakan zaman kegemilangan Alam Melayu. Pertembungan dunia Islam dan Barat
di Alam Melayu memberi sumbangan yang cukup besar terhadap perkembangan bahasa Melayu.
Pengaruh Islam pada abad ke-17 telah membawa kemajuan terhadap bahasa Melayu dengan
penggunaan sistem tulisan Arab dan peminjaman kosa kata Arab dalam kosa kata Melayu asli
(Collins 1996).

Rentetan peristiwa perkembangan perkamusan di Alam Melayu pada abad ke-15 dan 19 telah
mencatatkan pertambahan kosa kata Melayu, pembaikkan dari segi kandungan dalam kamus seperti
penyusunan abjad, entri, sebutan, ejaan, makna, etimologi, dan lain-lain aspek. Salah satu aspek yang
menjadi tumpuan dalam perkamusan ialah kosa kata. Catatan kosa kata asing dalam kamus memberi
petunjuk bahawa bangsa Melayu pernah menjalinkan hubungan dengan bangsa lain sama ada melalui
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perdagangan, penyebaran agama atau penakhlukan. Misalnya penaklukkan kerajaan Sriwijaya dan
British ke atas alam Melayu menyebabkan berlakunya penyerapan kata pinjaman Sanskrit dan
Inggeris dalam bahasa Melayu.

Sebaliknya peminjaman kosa kata Arab dalam bahasa Melayu tidak berlaku melalui penakhlukkan
tetapi melalui penyebaran agama Islam (Amran Kasimin 1977) . Agama Islam dan bahasa Arab saling
berkaitan disebabkan kitab pegangan penganut agama Islam iaitu Al-Quran dan Hadis menggunakan
sumber bahasa Arab. Penyebaran agama Islam di Alam Melayu membawa sekali kosa kata Arab
yang dapat dilihat penggunaanya dalam kesusasteraan dan kamus Melayu pada abad ke-17 dan 19.
Sebagai contoh dalam kamus Bowrey 1701 terdapat kata Arab seperti akal, alamat, dan fikir. Namun
begitu peminjaman kosa kata Arab juga turut berlaku melalui perdagangan kerana bangsa Arab
menguasai Laut Merah dan Laut China Selatan yang menyebabkan mereka membuat penempatan di
kawasan perdagangan yang dijalankan.

5.0 Peminjaman kosa kata Arab

Kosa kata pinjaman Arab dalam bahasa Melayu dilihat memberi kesan dan pengaruh yang kuat
terhadap kebudayaan Melayu berbanding dengan kosa kata pinjaman lain. Penggunaan kosa kata
Arab dalam bahasa Melayu menyeluruh dari segi domain atau bidang penggunaan, dan yang paling
besar di antara domain-domain itu adalah bidang kerohanian, akhlak, dan tatatertib dalam pengurusan
hidup (Asmah Omar 1998). Hal ini sebagai mana yang diperkatakan oleh (Mario Pei 1949: 209), ‘The
influence of religion upon vocabulary in all civilized languages is immense’

Bahasa Arab bukan sahaja berlingkar dalam domain agama sahaja bahkan meliputi semua domain
kehidupan masyarakat Melayu. Hal ini boleh diperhatikan dalam tulisan Za’aba (1965) melalui
bukunya bertajuk ‘ilmu mengarang Melayu’. Kosa kata Arab dibincangkan dalam bab yang ke lima
belas dalam bahagian ‘perkataan dari bahasa asing dalam bahasa Melayu’. Za’aba menyatakan kosa
kata Arab digunakan secara menyeluruh dalam pelbagai bidang ilmu seperti bidang agama, ilmu
pengetahuan, fikiran dan perasaan, hukum dan peraturan, adat dan pergaulan manusia, benda-benda
kejadian dan perbuatan. Kosa kata Arab bukan sahaja mendominasi dalam bidang agama seperti kata
‘islam’, ‘iman’ dan ‘i’tikad’ tetapi juga dalam bidang ilmu pengetahuan seperti kata ‘jumlah’, ‘baki’,
‘tarikh’, bidang perundangan dan peraturan seperti kata ‘adil’, ‘zalim’, ‘tertib’. Selain itu, kosa kata
pinjaman Arab juga mencakupi bidang kognitif dan psikologi apabila wujud kata pinjaman Arab
dalam bahasa Melayu yang digunakan bagi tujuan melahirkan pemikiran dan perasaan seperti kata
‘ikhlas’, ‘ajaib’, ‘(khayal) shok’. Kata pinjaman Arab yang berkaitan dengan adat dan perhubungan
manusia, seperti kata ‘kaum’, ‘awam’, ‘nikah’ turut memasuki bahasa Melayu. Disamping itu, kata-
kata mengenai gambaran benda-benda kejadian dan perbuatan turut diambil daripada kosa kata Arab
seperti kata ‘wajah’, ‘insan’, ‘nahas’.

Tempoh penyerapan kosa kata Arab mengambil masa yang lama menyebabkan terjadinya perubahan-
perubahan terhadap kosa kata Arab dalam bahasa Melayu. Penyerapan bahasa Arab dalam bahasa
Melayu berlaku sedikit demi sedikit dan memakan masa yang panjang. Oleh sebab itu, wujudlah
perubahan-perubahan daripada bentuk asalnya (Amran Kasimin (1987). Hal ini disedari oleh Za’aba
yang menyentuh mengenai sebutan dalam bahasa Melayu dengan sebutan dalam bahasa Arab,
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sebagai contoh kata pinjaman Arab ‘tafakkur’ dieja sebagai ‘terpekor’ dalam bahasa Melayu.
Kesedaran Za’aba terhadap sistem bunyian Arab membolehkan beliau memberi tanda pembetulan
untuk sebahagian kata pinjaman Arab yang dieja mengikut bunyian Melayu. Za’aba memerihalkan
kesan kosa kata Arab dalam bahasa Melayu dengan menyatakan kosa kata Arab sudah sebati dalam
masyarakat Melayu sehinggakan tidak disedari bahawa perkataan tersebut merupakan kata pinjaman
Arab, sebagai contoh perkataan pinjaman Arab ‘kuat’ dan ‘akal’ yang dianggap sebagai kosa kata
asli bahasa Melayu.

Kajian kosa kata Arab yang dilakukan oleh pengkaji bahasa seperti Amaran Kasimin
(1977,1979,1987) Abdul Rahman Rukaini (1979), Suzana Sulaiman (2002), Idris Mansor (2002),
Alwee (2006, 2010) Nor Hasyimah Jalaluddin et al (2012), Ibtisam Abdullah et al (2011) mendapati
kosa kata Arab yang diserap dalam bahasa Melayu mengalami perubahan dari segi penyempitan dan
perluasan makna, sebutan dan ejaan. Perubahan kosa kata Arab dari segi makna menjadi tumpuan
kebanyakan pengkaji disebabkan sesetengah kosa kata Arab yang diserap dalam bahasa Melayu
menyimpang dari makna asal kata Arab. Sebagai contoh kata ‘khalwat’’ dalam bahasa Arab
bermaksud ‘bersendirian dengan Allah’ sebaliknya dalam bahasa Melayu kata ‘khalwat’ bermaksud
‘berdua-duaan antara lelaki dan perempuan yang tiada ikatan sah’. Selain itu, perubahan sebutan dan
ejaan kosa kata Arab yang diserap dalam bahasa Melayu menyebabkan kekeliruan identiti asal usul
kosa kata sama ada kosa kata Arab atau kosa kata asli bahasa Melayu.

Selain itu, peminjaman kosa kata Arab dalam tempoh yang terlalu lama menyebabkan berlakunya
kesalahan kata pinjaman Aran dalam kamus. Hal ini dapat dilihat dalam huraian Amran Kasimin
(1977) yang menyenaraikan beberapa kesalahan yang terdapat dalam kebanyakan kamus seperti tidak
ada perlabelan etimologi kata Arab yang ditandakan sebagai ‘Ar’. Amran memberi contoh dalam
Kamus Dewan dan Kamus R.O.Winstedt kata Arab ‘Ar’ bagi perkataan ‘berkat’, ‘ghaib’, dan,
‘hemah’ tidak diberikan perlabelan ‘Ar’, sedangkan kata-kata tersebut merupakan perkataan yang
berasal daripada kata Arab. Amran berpendapat ketiadaan usaha untuk melabelkan etimologi sesuatu
kata menyebabkan masyarakat beranggapan kata tersebut merupakan kata asli bahasa Melayu. Selain
itu, ketidakpekaan tatabahasa Arab juga menyebabkan kata yang berasal daripada sumber kata yang
sama tidak ditanda dengan tanda ‘Ar’, sebagai contoh kata ‘kitab’ tidak ditanda dengan tanda ‘Ar’
sebaliknya kata ‘kitabi’ dan ‘katib’ dinyatakan sumbernya berasal daripada Arab dengan memberi
tanda ‘Ar.

Amran menjelaskan bahawa kata ‘kitab’, ‘kitabi’, dan ‘katib’ merupakan kata yang berasal daripada
kata akar yang sama. Jika adapun penandaan kata Arab dalam kamus, Amran menyatakan hal tersebut
juga mendatangkan masalah. Amran membuktikannya dengan mengemukakan percanggahan antara
Kamus Dewan dan Kamus R.J.Wilkinson dalam memberi label ‘Ar’ untuk kata ‘daulat’. Dalam
kamus Dewan Kata ‘daulat’ tidak diberi perlabelan ‘Ar’, namun dalam kamus R.J.Wilkinson kata
‘daulat’ ditanda ‘Ar’ yang menandakan kata tersebut berasal daripada Arab. Amran nyata bersifat
peka apabila dapat mengemukakan kekeliruan yang terdapat dalam kamus R.J.Wilkinson mengenai
kata ‘darham’ yang memiliki dua etimologi iaitu kata tersebut berasal daripada Arab dan juga berasal
daripada dunia Greek. Amran mendakwa kata ‘darham’ berasal daripada kata Arab dan bukannya
dunia Greek berdasarkan kepada sejarah pertembungan bahasa antara bahasa Melayu dan bahasa
Arab. Amran juga menyangkal bahawa kata ‘amarah’ yang didakwa oleh R.J.Wilkinson sebagai kata
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yang berasal daripada kata hindus yang diambil daripada kata Arab. Amran menyatakan kata
‘amarah’ masuk secara terus dalam bahasa Melayu melalui bahasa Arab tanpa perantaraan bahasa
Hindu. Amran mengemukakan bukti bahawa dalam al-Quran terdapat kata ‘nafsu amarah’, oleh itu
mustahil kata tersebut memasuki bahasa Melayu melalui bahasa Hindu. Pendapat pengkaji
berkemungkinan ada diantara kata Arab melalui jalur peminjaman dengan bahasa lain sebelum
memasuki bahasa Melayu kerana alam Melayu suatu ketika dahulu pernah mengalami petembungan
bahasa dengan masyarakat lain.

6.0 Kesimpulan

Kajian ini dilakukan bagi meneliti perkamusan Melayu yang bermula pada abad ke 15 sehingga kini
membolehkan aspek perbendaharaan kata, tatabahasa, perkamusan dan sejarah mengenai bahasa
Melayu pada masa lampau dapat ditelusuri. Secara langsung, penejelasan mengenai sebab-sebab
berlakunya perubahan-perubahan terhadap kosa kata Arab akan dapat dijawab melalui kajian ini.

Rujukan

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Alessandro Bausani.pentjmh Awang Had Salleh.1961.Perbendaharaan kata Itali-Melayu yang
pertama-tama kali. Dewan Bahasa Disember:558-572.
Alessandro Bausani.pentjmh Awang Had Salleh.1961.Perbendaharaan kata Itali-Melayu yang
pertama-tama kali. Dewan Bahasa November:510-525.
Anida Binti Sarudin. 2011. Perluasan makna kata serapan bahasa Arab:Analisis semantik kognitif.
UKM:Bangi.
Amran Kasimin. 1976. Arabic words in the Malay Vocabulary: a critical study of existing Malay
Dictionaries. UKM:Kuala Lumpur.
Amran Kasimin.1978.Perbendaharaan kata Arab dalam bahasa Malaysia. Dewan Bahasa
Disember:846-855.
Amran Kasimin.1979.Transliterasi Arab Melayu. Dewan Bahasa Oktober:48-59.
Amran Kasimin.1998.Perbendaharaan kata Arab dalam bahasa Melayu.UKM:Bangi.
Amat Juhari Moain.1993.Pengayaan bahasa melalui proses peminjaman dan penyerapan. Dewan
Bahasa Ogos:717-724.
Asmah Omar.1998. Perkembangan Bahasa Melayu dari Aspek Leksikon dan Etimologi.UM:KL
(dalam ceramah Arif Budiman. Singapore).
Awang Sariyan.2004.Penyerapan kata asing dalam bahasa Melayu. Dewan Bahasa Oktober:44-48.
Albert C. Baugh & Thomas Cable. A history of the English language.1993.Routledge:New York.
Beg.1979.Arabic loan-words in Malay.1979.UM:KL
Harun Aminurrashid.1966.Kajian sejarah perkembangan bahasa Melayu.Pustaka Melayu:Singapura.
Herman Paul.1886.Prinzipien der Sprachgeschichte. M. Niemeyer.
Howard Jackson.2002.Lexicography:an introduction.Routledge:London.
Ibrahim Ahmad.2002. Perkamusan Melayu suatu pengenalan. DBP:KL.
Ibtisam et al .2011. Perantauan Bangsa Arab Ke Alam Melayu: Kesannya Terhadap
Percambahan Kata Pinjaman Arab-Melayu.UMK
Ismail Hussein.1981.Sejarah pertumbuhan bahasa kebangsaan kita. DBP.KL.
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Idris Mansor.2002. kata pinjaman bahasa Melayu daripada bahasa Arab (A-M); kajian bandingan
dari aspek penggunaan berdasarkan kamus Dewan dan Al-Mu’jam Al-Wasit. Bangi:UKM
James T.Collins.1996.Kata-kata serapan bahasa dalam bahasa Melayu di Malaysia dan bahasa
Indonesia:tantangan ilmiah. Dewan Bahasa November:964-981.
James T.Collins.1999.Kepiawaian dan kepelbagaian.DBP:KL.
James T.Collins.2001.Kamus Melayu dan ilmu perkamusan. Dewan Bahasa Disember:22-30.
James T.Collins.2002.Lexicography and the OED Pioneers in the untrodden forestdari sudut
pandangan leksikografi dan perspektif sejarah linguistik. Dewan Bahasa Mac:20-27.
James T.Collins.2003.Ortografi Arab perspektif di luar alam Melayu. Dewan Bahasa Januari:58-64.
James T.Collins.2005. Bahasa Melayu bahasa dunia.Yayasan Obor Indonesia:Jakarta.
James T. Collins.2006.Sejarah bahasa Melayu:Sulawesi tengah 1793-1795. Badan penerbit UNM
Makassar. Indonesia
J.K.Chambers et al. 2002. Language variation and change. Blackwell Publishing: Australia
Kees Veersteegh. 2001.Linguistic contacts between Arabic and other languages. Arabica April: 470-
508.
Kees Veersteegh.2003.The Arabic component of the Indonesian lexicon. Rintisan Kajian Leksikologi
dan leksikografi
Mario Pei.1952.The story of language.Allen and Unwin:UK.
Marshudi Kader.2009.some aspects of seventeenth century Malay via Thomas Bowrey’s bilingual
dictionary published 1701’.Kemanusiaan.USM:83-114.
Mohd.Alwee Yusoff. 2006. Perkataan Arab dalam bahasa Melayu:satu tinjauan dari aspek semantik.
Jurnal Usuluddin Bil 23-24: 239-254.
Mohd. Alwee Yusoff dan Mohamad Azrien Mohamed Adnan. 2009. Perkataan Arab dalam bahasa
Melayu:satu tinjauan dari aspek morfologi. Jurnal Usuluddin September: 305-323.
Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin dan Rusmadi Baharudin.2008.Leksikologi dan leksikografi Melayu.
DBP:KL.
Piet Van Sterkenburg.2003. A practical guide to lexicography. John Benjamins:Amsterdan.
R.R.K. Hartman.1983.Lexicography:principles and practices. Academic Press:London
Russell Jones.1978.Arabic loan-words in Indonesian. SOAS:London.
S.Nathesan.2009. Asal usul kata Arab dalam bahasa Melayu. Dewan Bahasa Jun: 34-37.
Suzana Sulaiman. 2002.Perbendaharaan kata Arab dalam bahasa Melayu:satu
pengamatan.UKM:Bangi.
Teuww.A.1961.A critical survey of studies on Malay and Bahasa Indonesia.The Hauge.
Yaron Matras.2009.Language contact.Cambridge:UK.
Yusof Hitam.1961.Kamus Melayu sejak 1511.Dewan Bahasa April:151-161.
Yusof Hitam.1961.Kamus Melayu sejak 1511. Dewan Bahasa May:218-231.
Za’aba.1965.Ilmu mengarang Melayu.DBP:KL

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FAKTOR KEAGAMAAN DAN SIKAP DALAM PENCARIAN MAKLUMAT PRODUK

MAKANAN HALAL DALAM KALANGAN KELUARGA ISLAM

Siti Zanariah Haji Yusoff

Pusat Pengajian Bahasa Moden dan Komunikasi, Fakulti Bahasa dan Komunikasi, Universiti Sultan
Zainal Abidin, Kampus Gong Badak, 21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
Email: [email protected]

ABSTRAK

Maklumat merupakan satu keperluan kognitif yang perlu dipenuhi setiap individu yang memerlukannya.
Dalam konteks lambakan dan kecelaruan maklumat produk halal di pasaran, setiap individu Muslim
sewajarnya lebih peka dalam setiap tindakan, terutamanya apabila melibatkan aspek makanan halal. Kertas
kerja ini memfokuskan kepada faktor-faktor yang terlibat dalam menentukan aktiviti pencarian maklumat
seperti faktor keagamaan dan sikap terhadap produk halal. Faktor agama dan sikap diketengahkan dalam
makalah ini kerana kedua-dua faktor ini merupakan elemen yang terdapat pada diri seorang komunikator.
Selain itu, makalah ini juga turut mengupas isu-isu terkini berkaitan produk makanan halal di pasaran.

Kata kunci: pencarian maklumat, keagamaan, sikap, logo halal dan makanan halal.

1.0 Pengenalan

Malaysia kekal sebagai peneraju hub halal global (Laporan Ekonomi Global Negeri, 2015) berikutan
potensi besar dalam perniagaan yang melibatkan produk halal serta keunikan dan kekuatan posisinya.
Industri halal menjadi semakin penting di seluruh dunia memandangkan masyarakat semakin prihatin
dengan keperluan makanan halal dalam Islam. Ini disebabkan populasi penduduk Islam dunia telah
melebihi tiga bilion pada tahun 2010 di samping pasaran halal global yang mencecah USD150 bilion
setahun. Selain itu pertumbuhan pesat industri makanan halal pada kadar 2.9 peratus setahun juga
merupakan faktor yang menyumbang kepada pentingnya pertumbuhan pasaran produk halal (Harran
& Low, 2008). Perkembangan pesat dalam industri halal disebabkan oleh peningkatan mendadak
populasi Muslim dunia sehingga mencecah 2.08 bilion pada tahun 2014. Muslim dilihat sebagai
kumpulan yang mewakili keseluruhan populasi penduduk Malaysia dengan purata 60.4 peratus yang
menjadikan isu halal sebagai suatu isu yang menarik perhatian pengguna (Yuhanis & Chok Nyen
Vui, 2012).

Selain menjadi tuntutan agama, masyarakat seharusnya sedar bahawa pemakanan yang baik dan
halal berupaya membentuk peribadi yang baik lagi disegani. Hadis yang diriwayatkan oleh al-
Bukhari sepertimana sabda Rasulullah s.a.w. yang bermaksud:

Sesungguhnya, di dalam tubuh manusia, ada seketul daging yang mana jika ia baik, seluruh
badan akan menjadi baik, dan sekiranya ia rosak, seluruh badan manusia akan rosak.
Sesungguhnya ia adalah hati.

Maklumat telah dikenalpasti mempunyai peranan dan merupakan salah satu aspek penting dalam
kehidupan setiap individu. Ia juga penting bagi mengurangkan ketidakpastian, termasuk perasaan
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ragu-ragu tentang sesuatu (Saodah, Narimah dan Mohd. Yusof, 2003). Keperluan maklumat
merupakan keperluan kognitif yang perlu dipenuhi bagi setiap individu dalam keluarga. Maka,
mereka sewajarnya memiliki strategi atau kemahiran dalam usaha mendapatkan maklumat yang
diingini.

Aktiviti pencarian maklumat merupakan perkara asas kepada setiap pencapaian seseorang kerana ia
merupakan kunci kepada tahap kompetensi, dan ia diperlukan sebagai sumber untuk memenuhi
keperluan maklumat (Ramnah dan Laili, 2011). Pencarian maklumat penting sebagai satu proses
pembelajaran. Menurut Vakkari (1999), pencarian maklumat melibatkan proses mencari,
mendapatkan dan menggunakan maklumat tersebut bagi tujuan tertentu. Selalunya, maklumat
disimpan untuk dikongsi apabila diperlukan bersama orang lain pada masa sekarang atau pada masa
hadapan. Kertas kajian ini akan menumpukan kepada faktor keagamaan dalam pencarian maklumat
produk halal dalam keluarga Islam memandangkan keluarga merupakan asas pembentukan generasi
berkualiti. Di samping itu, keluarga juga merupakan sebuah unit sosial yang penting dalam
penyediaan sumber manusia serta menjadi tulang belakang perpaduan, keselamatan dan perpaduan
negara (Wanda, 2010).

Ketelusan maklumat mengenai sesuatu produk haruslah bersifat jelas, apatah lagi bila berkait aspek
pemakanan halal. Kesucian peribadi seseorang Muslim dikaitkan dengan sumber pemakanannya.
Namun, pembongkaran demi pembongkaran yang dilaporkan oleh media berkenaan isu halal telah
menarik perhatian orang ramai dan menjadi bahan perbincangan hangat dalam kalangan masyarakat
Islam. Ini kerana isu halal merupakan isu agama yang penting dalam membantu memelihara kesucian
akidah setiap individu Muslim. Statistik pada tahun 2011 menunjukkan JAKIM telah menarik balik
sijil halal yang telah dikeluarkan kepada beberapa premis dan produk tertentu berikutan kegagalan
mereka mematuhi garis panduan halal yang telah ditetapkan. Ini menunjukkan kelemahan yang
paling ketara dalam masyarakat berkenaan isu halal (http://www.halal.gov.my/v3/).

Terkini, Bahagian Hab Halal, Jakim (2016) mendedahkan mengenai taktik sesetengah peniaga yang
tamak dalam memburu keuntungan dengan menyalahgunakan logo pork free. Menurut Datuk Seri
Hamzah Zainuddin, Menteri di Kementerian Perdagangan, Koperasi dan Kepenggunaan, logo
sebegini mengundang kekeliruan kepada pengguna kerana seolah-olah premis berkenaan berstatus
halal (Berita Harian, 2016). Bagi segelintir pengguna yang bersikap sambil lewa, mereka tetap
mengunjungi dan menjamu selera di premis sedemikian. Persoalannya, di manakah nilai pegangan
agama mereka apabila menikmati makanan di premis tersebut? Sinar Harian (2013) melaporkan tiga
premis di Pahang telah ditarik balik sijil halalnya, iaitu pusat sembelihan ayam di Kawasan
Perindustrian Indera Mahkota, dapur restoran sebuah hotel di Cherating dan terbaru sebuah kilang
memproses produk makanan di Kawasan Perindustrian Semambu. Kejadian sama turut menimpa
empat buah premis makanan di Kuching (http://www.utusan.com.my), telah ditarik balik sijil halal
berikutan kegagalan mematuhi spesifikasi yang ditetapkan oleh Jabatan Agama Islam Pahang (JAIP)
dan Jabatan Agama Islam Sarawak (JAIS).

Konsep halal merujuk kepada cara penyediaan makanan dan perkhidmatan yang menepati piawaian
yang ditetapkan oleh syariah. Konsep ini tidak tertakluk kepada makanan semata-mata, bahkan
meliputi aspek farmasitikal dan juga amalan kewangan. Siti Zanariah, Nor Azura dan Jusang (2014)
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menyatakan, untuk membuktikan peri pentingnya isu halal kepada seluruh Muslim, Malaysia
memainkan peranan sebagai tuan rumah kepada dua program tahunan berskala besar dalam industri
halal iaitu, Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS) dan World Halal Forum (WHF).
Kedua-dua program ini memberi impak yag besar dalam membentuk reputasi negara sebagai rujukan
global dan juga pusat perdagangan dalam industri halal sejak tahun 2003. Berpaksikan sokongan
penuh kerajaan dan penglibatan secara menyeluruh, kredibiliti dan kepemimpinan Malaysia dalam
sektor halal turut mendapat pengiktirafan Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Secara relatifnya, kajian mengenai isu halal semakin mendapat perhatian sama ada dalam kalangan
pengkaji Islam dan bukan Islam di seluruh dunia serta melibatkan pelbagai perspektif.
Walaubagaimanapun, kajian mengenai isu halal dalam bidang komunikasi di negara ini dilihat masih
terhad (Siti Zanariah, Nor Azura dan Jusang, 2014). Kebanyakan kajian isu halal menyentuh aspek
kepenggunaan, pemasaran, pemakanan, pengajian Islam dan pertanian (Ismiati dan Penny, 2005).
Makalah ini memfokuskan aspek aktiviti pencarian maklumat produk makanan halal. Terdapat
beberapa faktor yang mempengaruhi perilaku pencarian maklumat produk halal.

2.0 Kerangka konsep kajian

Bagi menghuraikan faktor yang mempengaruhi pencarian maklumat seseorang, faktor komunikator
yang merangkumi keagamaan dan sikap diambilkira kerana isu halal dan haram berkait rapat dengan
diri seseorang Muslim. Komunikator juga mungkin menggabungkan ciri-ciri ini untuk mencari
maklumat mengenainya. Secara ringkasnya, kerangka konsep kajian yang dapat dibentuk adalah
seperti berikut:

Faktor
Komunikator
Pencarian maklumat produk makanan halal
-Keagamaan

- Sikap

Rajah 1: Kerangka Konsep Faktor Komunikator terhadap Pencarian Maklumat Produk

Makanan Halal.
3.0 Pencarian maklumat
Aristotle (1979) menyatakan manusia secara fitrahnya memiliki sikap ingin tahu. Berdasarkan alasan
ini banyak kajian dilakukan untuk melihat perilaku pencarian maklumat dalam kalangan individu
dari pelbagai sudut. Pada hari ini, kajian mengenai pencarian maklumat telah dijalankan dengan
meluas yang merangkumi pelbagai konteks termasuklah kajian dalam organisasi sehinggalah kepada
persekitaran komunikasi berperantara komputer (Afifi & Weiner, 2002). Sesetengah bidang ini telah
menyumbang kepada pembangunan literatur dalam bidang psikologi, sains komputer, pengurusan
perniagaan, pengajian agama, perubatan, kaunseling genetik, kejuruteraan dan pertanian (Penny,
2005). Ini menunjukkan pencarian maklumat adalah satu usaha penting bagi memenuhi keperluan
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kognitif manusia dan merupakan salah satu aktiviti komunikasi yang penting dalam kehidupan
manusia.

Maklumat merupakan satu keperluan dan manusia amat memerlukannya untuk menambah
pengetahuan yang sedia ada pada diri mereka. Maklumat bukan sahaja berfungsi sebagai penambah
pengetahuan, malah sebagai pendorong kepada seseorang untuk bertindakbalas dengan cara yang
lebih berkesan ke arah pencapaian sesuatu maklumat. Kekeliruan mengenai isu halal yang tercetus
sejak kebelakangan ini seharusnya menjadi pendorong kepada pengguna Islam dalam mencari dan
mendapatkan maklumat mengenainya. Tambahan lagi, usaha ini sebagai batu loncatan untuk
mendidik masyarakat untuk menjadi lebih berilmu dan bermaklumat. Walaubagaimanapun, Maslow
(1963) menyatakan maklumat bukan sahaja dicari untuk mengurangkan ketidakpastian tentang
sesuatu, tetapi sebaliknya maklumat dielakkan untuk mengurangkan ketidakpastian. Keadaan yang
melibatkan maklumat ini dielakkan adalah mungkin kerana jika mereka mengetahuinya akan lebih
menambah kekusutan atau pun mungkin kerana tidak mahu mengetahuinya dengan lebih lanjut
kerana akan menyebabkan ketidakselesaan. Sebagai contoh, pesakit kanser mungkin akan mengelak
untuk mendengar atau mencari maklumat lanjut mengenai penyakitnya kerana sedih.

Berdasarkan kajian yang dijalankan oleh Hyman dan Sheatsley (1947), individu cenderung mencari
maklumat yang selaras dengan pengetahuan yang sedia ada pada mereka, mengikut kepercayaan dan
pendapat yang mereka telah ketahui untuk mengelakkan terdedah kepada maklumat yang bercanggah
dengan persepsi mereka. Hasil kajian ini turut disokong oleh Festinger (1957) yang menyatakan ada
ketikanya individu mencari maklumat yang selaras dengan pengetahuan mereka sahaja. Justeru
kajian ini ingin melihat sama ada keluarga Islam mencari maklumat produk halal atau sebaliknya dan
bagaimana maklumat tersebut didapati dan dimanfaatkan.

Pencarian maklumat adalah proses berorientasikan matlamat yang mana individu berusaha
mendapatkan maklumat dari pelbagai sumber bagi memenuhi keperluan mereka (Dervin, 1982; Kari
& Savolainen, 2001; Berger & Kellerman, 1983; Kuhlthau, 1991; Bradac, 2001 dalam Penny, 2005)
yang merangkumi sumber antara perseorangan, organisasi dan juga tidak ketinggalan media massa
(Johnson & Meischke, 1993). Pencarian maklumat ini juga boleh didefinisikan sebagai kesanggupan
seseorang untuk menonjolkan diri mereka dalam sesetengah kandungan media (Clarke & James,
1967; Chaffee & McLeod, 1976). Bagi menjelaskan lagi fungsi pencarian maklumat sebagai satu
proses yang bertujuan, Mokros dan Aakhus (2002), menyatakan, menjawab persoalan, penilaian ke
atas situasi, penyelesaian masalah juga boleh diklasifikasikan sebagai pencarian maklumat.

4.0 Konsep halal

Halal berasal daripada kalimah Arab yang bermaksud dibenarkan atau dibolehkan oleh Hukum
Syarak. Jakim menggariskan 'Hukum Syarak' yang bermakna undang-undang Islam dalam Mazhab
Syafie atau dalam mana-mana Mazhab Maliki, Hambali atau Hanafi yang telah mendapat persetujuan
Yang di-Pertuan Agong (JAKIM, 2012). Undang-undang itu juga telah dikuatkuasakan dalam
Wilayah Persekutuan atau oleh Raja bagi mana-mana negeri dikuatkuasakan di dalam negeri
berkenaan. Konsep Halalan Thoyiban juga bukan hanya terbatas kepada bersih dan suci daripada babi
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atau najis tetapi juga mengambil kira aspek yang lebih meluas untuk apa sahaja yang hendak
dimakan, diminum atau digunakan. Antaranya halal dalam cara memperolehnya yang tidak melalui
cara haram seperti mencuri, merompak atau rasuah dan piawaian ketat Islam ini juga mencakupi cara
pemprosesan serta penyimpanan. Ia bermula dari ladang sampai ke meja (Mstar Online, 2012).

Manakala, takrif Halal mengikut Perintah Perihal Dagangan (Penggunaan Perbahasaan “Halal”) 1975
adalah seperti berikut: apabila digunakan berhubung dengan makanan dalam apa-apa juga bentuk
dalam perjalanan perdagangan atau perniagaan sebagai suatu perihal dagangan atau sebagai
sebahagian daripada suatu perihal dagangan yang dipakai bagi makanan itu, perbahasaan-
perbahasaan ‘Halal’, ‘Ditanggung Halal’ atau ‘Makanan Islam’ atau apa-apa perbahasaan lain yang
menunjukkan atau mungkin difahamkan sebagai menunjukkan bahawa orang-orang Islam adalah
dibenarkan oleh agama mereka memakan makanan itu maka perbahasaan itu hendaklah mempunyai
erti yang berikut, iaitu makanan yang berhubung dengan perbahasaan atau perbahasaan-perbahasaan
itu digunakan (JAKIM, 2012):

§ bukanlah terdiri daripada atau mengandungi apa-apa bahagian atau benda dari binatang
yang orang Islam dilarang oleh Hukum Syarak memakannya atau yang tidak disembelih
mengikut Hukum Syarak;
§ tidaklah mengandungi apa-apa benda yang dihukum sebagai najis mengikut Hukum
Syarak;
§ tidak disedia, diproses atau dikilang dengan menggunakan apa-apa alat yang tidak bebas
dari benda-benda najis mengikut Hukum Syarak; dan
§ tidaklah dalam masa menyedia, memproses atau menyimpannya itu bersentuhan atau
berdekatan dengan apa-apa makanan yang tidak memenuhi kehendak-kehendak
perenggan (a), (b) atau (c) atau apa-apa benda yang dihukum sebagai najis mengikut
Hukum Syarak.

4.1 Sikap pengguna terhadap produk halal

Sikap merupakan satu konsep penting dalam penyelidikan berkaitan pemasaran dan sistem informasi
(M. Tsang, Chun Ho dan Peng Liang (2004). Kajian ini pula ingin melihat sikap pengguna terhadap
produk makanan halal dan kaitannya dengan pencarian maklumat produk tersebut. Menurut Endang
(2010), sikap merujuk kepada kecenderungan psikologi seseorang individu dalam menilai sesuatu
sama ada perkara itu disukai atau sebaliknya. Ia berkaitan dengan penapisan kendiri individu
berkaitan sesuatu perlakuan tersebut. Ini bermaksud, sikap pengguna dapat menjelaskan tingkah laku
pengguna berkenaan dengan apabila, mengapa, bagaimana dan di mana orang membeli atau tidak
membeli produk tersebut (Amirah, 2012).

Dalam satu laporan yang dikeluarkan oleh Berita Harian (2012), adalah didapati sikap segelintir
pengguna yang tidak mengendahkan sama ada makanan yang dibeli dan dimakan selama ini benar-
benar halal atau sebaliknya, malah rancak menjamu selera walhal ketika itu pihak berkuasa sedang
menjalankan siasatan dan mengambil tindakan terhadap premis makanan yang didapati

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menggunakan logo halal palsu serta tidak mematuhi Akta Perihal Dagangan 1972. Pendedahan
eksklusif ini telah diterbitkan dalam rancangan Aduan Rakyat di bawah penerbitan TV3.

Keadaan ini jelas menunjukkan sikap ketidakprihatinan pengguna apabila tiada sesiapa yang
mempedulikan kehadiran pegawai JAKIM serta KPDNKK yang sedang memeriksa premis, malah
sedikit pun tidak menganggu aktiviti jual beli makanan di medan selera terbabit. Sikap sambil lewa
pengguna adalah amat membimbangkan kerana menunjukkan seolah-olah umat Islam mengambil
ringan akan isu halal dan haram.

Taktik murahan yang dimainkan oleh peniaga dalam memancing pengguna Islam untuk ke premis
mereka dengan cara meletakkan ayat al-Quran atau apa-apa simbol keislaman sewajarnya tidak
berlaku seandainya pengguna sedar dan menggunakan kuasa yang ada pada mereka untuk
membanteras kegiatan tersebut. Hal ini juga penting bagi mengelakkan pengguna Islam terus
memakan makanan yang diragui status halalnya. Selain itu, sikap sambil lewa pengguna ketika
membeli barangan juga turut membimbangkan kerana tidak ramai yang membelek pek dan tin
semata-mata untuk melihat logo halal yang dikeluarkan oleh JAKIM mahupun JAIN (Berita Harian,
2012). Berdasarkan senario ini, sikap terhadap produk makanan halal wajar diberikan perhatian serius
dalam mengupas pencarian maklumat produk tersebut.

5.0 Keagamaan

Islam merupakan satu cara hidup yang mampu membentuk satu set perlakuan yang disebut sebagai
islamik (Syed Shah Alam et al., 2011). Islam bukan sahaja berfungsi sebagai agama malah ia turut
mengawal dan mejadi garis panduan kepada masyarakat tentang cara hidup bermasyarakat dan
faktor-faktor yang berkaitan dengan kekeluargaan, pemakaian, kebersihan dan juga etika (Endang,
2010). Seseorang yang taat kepada agama sudah pastinya berbeza dengan yang tidak patuh kepada
agamanya. Menurut Safiek (2009), nilai dan kepercayaan agama akan mempengaruhi perlakuan
manusia sama ada secara ritualistik atau simbolik. Selain itu, ia turut memainkan peranan yang
penting dalam mempengaruhi banyak aspek kehidupan, antaranya adalah tentang penggunaan
sesuatu barang dibenarkan atau tidak dalam Islam terutamanya yang melibatkan makanan dan
minuman. Justeru, kajian ini melihat bagaimana keagamaan boleh mempengaruhi perilaku pencarian
maklumat produk halal dalam keluarga Islam.

Keagamaan pula menggambarkan tahap kepatuhan seseorang individu terhadap agamanya. Kajian-
kajian lepas menunjukkan keagamaan sebagai salah satu kepercayaan terhadap Yang Maha Pencipta
dan kesediaan mengikuti segala peraturan yang telah ditetapkan, kerana mempengaruhi perlakuan
dan sikap (Conrad, 2004). Selain itu, menurut (Weaver & Agle, 2002), tahap keagamaan juga
mempunyai impak yang besar kepada perlakuan dan sikap pengguna. Walaupun sudut pandangan
yang diutarakan oleh Weaver dan Agle mewakili agama secara umum, namun ia amat praktikal
dengan agama Islam yang mana jika seseorang itu patuh kepada agamanya, ia akan turut
mempengaruhi perlakuan mereka, berbeza daripada orang yang tidak patuh kepada ajaran agamanya.

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Setiap individu adalah berbeza dari segi tahap keagamaan dan ketaqwaan terhadap Allah S.W.T.
(Warshington et al., 2003), menjelaskan komitmen agama seseorang individu mempengaruhi
pembuatan keputusan peribadi mereka. Agama merupakan salah satu elemen budaya dan penting
untuk dikaji memandangkan pengaruhnya yang signifikan terhadap pembentukan sikap individu,
nilai dan perlakuan sama ada di peringkat individu mahupun masyarakat (Mokhlis, 2009). Identiti
agama ini pada dasarnya dibentuk melalui keluarga seterusnya persekitaran yang mereka dampingi.
Antara faktor yang memberikan impak yang besar terhadap pembentukan agama seseorang adalah
jantina, komunikasi dengan ibu bapa, pengaruh rakan sebaya, persekitaran pembelajaran dan juga
mesej yang dibawa oleh media (Forward, Sansom-Livolsi, & McGovern, 2008). Dengan pengaruh
yang dibawa oleh agen-agen tersebut sedikit sebanyak memberi kesan kepada pembentukan agama
dan keperibadian seseorang sama ada menjadi lebih baik atau sebaliknya.

Dalam konteks kajian ini, pengkaji ingin melihat peranan agama dan keagamaan individu dalam
mempengaruhi perilaku pencarian maklumat produk halal dalam keluarga Islam. Hasil kajian Mohani
dan rakan-rakan (2009), mengesahkan bahawa terdapat hubungan yang signifikan antara agama
seseorang dengan persepsi mereka terhadap logo halal dan juga kandungan bahan-bahan yang
digunakan. Sejajar dengan itu, (Musaiger, 1993; Dindyal, 2003), menyatakan bahawa agama
merupakan salah satu faktor dan memainkan peranan penting dalam pemilihan produk makanan.
Islam merupakan agama yang memberi panduan kepada setiap Muslim dalam segenap aspek
kehidupan, bukan hanya sujud dan menyembah Allah S.W.T. semata-mata tetapi juga mengikut
lunas-lunas yang telah ditetapkan. Selain itu, (Sitiasari, 2008), menyatakan keagamaan merupakan
satu konsep penting memandangkan ia mencerminkan perlakuan dan kognitif seseorang individu
termasuklah perlakuan dalam pemilihan produk halal (Endang, 2010).

Walaupun agama memberi pengaruh yang besar ke atas peribadi dan perlakuan manusia, namun
kajian mengenai keagamaan dalam bidang komunikasi masih terhad. Tambahan lagi, kajian berkaitan
agama tidak mendapat tempat dalam teori perlakuan pengguna.

Banyak kajian yang telah membuktikan agama penting dalam mempengaruhi sikap terhadap
pemilikan dan penggunaan barang dan perkhidmatan. Namun kajian sebelum ini tidak memfokuskan
kepada agama Islam secara langsung (Wikes & rakan-rakan, 1986; Adila, 1999; Zaidman &
Lowengart, 2001; dan Fam & rakan-rakan, 2004). Selain itu, kajian-kajian lepas juga menjadikan
agama sebagai faktor perantara dalam kajian mereka (Syed Shah Alam, Rohani & Badrul Hisham,
2011), manakala kajian ini melihat faktor tahap keagamaan dan perkaitannya secara langsung dengan
perilaku pencarian maklumat produk halal.

Manakala kajian yang dilakukan oleh Gayatri & rakan-rakan (2005), pula menunjukkan bahawa
seorang Muslim yang berpegang kepada nilai-nilai budaya mempengaruhi penilaian mereka untuk
menggunakan perkhidmatan restoran, hotel dan syarikat penerbangan. Keagamaan dilihat
mempengaruhi cara hidup seseorang, pencarian maklumat, keengganan pembelian yang berisiko, dan
sikap terhadap periklanan. Ini adalah justifikasi yang konkrit bagi memasukkan elemen keagamaan
dalam melihat perilaku pencarian maklumat produk halal dalam kalangan keluarga Islam.

6.0 Kesimpulan
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Berdasarkan tinjauan literatur yang diperoleh, didapati faktor sikap dan keagamaan boleh digunakan
untuk kajian selanjutnya dalam melihat pencarian maklumat produk makanan halal dalam kalangan
keluarga Islam. Peningkatan populasi penduduk Muslim menjadikan isu halal semakin kritikal untuk
dikaji dan perlu diberi perhatian sewajarnya. Jika isu-isu negatif berkenaan isu halal timbul dan
dibiarkan tanpa tindakan, implikasinya amat besar kepada jati diri seseorang Muslim.
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Ahmadi Masnono. (2005). Factors Influencing the Muslim Consumer’s Level of
Confidence on Halal Logo Issued By Jakim: An Empirical Study. Tesis Sarjana yang tidak
diterbitkan. Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Alias Azhar, Harlida Abdul Wahab, Nurretina Ahmad Shariff & Muhammad Hafiz
Badarulzaman. (2012). Perlindungan Pengguna Terhadap Produk Makanan Halal: Tinjauan
Hukum Dan Undang-Undang Di Malaysia. Prosidings WCIT2012.
Aristotle. (1979). Metaphysics. Apostle HG, translator. Grinnel, IA: Peripatetic Press.
Aswani Omar. (2013). Hotel Gagal Mohon Sijil. Akses pada 26 Mac 2013 dari
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Aswani Omar. (2013). Sijil Halal Tiga Premis Ditarik. Akses pada 26 Mac 2013 dari
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Amirah Hashim. (2012). Sikap pengguna terhadap makanan. (Nota Power Point).
Ateeq-ur- Rehman, Muhammad Shahbaz Shabbir, (2010),"The relationship between
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Bernama. (2010). Rencana: Halal Bukan Isu Remeh. Akses pada 1 Ogos 2012 dari
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Blog wanita ISMA Pahang. (2010). Peranan Wanita Dalam Isu Pemakanan Keluarga.
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dalam-isu-pemakanan-keluarga.html.
Bonne, K., Vermeir, I,. Bergeaud-Blackler, F. and Verbeke. W. (2007), “Determinants
of halal meat consumption in France”, British Food Journal, Vol. 109 No. 5, pp/ 367-386.
Carol C. Kuhlthau, 1993"A Principle Of Uncertainty For Information Seeking", Journal
Of Documentation, Vol. 49 Iss: 4 Pp. 339 – 355
Case DO., Andrews James E., Johnson J. David and Allard Suzzane L. (2005).
Avoiding versus seeking: the relationship of information seeking to avoidance, blunting,
coping, dissonance, and related concepts. Vol. 93 Iss 3 Pp. 353-362.
Drakos, N & Moore, R. (2004). Knowledge management systems. Lecture Notes.
School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of New England,
Armidale NSW, Australia.
Eliasi, J. R. & Dwyer, J.T. (2002). Kosher and Halal: Religious Observances Affecting
Dietary Intakes. Journal of the American Dietic Association.102(7)-911-913.
Endang S Soesilowati. (2010). Business Opportunities for Halal Products in the Global
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Market: Muslim Consumer Behaviour and Halal Food Consumption. Journal of Indonesian
Social Sciences and Humanities. Vol. 3, pp. 151–160
Essoo, N., & Dibb, S. (2004). Religious Influences on Shopping Behaviour: An
Exploratory Study. Journal of Marketing Management, 20, 683-712.
Fam K.S., Waller, D.S., Erdogan B.Z. (2004). The Influence of Religion on Attitudes

towards the Advertising of Controversial Product, European Journal of Marketing, 38(5/6):

537-555.
Jurnal Halal. (2010). Syarikat Pengeluar Sijil yang tidak Diiktiraf. Akses pada 26 Jun
2012 dari http://www.jurnalhalal.com/2010/04/syarikat-pengeluar-sijil-halal-yang.html
Marijke Taks & Murad Shreim. (2009).The influence of Islam on shopping behavior
for sports apparel: An empirical study of Muslim immigrants. Conference Proceedings
EASM 2009 | 17th EASM Conference
Maslow AH. (1963). The need to know and the fear of knowing. J Gen Psychol. Jan;
68: 111-25.
Md Rasooldeen. (2012). Scientists, scholars to redefine halal. Akses pada 30 Jun 2012 dari
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article575203.ece
Mohd Amri Abdullah. (2011). Nama haram pada produk halal undang kekeliruan.
Berita Harian Online. Akses pada 8 Mei 2013 dari
http://www.islam.gov.my/muamalat/akhbarmajalah/nama-haram-pada-produk-halal-
undang-kekeliruan
Mokros, H.B. & Aakhus, M. (2002). From information seeking behavior to meaning
engagement practice. Implications for communication theory and research. Human
Communication Research, 28 (2), 298-312.
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Flower Hotel, Bandung, Indonesia.

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ISU KEBOLEHBACAAN TEKS BAHASA ARAB DI MALAYSIA

KEPERLUAN DAN PENGUKURAN
*1
Zulazhan Ab. Halim, 2Mohd Hazli Yah@Alias, 3Mohd Ala’uddin Othman, 4Shuhaida
Hanim Mohamad Suhane, 5Abdul Wahid Salleh
1,2,3.4
Fakulti Bahasa dan Komunikasi, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kampus Gong Badak, 21300
Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
5
Fakulti Pengajian Kontemporari Islam, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kampus Gong Badak,
21300 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
*Corresponding author: [email protected]

ABSTRAK

Kebolehbacaan ialah tahap sesuatu bahan bacaan sama ada sukar atau senang yang boleh mempengaruhi
kefahaman pembaca. Perbincangan kertas kerja ini memberikan penumpuan kepada dua isu utama yang
berkait dengan kebolehbacaan, iaitu keperluan mengenal pasti tahap kebolehbacaan teks bahasa Arab yang
digunakan sebagai bahan bacaan dalam kelas dan penggunaan instrumen untuk menentukan tahap
kebolehbacaan tersebut. Sesuatu teks bacaan yang dipilih sebagai bahan pengajaran perlulah berada pada
tahap yang sepadan dengan tahap kebolehan membaca pelajar. Hal ini merupakan satu keperluan kerana
bahan bacaan yang sukar, jika diberikan kepada pelajar, akan merosakkan proses pembelajaran. Dalam
konteks pengukuran tahap kebolehbacaan teks bahasa Arab pula, mutakhir ini beberapa formula
kebolehbacaan bahasa Arab telah dicipta. Kewujudan formula-formula in telah memberi nafas baru kepada
kajian kebolehbacaan bahasa Arab kerana sebelum ini, penggunaan ujian kloz dan ujian kefahaman adalah
antara alat ukur terbaik yang menjadi pilihan pengkaji.

Kata kunci: kebolehbacaan; bahasa Arab; formula kebolehbacaan; ujian kloz

1.0 Pendahuluan

Dalam kalangan pakar pengajaran dan pembelajaran (PdP), isu pemilihan bahan bacaan yang sesuai
untuk pelajar merupakan antara isu yang perlu diberi perhatian. Menurut Coleman (1962), jika buku
teks yang digunakan oleh pelajar dapat dibaca dan difahami dengan baik, ia boleh menjadi alat
pengajaran yang paling berkesan. Bahkan Fulcher (1997) menyatakan, dengan memberikan teks
bacaan yang sukar kepada pelajar, proses pembelajaran akan terganggu dan motivasi mereka untuk
belajar juga turut menurun.

Subungan dengan itu, pakar PdP menyarankan agar tahap kebolehbacaan teks hendaklah diambil kira
dalam memilih bahan bacaan yang sesuai dengan tahap kebolehan membaca pelajar (Nuttal, 1985).
Tahap kebolehbacaan teks bermaksud tahap senang-sukar sesuatu teks untuk dibaca dan difahami
(Khadijah Rohani, 1987; Pikulski, 2002). Dalam bahasa Inggeris istilah ini dinamakan Readability
(Istilah Pendidikan, 1988) manakala dalam bahasa Arab ialah Maqru’iyyah atau Inqira’iyyah
(Tucaymah & al-Thucaybi, 2006). Makalah ini akan menyentuh dua isu penting berhubung
kebolehbacaan teks bahasa Arab di Malaysia, iaitu keperluan mengenal pasti tahap kebolehbacaan
teks dan penggunaan instrumen yang sesuai untuk menentukan tahap kebolehbacaan.

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2.0 Keperluan mengenal pasti tahap kebolehbacaan teks

Sorotan terhadap kajian-kajian lepas berkaitan kebolehbacaan teks bahasa Arab di Malaysia
menemukan fakta bahawa pelajar kurang memahami teks yang mereka baca. Kamarulzaman (2010)
telah mengkaji kebolehbacaan buku teks Bahasa Arab Tinggi tingkatan empat di SMKA seluruh
Malaysia dan mendapati kebolehbacaan buku berkenaan berada pada tahap kecewa. Tahap kecewa
bermaksud tahap bahan bacaan yang dibaca itu sukar difahami oleh pembaca. Kefahaman mereka
adalah lemah, kadar kelancaran bacaan perlahan dan tersekat-sekat dan banyak perkataan yang perlu
dianalisis (Rye, 1982; Gillet & Temple, 1994). Dapatan yang sama juga diperolehi oleh Zulazhan
(2012) dalam kajian beliau terhadap kebolehbacaan buku teks balaghah STAM, iaitu Miftah al-
balaghah dalam kalangan pelajar-pelajar sekolah menengah agama seluruh Malaysia. Bahkan apabila
beliau (2013) melanjutkan kajian terhadap kebolehbacaan buku al-Balaghah al-wadihah dalam
kalangan pelajar IPTA di Pantai Timur, dapatan yang sama juga beliau perolehi.

Selain itu, kajian oleh Zamri et al. (2013) terhadap kebolehbacaan teks sastera Arab Zaman Andalus
dalam kalangan pelajar Jabatan Pengajian Arab dan Tamadun Islam, UKM juga mendapati teks yang
dikaji berada pada tahap kecewa. Bahkan kajian Zamri et al. (2012) sebelum itu terhadap kebolehan
teks sastera Arab Zaman Abbasiah dalam kalangan pelajar dari jabatan yang sama menunjukkan teks
yang dikaji juga berada pada tahap kecewa.

Permasalahan memahami teks bahasa Arab yang wujud dalam kalangan pelajar berdasarkan dapatan
daripada kajian kebolehbacaan di atas menyimpulkan bahawa pelajar perlu diberikan teks yang
mudah dan sesuai dengan tahap kebolehan membaca mereka. Hal ini demikian kerana apabila pelajar
diberikan teks yang mudah, proses PdP dapat berjalan dengan lancar dan pemindahan maklumat
dapat berlaku.

Sehubungan dengan itu, di sana wujud satu keperluan dalam kalangan pengajar bahasa Arab untuk
mengetahui bagaimanakah cara terbaik memilih teks yang sesuai untuk pelajar, terutamanya ketika
mengendalikan kelas bacaan (Qira’ah). Dalam hal ini, makalah ini akan mencadangkan dua
instrumen yang boleh digunakan dalam memilih teks yang sesuai untuk pelajar, iaitu ujian kloz dan
formula kebolehbacaan.

3.0 Penggunaan instrumen untuk memilih teks bacaan yang sesuai

Terdapat dua kaedah yang boleh digunakan untuk mengukur tahap kobolehbacaan teks bacaan, iaitu
kaedah kualitatif dan kaedah kuantitatif (Klare, 1969; Gilliland, 1972; Chall, 1974; Hull, 1979;
Harrison, 1980; Haris & Sipay, 1980; Schulz, 1981; Meyer, 2003). Kaedah kualitatif yang
dimaksudkan ialah dengan menentukan tahap kebolehbacaan teks bacaan berdasarkan penilaian dan
pandangan subjektif oleh pakar termasuk guru dan pustakawan. Manakala kaedah kuantitatif pula
ialah melibatkan penggunaan ujian kefahaman, graf dan carta, ujian kloz dan formula kebolehbacaan.
Dalam konteks kesesuaian kaedah kualitatif sebagai instrumen kebolehbacaan, Gilliland (1972)
menegaskan bahawa kaedah ini mempunyai tahap kebolehpercayaan yang sangat rendah dan tidak
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berupaya mengukur kebolehbacaan secara sistematik dan tepat. Menurut Harris dan Sipay (1980),
walaupun prosedur pelaksanaannya tidak memakan masa yang lama tetapi dapatannya kurang tepat
kerana prosedurnya tidak melibatkan pembaca. Sementara Chall (1974) pula menambah,
kemungkinan guru yang menilai sesuatu buku itu boleh dipengaruhi oleh penilaian yang telah
dilakukan oleh penulis atau penerbit buku tersebut. Bukan itu sahaja, bahkan terdapat bukti yang
menunjukkan ramai kanak-kanak mendapati bahan bacaan yang diberikan kepada mereka adalah
terlalu susah walaupun penilaian yang dilakukan menunjukkan ia sesuai untuk mereka. Walau
bagaimanapun, bagi Moon dan Raban (1980), mereka berpendapat kaedah ini lebih sesuai dan tepat
bagi bahan bacaan peringkat awal kanak-kanak kerana formula dan ujian kefahaman yang sedia ada
lebih sesuai untuk bahan bacaan orang dewasa.
4.0 Ujian kloz

Sorotan terhadap kajian-kajian lepas yang melibatkan kebolehbacaan teks bahasa Arab menunjukkan
penggunaan ujian kloz sebagai instrumen adalah dominan. Hal ini demikian kerana kebolehbacaan
dan kesahannya untuk teks bahasa Arab telah terbukti (Dawud, 1977; Tucaymah, 1978, 1984, 1985;
al-Sisi, 1982; Jadcan, 1989; Hassan Basri, 2002). Bahkan dalam temubual Kamarulzaman (2010)
dengan tiga orang pakar kebolehbacaan, iaitu Tucaymah, Khadijah Rohani dan Yunus, beliau
merekodkan pandangan mereka bahawa ujian kloz adalah teknik yang paling sesuai digunakan dalam
mengukur tahap kebolehbacaan teks bahasa Arab untuk kegunaan penutur bukan Arab.

Ujian kloz ialah satu bentuk ujian mengisi tempat kosong. Menurut Rye (1982), Laporan Bullock
pada tahun 1975 telah mendefinisikan ujian ini sebagai “the use of a piece of writing in which certain
words have been deleted and the pupil has to make maximum possible use of context clues available
in predicting the missing word” (Pengunaan sepotong tulisan yang membuang beberapa patah
perkataan dan murid perlu menggunakan semaksimum mungkin pembayang-pembayang konteks
yang ada dalam meneka perkataan yang hilang). Ujian ini dibina dengan menggugurkan beberapa
perkataan dalam petikan yang diuji dan mereka yang mengambil ujian tersebut dikehendaki mengisi
tempat kosong berkenaan berpandukan kepada konteks ayat.

Pakar kebolehbacaan seperti Tucaymah (1984,1985), al-Naji (t.th), Klare et. al (1972), Harrison
(1980), Rye (1982), Hughes (1989) dan Marohaini (1999) telah memberikan cadangan dan saranan
bagaimana membina ujian ini untuk mengukur tahap kebolehbacaan teks. Prosedurnya ialah
menggugurkan setiap perkataan ketujuh dari teks yang hendak diukur secara konsisten tanpa melihat
kepada bentuk ayat dan jenis perkataan. Tempat perkataan yang digugurkan itu diganti dengan satu
ruang kosong dengan garisan yang sama panjang. Selepas garisan berkenaan, pilihan jawapan boleh
disediakan atau tidak. Sebelum ujian bermula, taklimat terperinci hendaklah diberikan supaya
responden jelas dan faham dengan perjalanan ujian agar tidak berlaku salah faham yang boleh
mempengaruhi skor jawapan dan seterusnya memberi kesan kepada dapatan kajian.

5.0 Formula kebolehbacaan

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Selain daripada penggunaan ujian kloz, instrumen lain yang perlu digunakan sekarang dalam
menentukan tahap kebolehbacaan teks bahasa Arab ialah formula kebolehbacaan. Sorotan terhadap
kajian lepas menunjukkan sebelum tahun 2010, instrumen yang popular ialah ujian kloz di samping
ujian kefahaman. Bermula tahun 2010, kajian kebolehbacaan teks bahasa Arab diberi nafas baru
apabila buat pertama kalinya formula kebolehbacaan bahasa Arab telah dibina oleh al-Khalifa dan
al-Ajlan. Kemudian, pembinaan formula terus marak apabila penyelidik Malaysia, iaitu Nuraihan et
al. membina satu prototaip formula kebolehbacaan bahasa Arab pada tahun 2013. Seterusnya, pada
tahun 2014, al-Tamimi et al. membina satu formula yang diberi nama Automatic Arabic Readability
Index (AARI). Dengan kewujudan 3 formula ini, kajian kebolehbacaan bahasa Arab telah maju
setapak lagi walaupun agak ketinggalan jika dibandingkan dengan bahasa Inggeris. Walau
bagaimanapun, kewujudan formula-formula ini membuka ruang kepada pengkaji untuk membina
lebih banyak formula dan memantapkan lagi kajian dalam bidang ini.
Sehubungan dengan itu, makalah ini mencadangkan agar dalam memilih teks bacaan yang sesuai
dengan tahap kebolehan membaca pelajar, guru sepatutnya menggunakan dua instrumen yang
disebutkan di atas, iaitu ujian kloz dan formula kebolehbacaan mengikut prosedur berikut:
i. Sebelum guru memulakan kelas bacaan (Qira’ah), guru memilih terlebih dahulu teks
yang hendak diajar.
ii. Selepas menetapkan teks berkenaan, guru mengukur tahap kebolehbacaannya dengan
mengunakan formula kebolehbacaan bahasa Arab.
iii. Kemudian guru melakukan ujian kloz menggunakan teks yang sama kepada pelajar
yang akan diajar teks berkenaan. Sekiranya tahap kebolehbacaan teks berada pada tahap
pengajaran atau bebas, guru bolehlah menggunakannya sebagai teks PdP.
6.0 Penutup
Pemilihan teks bacaan yang sesuai dengan tahap kebolehan membaca pelajar merupakan salah satu
aspek yang perlu diberi perhatian. Jikalau sebelum ini guru biasanya memilih teks bacaan
berdasarkan penilaian mereka sendiri, sekarang sudah sampai masanya amalan ini diberi
penambahbaikan. Tidak hanya bergantung kepada penilaian sendiri, guru terlebih dahulu perlu
mengukur tahap kebolehbacaan teks yang akan digunakan sebagai bahan bacaan di dalam kelas. Guru
perlu mengukur teks berkenaan dengan menggunakan formula kebolehbacaan, seperti AARI
umpamanya, kemudian dilakukan ujian kloz melibatkan pelajar yang akan menggunakan teks
berkenaan. Sekirannya guru mengambil inisiatif ini, diharapkan pemahaman pelajar terhadap teks
bacaan dapat ditingkatkan dan proses PdP bahasa Arab akan lebih berjaya berbanding sebelum ini.
Rujukan
Chall, J.S. 1974. Readability: an appraisal of research and application. Cetak ulang. Epping, Essex:
Bowker Publishing Company.
Coleman, E.B. 1962. Improving comprehensibility by shortening sentences. Journal of Applied
Psychology 46: 131-134.
Dawud, B.cA. 1977. cAlaqah al-maqru’iyyah bi bacd al-mutaghayyirat al-lughawiyyah. Tesis Sarjana
Universiti Baghdad.

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Fulcher, G. 1997. Text difficulty and accessibility: reading formulae and expert judgement. System
25(4): 497-513.
Gilliland, J. 1972. Readability. London: University of London Press Ltd.
Harris, A.J. & Sipay, E.R. 1980. How to increase reading ability. Ed. ke-7. New York: Longman.
Harrison, C. 1980. Readability in the classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hassan Basri Awang Mat Dahan. 2002. Language testing: the construction and validation. Kuala
Lumpur: University of Malaya Press.
Hughes, A. 1989. Testing for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hull, L.C. 1979. Beyond readability: measuring the difficulty of technical writing. Tesis Ph.D
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institue, New York.
Jad an, N.cA. 1989. Mustawa maqru’iyyah nusus al-mutalacah al-takwiniyyah al-muqarrarah li al-
c

saff al-khamis al-ibtida’i. Tesis Sarjana University of Jordan.

Kamarulzaman Abdul Ghani. 2010. Kebolehbacaan buku teks bahasa Arab tinggi tingkatan empat
sekolah menengah kebangsaan agama. Tesis Dr. Falsafah Pendidikan, Fakulti Pendidikan,
Universiti Malaya.
Khadijah Rohani Md. Yunus. 1987. Formula kebolehbacaan: satu cara objektif untuk menentukan
tahap kebolehbacaan bahan-bahan bacaan. Jurnal Dewan Bahasa April: 274-288.
al-Khalifa, H. S. & al-Ajlan, A.A. 2010. Automatic readability measurements of the Arabic text: An
exploratory study. The Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering 35(2C): 103-124.
Klare, G.R. 1969. The measurement of readabilty. Ed. ke-3. Iowa: Iowa State University Press.
Klare, G.R., Sinaiko, H.W. & Stolurow, L.M. 1972. The cloze procedure: a convenient readability
test for training materials and translations. Virginia: Institute for Defense Analyses Science
and Technology Division.
Marohaini Yusoff. 1999. Strategi pengajaran bacaan dan kefahaman. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa
dan Pustaka.
Meyer, B.J.F. 2003. Text coherence and readability. Top Lang Disorder 23(3): 204-224.
Moon, C. & Raban, B. 1980. A question of reading. Ed. semak. London: Macmillan Education Ltd.
Al-Naji, Hasan. t.th. Mustawa maqru’iyyah wa darajah ishrakiyyah kitab al-lughah al-cArabiyyah li
al-saff al-sadis al-ibtida’i fi al-Imarat al-cArabiyyah al-Muttahidah.
http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf/Documents/36.doc [2 Disember 2007]
Nuraihan Mat Daud, Haslina Hassan & Normaziah Abdul Aziz. 2013. A corpus-based readability
formula for estimate af Arabic texts reading difficulty. World Applied Sciences Journal 21:
168-173.
Pikulski, J.J. 2002. Readability. U.S.A: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Rye, J. 1982. Cloze procedure and the teaching of reading. London: Heinemann Educational Books.
Schulz, R.A. 1981. Literature and readability: bridging the gap in foreign language reading. The
Modern Language Journal 65(1): 43-53.
Al-Sisi, G.H.1982. Validity of cloze procedure as an index of readability of Arabic language reading
materials. Tesis Ph.D. Wayne State University.
al-Tamimi, A.K., Manar Jaradat, al-Jarrah, N. & Sahar Ghanim. 2014. AARI: Automatic Arabic
readability index. The International Arab Journal of Information Technology 11(4): 370-
378.

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Tucaymah, R.A. 1978. The use of cloze to measure the profeciency of students of Arabic as a second
language in some universities in the United States. Ph.D thesis University of Minnesota :
Dissertation Abstract International.
Tu aymah, R.A. 1984. Ikhtibar al-tatimmah wa taclim al-carabiyyah ka lughah thaniyah. Dlm
c
c
Abdullah Sulayman al-Jarbuc, cAbdullah cAbd al-Karim al-cAbbadi, Tammam Hassan cUmar
& Rushdi Ahmad Tucaymah. Majallah Machad al-Lughah al-cArabiyyah 2: 513-556. Makkah
al-Mukarramah: Jamicah Umm al-Qura.
Tu aymah, R.A. 1985. Dalil camal fi ‘icdad al-mawadd al-taclimiyyah li baramij taclim al-cArabiyyah.
c

Makkah al-Mukarramah: Jamicah Umm al-Qura.

Tucaymah, R.A. & al-Thucaybi, M.cA 2006. Taclim al-qira’ah wa al-adab: istiratijiyyah mukhtalifah
li jumhur mutanawwic. Kaherah: Dar al-Fikr al-cArabi.
Zamri Arifin, Kaseh Abu Bakar, Maheram Ahmad & Zulazhan Ab. Halim. 2010. Kajian
kebolehbacaan teks sastera Arab. Dlm. Lilia Halim, Cheng Peng Kee & Hassan Basri
(pnyt.). Mercu Kesarjanaan Pengajaran & Pembelajaran – Penyelidikan Tindakan di
Institusi Pengajian Tinggi, hlm. 79-115. Bangi: Penerbit UKM.
Zamri Ariffin, Zulazhan Ab. Halim, Nurul Masyitah Mohd Sham & Azimah Shurfa Mohammed
Shukry. 2013. The Readability of The Arabic Prose Text. Middle-East Journal of Scientific
Research, 17(3): 338-343.
Zulazhan Ab. Halim. 2012. Kebolehbacaan buku teks balaghah Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia di
sekolah-sekolah menengah agama negeri. Tesis Dr. Falsafah, Fakulti Pengajian Islam,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

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QISSAH DALAM AL-QURAN DAN PEMANIPULASIANNYA DALAM KARYA

SASTERA ARAB

*1
Mohd Shahrizal Nasir, 2Mohd Firdaus Yahaya, 3Mohd Fauzi Abdul Hamid
Fakulti Bahasa Dan Komunikasi, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kampus Gong Badak, 21300
Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
*Corresponding author: [email protected]

ABSTRAK

Al-Qissah merupakan salah satu gaya atau uslub penyampaian bagi menjelaskan kandungan al-Quran. Uslub
ini mempunyai ciri-ciri yang tersendiri dan ia tidak boleh disamakan dengan seni “cerita” dalam bidang
kesusasteraan. Uslub al-Qissah membawa makna yang sarat dengan pengajaran bagi manfaat umat manusia
sekiranya mereka berfikir. Pengajaran yang terdapat dalam Qissah al-Quran menjadi tujuan utama ia
dimanfaatkan dalam al-Quran. Justeru, uslub ini tidak bersifat rinci, namun kekal membawa pengajaran
dengan jelas bagi ayat al-Quran. Salah satu peristiwa yang termasuk dalam kategori al-Qissah al-Qur’aniyyah
ialah peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi’raj. Keistimewaan Qissah al-Isra’ wa al-Mi’raj telah mengundang satu
fenomena dalam dunia kesusasteraan Arab apabila ia dimanipulasi bagi melahirkan karya sastera yang mirip
dengan qissah tersebut. Artikel ini akan membincangkan pemanipulasian Qissah al-Isra’ wa al-Mi’raj dalam
beberapa buah karya sastera Arab iaitu al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah, al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘ dan Risalat al-
Ghufran. Kajian ini akan menganalisis kandungan teks karya-karya sastera tersebut berdasarkan beberapa
tatacara pemanfaatan sumber al-Quran serta batasan akidah dalam penulisan karya sastera. Berdasarkan
analisis yang dijalankan, ternyata karya-karya kesusasteraan Arab tersebut mengandungi unsur-unsur
pemanipulasian terhadap Qissah al-Isra’ wa al-Mi’raj dan ia secara langsung bertentangan dengan tatacara
pemanfaatan sumber al-Quran serta batasan akidah dalam penulisan karya sastera. Hal ini membawa satu
kesimpulan bahawa setiap karya yang bertentangan dengan ketetapan Islam, maka ia perlu ditolak bagi
menjamin keutuhan pegangan akidah umat Islam.

Kata kunci: al-Qissah, al-Qissah al-Qur’aniyyah, al-Isra’ wa al-Mi’raj, gaya penyampaian, manipulasi.

1.0 Pendahuluan

Perbincangan mengenai peristiwa benar yang terdapat dalam lipatan sejarah Islam perlu disandarkan
kepada sumber rujukan utama umat Islam iaitu al-Quran. Kitab suci umat Islam ini mengandungi
seribu satu skop perbincangan sama ada berkaitan dengan hukum-hakam, sejarah, kisah tauladan,
perumpamaan, mahupun fakta sains. Allah s.w.t. menyatakan bahawa al-Quran merupakan sebuah
kitab panduan untuk golongan yang beriman, dan tiada sebarang syak dan keraguan di dalamnya.
Firman Allah s.w.t. bermaksud: Kitab al-Quran ini tiada keraguan padanya, petunjuk bagi mereka
yang bertakwa (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:2). Ayat ini menunjukkan bahawa setiap perkara yang berkaitan
dengan Islam, ia semestinya mempunyai asas yang jelas serta termaktub dalam al-Quran yang
menjadi panduan asas dalam Islam.

Peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj merupakan salah satu peristiwa yang termaktub pengkisahannya
dalam al-Quran. Hakikatnya, peristiwa ini amat berpengaruh jika dikaitkan dengan karya sastera

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termasuk kesusasteraan Arab. Justeru, tidak hairanlah apabila terdapat beberapa versi peristiwa al-
Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj ataupun adaptasinya dalam karya-karya yang dihasilkan oleh para karyawan
sastera. Dari satu sudut, keadaan ini menunjukkan kuatnya pengaruh peristiwa sejarah Islam dalam
kehidupan masyarakat sehingga dijadikan modal untuk menghasilkan karya sastera. Namun di sudut
yang lain pula, keadaan seperti ini perlu ditangani dengan berhati-hati agar peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-
Mi‘raj tidak dimanipulasi serta diselewengkan oleh pihak-pihak tertentu yang natijah akhirnya
dikhuatiri akan memberi satu imej tidak baik terhadap Islam.

Oleh itu, artikel ini dihasilkan dengan tujuan untuk merungkai sejauh mana pengaruh peristiwa al-
Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj dalam hasil karya Arab. Beberapa bentuk penyelewengan terhadap fakta-fakta
yang yang berkaitan dengan peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj serta kesan yang timbul daripadanya
akan diketengahkan dalam artikel ini. Sebanyak tiga karya kesusasteraan Arab akan dibincangkan
bagi tujuan tersebut iaitu al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah (The Maqama of Iblis) oleh Badi‘ al-Zaman al-
Hamadhani, al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘ (The Treatise of Familiar Spints and Demons) oleh Ibn
Shuhayd dan Risalat al-Ghufran (The Epistle of Forgiveness) oleh Abu al-‘Ala’ al-Ma‘arri.

2.0 Metodologi kajian

Perbincangan akan berfokus kepada kandungan tiga buah karya kesusasteraan Arab yang dikaitkan
dengan peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj iaitu al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah, al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘ dan
Risalat al-Ghufran. Analisis akan melihat sejauh mana kandungan ketiga-tiga buah karya ini boleh
dianggap sebagai satu bentuk pemanipulasian terhadap Qissah Qur’aniyyah iaitu peristiwa al-Isra’
wa al-Mi‘raj. Bagi mencapai tujuan tersebut, kaedah analisis deskriptif dan perbandingan akan
digunakan. Perbincangan akan dimulakan dengan memahami ciri-ciri asas Qissah Qur’aniyyah dan
fakta mengenai peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj secara spesifik. Kesemua maklumat ini kemudiannya
dijadikan asas utama bagi melihat pemanipulasian terhadap peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj oleh para
karyawan kesusasteraan Arab dalam tiga karya yang dinyatakan sebelum ini.

2.1 Qissah Qur’aniyyah dalam al-Quran

Dalam kamus bahasa Arab seperti Mukhtar al-Sihah dan al-Mu‘jam al-Wasit, perkataan “al-qissah”
atau kata terbitannya “al-qasas” membawa maksud menjejaki sesuatu kesan. Perkataan “al-qasas”
berserta maksud yang dijelaskan ini digunakan oleh Allah s.w.t. dalam surah al-Kahf bagi
menggambarkan situasi nabi Musa a.s. yang menjejaki kesan tapak kakinya tatkala menyedari
bahawa ikan yang merupakan bekalannya telah hilang dan hal ini menjadi petanda bagi menunjukkan
tempat pertemuannya dengan seorang hamba Allah s.w.t. yang salih bernama Khidir (Ibn Kathir,
2004: 3/1732-1733). Lantas nabi Musa a.s. menjejaki kesan tapak kaki di kawasan yang telah
dilaluinya. Firman Allah s.w.t. dalam al-Quran yang bermaksud: Nabi Musa berkata: “Itulah yang
kita kehendaki”, mereka pun balik semula ke situ, dengan menurut jejak mereka (Surah al-Kahf,
18:64)..

Dalam ayat tersebut, Allah s.w.t. menggunakan perkataan “qasasa” yang membawa maksud nabi
Musa a.s. menjejaki kembali kesan tapak kaki perjalanannya. Dari sini dapat difahami bahawa
perkataan “al-qissah” (bentuk mufrad) dan “al-qasas” (bentuk jam’) turut membawa makna yang
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sama iaitu merujuk kepada berita yang dijejaki kesan dan pengajarannya atau disebut dalam bahasa
Arab sebagai al-akhbar al-mutatabba’ah (al-Qattan, 1998: 279). Para mufassir menjelaskan terdapat
tiga bentuk qissah dalam al-Quran, iaitu (al-Qattan, 1998: 280):

1. Qissah para rasul. Qissah ini berkaitan dakwah para rasul kepada umat masing-masing, mukjizat
yang dianugerahkan oleh Allah s.w.t. kepada mereka, tentangan umat mereka yang ingkar
terhadap seruan dakwah, peringkat dakwah mereka dan sebagainya. Antara qissah para rasul yang
terdapat dalam al-Quran ialah qissah nabi Nuh a.s., nabi Ibrahim a.s., nabi Musa a.s., nabi
Muhammad s.a.w. dan beberapa lagi.
2. Qissah manusia terdahulu yang terlibat dengan peristiwa-peristiwa tertentu pada zaman mereka.
Sebenarnya, qissah seperti ini dan qissah lain dalam al-Quran tidak diperincikan jalan
penceritaannya, namun pengajaran yang dibawa cukup jelas dan amat berguna bagi kehidupan
setiap manusia. Terdapat qissah dalam bentuk ini yang memberi panduan agar ia dicontohi seperti
qissah Ashab al-Kahf (kumpulan pemuda yang ditidurkan oleh Allah s.w.t. dalam gua) dan qissah
Dhu al-Qarnayn. Namun, terdapat juga qissah yang menggesa manusia agar mengambil iktibar
daripadanya seperti qissah Qarun dan qissah Ashab al-Fil (kumpulan tentera bergajah).
3. Qissah yang khusus melibatkan peristiwa yang dialami oleh Rasulullah s.a.w. Qissah bentuk ini
bukan sahaja tertumpu kepada peristiwa peperangan yang disertai oleh Rasulullah s.a.w. seperti
peperangan Badr, peperangan Uhud, peperangan al-Ahzab, malah qissah al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj
serta qissah hijrah Rasulullah s.a.w. turut dirakamkan dalam al-Quran.

Jika difahami dengan cermat dan jelas, qissah al-Quran bersifat benar. Kesemua qissah al-Quran
adalah qissah yang benar-benar berlaku. Ia bukan sebuah kisah khayalan, mitos atau ciptaan. Allah
s.w.t. menjelaskan perkara ini menerusi firman-Nya dalam al-Quran yang bermaksud: Sesungguhnya
ini ialah qissah yang benar, dan tiadalah Tuhan (yang berhak disembah) melainkan Allah dan
(ingatlah), sesungguhnya Allah, Dialah jua yang Maha Kuasa, lagi Maha Bijaksana (Surah Ali
‘Imran, 3:62). Selain itu, jika dikaji ciri-ciri qissah al-Quran dengan mendalam, maka didapati
bahawa qissah al-Quran tidak bersifat rinci. Malah, terdapat sesebuah qissah al-Quran itu terletak
dalam beberapa surah al-Quran yang berlainan. Terdapat juga beberapa ayat al-Quran yang berkaitan
dengan sesebuah qissah diulang beberapa kali dalam beberapa surah al-Quran yang berbeza.

Secara pasti dapat difahami bahawa qissah al-Quran itu tidak diwahyukan untuk tujuan keseronokan
atau sia-sia. Qissah Qur’aniyyah dirakamkan dalam al-Quran dengan tujuan yang jelas iaitu agar
manusia mengambil pengajaran yang berguna daripadanya untuk dijadikan panduan dalam
kehidupan. Dalam bahasa Arab, pengajaran disebut sebagai ‘ibrah. Pengajaran inilah yang menjadi
tujuan utama perakaman qissah dalam al-Quran. Oleh sebab itu, perjalanan atau plot qissah al-Quran
tidak dinyatakan secara rinci. Dari sini jelas menunjukkan bahawa aspek yang dijadikan keutamaan
oleh Allah s.w.t. adalah pengajaran (‘ibrah) daripada qissah tersebut. Berdasarkan perbincangan
mengenai Qissah Qur’aniyyah yang terdapat dalam al-Quran, dapat disenaraikan beberapa ciri-ciri
khusus bagi Qissah Qur’aniyyah atau qissah al-Quran, antaranya:

1. Mengandungi ‘ibrah atau pengajaran yang bermanfaat.

2. Merupakan qissah yang benar berlaku dan bukan cerita yang diada-adakan.

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3. Mempunyai tujuan tertentu apabila sesuatu qissah itu dirakamkan dalam al-Quran dan ia tidak
dirakamkan secara sia-sia.
4. Menjadi petunjuk dan rahmat bagi hamba Allah s.w.t. yang beriman.
5. Berlaku pengulangan (tikrar) bagi beberapa buah qissah dalam surah yang berlainan.
6. Qissah al-Quran tidak bersifat rinci sebagaimana “kisah” atau “cerita” dalam dunia kesusasteraan
yang mesti mempunyai watak yang mencukupi, plot cerita, latar tempat dan masa yang jelas dan
sebagainya.

Inilah di antara ciri-ciri qissah al-Quran yang membezakannya dengan “kisah” biasa. Perlu
ditegaskan sekali lagi bahawa yang menjadi keutamaan bagi qissah al-Quran ialah pengajaran
(‘ibrah) di sebalik qissah tersebut dan ia dapat memberi faedah berguna dalam kehidupan manusia.

2.2 Qissah al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj dalam Islam

Peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj merupakan salah satu peristiwa agung Islam yang dijelaskan oleh
Allah s.w.t. dalam al-Quran. Sesuatu yang tidak dapat disangkal bahawa peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-
Mi‘raj telah membawa satu pengertian yang besar dalam Islam kerana melalui peristiwa ini, ibadah
solat fardu lima waktu mula disyariatkan. Solat yang merupakan tiang agama Islam telah difardukan
secara langsung kepada nabi Muhammad s.a.w. melalui peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj.
Signifikannya peristiwa ini dalam Islam sehingga Allah s.w.t. menamakan satu surah dalam al-Quran
dengan nama surah al-Isra’, iaitu sempena peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj.

Sebelum perbincangan lanjut mengenai peristiwa ini dilakukan, adalah lebih baik jika diteliti makna
kalimah Isra’ dan Mi‘raj menurut morfologi Arab. Perkataan isra’ berasal daripada kata kerja asra
yang bererti perjalanan malam (Ibn Manzur, 1990: 14/382). Dalam al-Quran perkataan asra
digunakan oleh Allah s.w.t. khusus bagi menjelaskan peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj. Firman Allah
s.w.t. yang bermaksud: Maha suci Allah, yang telah memperjalankan hamba-Nya pada suatu malam,
dari Masjid al-Haram ke Masjid al-Aqsa yang telah Kami berkati sekelilingnya, agar Kami
perlihatkan kepadanya sebahagian daripada tanda-tanda kebesaran Kami. Sesungguhnya Dia
adalah Maha Mendengar lagi Maha Melihat (Surah al-Isra’, 17:1). Manakala perkataan mi‘raj pula
menurut kamus Lisan al-‘Arab bererti sesuatu yang menyerupai tangga yang digunakan oleh roh
manusia untuk ke langit setelah dipisahkan daripada jasad (Ibn Manzur, 1990: 2/322). Perkataan ini
berasal daripada kata kerja ‘araja (Ibn Manzur, 1990: 2/321). Allah s.w.t. telah merakamkan
peristiwa mi‘raj Rasulullah s.a.w. ke langit menerusi firman-Nya yang bermaksud: Dan
sesungguhnya Muhammad telah melihat Jibril (dalam bentuknya yang asal) pada waktu yang lain.
(Iaitu) di Sidrat al-Muntaha. Berhampiran dengannya terdapat syurga tempat tinggal (Muhammad
melihat Jibril) ketika Sidrat al-Muntaha diliputi oleh sesuatu yang meliputinya. Penglihatannya
(Muhammad) tidak berpaling dari yang dilihatnya itu dan tidak (pula) melampauinya. Sesungguhnya
dia telah melihat sebahagian tanda-tanda (kekuasaan) Tuhannya yang paling besar (Surah al-Najm,
53:13-18).

Berdasarkan ayat-ayat tersebut, jelas menunjukkan bahawa peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj memang
benar-benar dilalui oleh Rasulullah s.a.w. semasa hayatnya. Selain daripada tujuan utama berlakunya
peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj iaitu pensyariatan ibadah solat kepada umat Islam, peristiwa ini juga
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meninggalkan kesan yang mendalam terhadap iman seseorang kerana sebaik sahaja Rasulullah s.a.w.
menceritakan perihal al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj kepada para sahabat, maka terdapat kalangan mereka yang
meragui kesahihannya. Keadaan ini berlaku kerana peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj amat bertentangan
dengan logik akal yang waras. Oleh itu, signifikannya peristiwa ini terhadap Islam apabila ia menjadi
kayu ukur tahap keimanan para sahabat Rasulullah s.a.w. Bagi melihat kronologi peristiwa besar ini,
kajian ini akan menyoroti beberapa situasi penting yang berlaku dalam peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-
Mi‘raj. Penelitian terhadap situasi-situasi ini, walaupun secara sepintas lalu, adalah penting bagi
mendapat gambaran yang jelas mengenai al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj. Pemahaman terhadap peristiwa ini
juga akan memudahkan para pembaca melihat secara jelas aspek al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj yang telah
dimanipulasikan dalam karya-karya sastera yang akan dibincangkan selepas ini.

Terdapat perselisihan pendapat mengenai tarikh sebenar berlakunya peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj.
Ibn al-Jawzi berpendapat peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj berlaku lapan bulan sebelum Rasulullah
s.a.w. berhijrah ke Yathrib (Madinah), Ibn ‘Abd al-Bir pula berkata ia berlaku kira-kira setahun dua
bulan sebelum Rasulullah s.a.w. berhijrah ke Yathrib, manakala Ibn Faris berpegang kepada tarikh
setahun dan tiga bulan sebelum Hijrah, dan Ibn al-Athir pula berpendapat ia berlaku tiga tahun
sebelum proses Hijrah (al-‘Asqalani, 2003: 7/257). Walaupun para ulama tidak sependapat mengenai
tarikh sebenar berlakunya peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj, namun secara kolektif mereka bersetuju
bahawa peristiwa ini berlaku selepas Rasulullah s.a.w. dilantik menjadi rasul dan sebelum baginda
s.a.w. berhijrah dari Mekah ke bumi Yathrib. Menurut Safi al-Din al-Mubarakfuri, peristiwa al-Isra’
wa al-Mi‘raj berlaku apabila baginda s.a.w. mengalami pembedahan dada yang dilakukan oleh
malaikat Jibril (al-Mubarakfuri, 2000: 101). Ibn Mas‘ud meriwayatkan bahawa setelah selesai
pembedahan yang dilakukan sendiri oleh Jibril, didatangkan binatang bernama Buraq untuk
ditunggangi oleh Rasulullah s.a.w. dalam perjalanan luar biasa yang dinamakan Isra’ (Ibn Kathir,
2007: 52). Menurut Ibn Sayyid al-Nas dalam bukunya ‘Uyun al-Athar fi Funun al-Maghazi wa al-
Shama’il wa al-Siyar, Buraq adalah sejenis binatang yang melata berwarna putih, saiznya lebih kecil
daripada al-himar (keldai) serta memiliki sayap pada bahagian paha yang menutupi kedua kakinya
(al-Nas, t.t, 1/140: 143). Binatang ini dinamakan Buraq kerana ketangkasannya yang diumpamakan
seperti al-barq (kilat) (al-Aswad, 1989: 53).

Sepanjang perjalanan menuju ke Masjid al-Aqsa di Bayt al-Maqdis, Rasulullah s.a.w. diiringi oleh
Jibril. Apabila tiba di tempat-tempat tertentu yang tercatat padanya kisah-kisah sejarah Islam,
Rasulullah s.a.w. diajukan oleh Jibril supaya berhenti dan menunaikan solat dua rakaat bagi
menghormati tempat tersebut. Diriwayatkan oleh Anas, antara tempat-tempat berkenaan ialah
Yathrib, Tursina iaitu tempat nabi Musa a.s. bermunajat kepada Allah s.w.t. dan Bayt al-Laham iaitu
tempat nabi ‘Isa a.s. dilahirkan (al-‘Asqalani, 2003: 7/253; al-Haythami, 2001: 1/97). Selain itu,
dicatatkan bahawa dalam perjalanan menuju ke Masjid al-Aqsa, Rasulullah s.a.w. dapat menyaksikan
peristiwa-peristiwa simbolik yang amat luar biasa. Antaranya gambaran kaum yang sedang bercucuk-
tanam lalu terus menuai hasil tanaman mereka, dan apabila selesai dituai, hasil tanaman yang baru
keluar semula seolah-olah belum lagi dituai. Keadaan ini berlaku berulang-ulang kali, maka
Raslulullah s.a.w. diberitahu oleh Jibril bahawa gambaran itu menunjukkan ganjaran Allah s.w.t.
kepada kaum yang berjihad di jalan Allah yang digandakan pahala kebajikan mereka (al-‘Asqalani,
2003: 7/253; al-Haythami, 2001: 1/92).

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Rasulullah s.a.w. juga ditunjukkan gambaran satu kaum yang terdiri daripada lelaki dan perempuan,
mereka memakan daging mentah yang busuk, sedangkan daging masak dan elok ada di sisi mereka.
Menurut Jibril, mereka adalah lelaki dan perempuan yang melakukan zina sedangkan lelaki dan
perempuan itu masing-masing mempunyai isteri atau suami yang sah (al-‘Asqalani, 2003: 7/253; al-
Haythami, 2001: 1/92). Selain itu, Rasulullah s.a.w. juga menyaksikan sekumpulan manusia yang
sedang mengumpul kayu api, mereka tidak mampu untuk memikulnya, namun mereka terus
menambah beban kayu tersebut. Keadaan ini adalah gambaran bagi orang yang gagal menunaikan
amanah yang dipertanggungjawabkan ke atas mereka (al-‘Asqalani, 2003: 7/254; al-Haythami, 2001:
1/92). Sebenarnya, kesemua peristiwa ini memberi gambaran yang jelas kepada umat Islam bahawa
setiap amalan buruk yang dilakukan di dunia, pasti mendapat balasan yang selayaknya di akhirat
kelak. Setibanya di Masjid al-Aqsa, Rasulullah s.a.w. turun daripada Buraq dan kemudian masuk ke
dalam masjid lalu mengimamkan solat yang disertai oleh sekalian para nabi dan rasul yang terdahulu
daripada baginda s.a.w. (Ibn Kathir, 2007: 52). Peristiwa ini jelas menunjukkan bahawa martabat
Rasulullah s.a.w. itu amat tinggi, sesuai dengan kedudukannya sebagai rasul terakhir buat sekalian
umat manusia.

Selepas peristiwa Isra’, Rasulullah s.a.w. didatangkan dengan Mi‘raj iaitu sebuah tangga yang indah
dari syurga (Ibn Kathir, 2007: 55). Rasulullah s.a.w. dan Jibril naik ke langit dunia dengan
menggunakan Mi’raj tersebut. Seterusnya baginda s.a.w. dan Jibril menaiki setiap tingkatan langit
dunia yang terdiri daripada tujuh peringkat dan bertemu dengan para rasul terdahulu daripada baginda
s.a.w. Pada langit pertama, Rasulullah s.a.w. dan Jibril bertemu dengan nabi Adam a.s. Di langit
kedua, Rasulullah s.a.w. dan Jibril bertemu dengan nabi Yahya a.s. dan nabi ‘Isa a.s. Seterusnya, di
langit ketiga Rasulullah s.a.w. bertemu dengan nabi Yusuf a.s. Manakala di langit keempat, baginda
s.a.w. bertemu dengan nabi Idris a.s. Kemudian Rasulullah s.a.w. bertemu dengan nabi Harun a.s.
yang dikelilingi oleh kaumnya daripada kalangan Bani Israil di langit kelima. Di langit keenam,
Rasulullah s.a.w. bertemu dengan nabi Musa a.s. Akhirnya di langit ketujuh, baginda s.a.w. telah
bertemu dengan nabi Ibrahim a.s. yang sedang bersandar di Bayt al-Ma‘mur, iaitu sebuah tempat
untuk para malaikat melakukan tawaf (al-Mubarakfuri, 2000: 100). Selepas itu, Rasulullah s.a.w.
telah dinaikkan ke Sidrat al-Muntaha untuk bertemu dengan Allah s.w.t., iaitu untuk menerima
perintah solat lima waktu (Ibn Kathir, 2007: 57). Pada awalnya, Allah s.w.t. telah menfardukan ke
atas Rasulullah s.a.w. dan umatnya ibadah solat sebanyak lima puluh kali sehari semalam (al-
‘Asqalani, 2003: 7/256). Namun, dengan rahmat dan kasih Allah s.w.t., akhirnya solat telah
disyariatkan sebanyak lima waktu sehari semalam sahaja.

Selepas peristiwa Mi‘raj, Rasulullah s.a.w. dibawa turun ke langit dunia semula untuk kembali ke
Bayt al-Maqdis. Rasulullah s.a.w. telah dibawa menaiki Buraq untuk pulang ke Mekah pada malam
yang sama. Diriwayatkan bahawa kepulangan Rasulullah s.a.w. di Bayt al-Maqdis telah disambut
oleh para nabi dan rasul terdahulu sebagai satu tanda penghormatan terhadap baginda s.a.w. (Ibn
Kathir 2007, 58). Menurut Shaykh Abu Muhammad Ibn Abi Jamrah, antara hikmah Rasulullah s.a.w.
melalui peristiwa Isra’ terlebih dahulu, sebelum naik ke langit (Mi‘raj) ialah bagi membuktikan
bahawa baginda s.a.w. benar-benar telah melalui peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj. Ini kerana bagi
mereka yang ragu-ragu dengan kebenaran Rasulullah s.a.w., mereka telah meminta Rasulullah s.a.w.
menceritakan perihal Bayt al-Maqdis tersebut. Justeru, kebenaran yang diungkap oleh Rasulullah
s.a.w. dalam menceritakan perihal Bayt al-Maqdis secara langsung membuktikan kebenaran
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peristiwa yang dilalui oleh baginda s.a.w. selepas itu iaitu Mi‘raj ke langit (al-‘Asqalani, 2003:
7/255).

Sebenarnya, terdapat beberapa persoalan yang timbul iaitu sama ada peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj
ini berlaku melibatkan roh baginda s.a.w. sahaja ataupun jasadnya sekali. Ibn ‘Abbas serta majoriti
ulama berpendapat bahawa peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj ini dialami oleh Rasulullah s.a.w. secara
roh dan jasadnya sekali, dan bukan dalam bentuk rohnya sahaja atau melalui proses mimpi (Ibn
Kathir, 2007: 60). Pandangan ini turut dipersetujui oleh Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyah seperti yang tercatat
dalam kitabnya Zad al-Ma‘ad fi Hady Khayr al-‘Ibad (al-Jawziyah, 2003: 3/27). Perlu ditegaskan di
sini bahawa ayat pertama surah al-Isra’ juga telah menjelaskan bahawa peristiwa ini memang benar-
benar berlaku terhadap diri Rasulullah s.a.w. Justeru, secara jelas Allah s.w.t. menyatakan bahawa
berlakunya peristiwa ini adalah sebagai menzahirkan tanda-tanda kebesaran dan kekuasaan-Nya. Apa
yang lebih penting untuk difahami bahawa peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj merupakan satu peristiwa
yang membawa mesej bahawa setiap peristiwa yang dialami oleh Rasulullah s.a.w. pastinya
membawa makna dan pengajaran yang amat mendalam mencakupi aspek keimanan khususnya
berkaitan perkara-perkara ghaib.

3.0 Manipulasi al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj dalam kesusasteraan Arab

3.1 Al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah

Karya al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah adalah cetusan idea Badi‘ al-Zaman al-Hamadhani (M 398H) dalam
antologi maqamatnya. Ia mengisahkan seorang watak utama bernama ‘Isa ibn Hisham. Kisah ini
bermula apabila ‘Isa ibn Hisham kehilangan untanya. Lalu dalam usaha mencari unta tersebut, beliau
telah menjumpai satu kawasan yang amat indah dan tidak pernah dilihatnya sebelum ini. Tempat
tersebut dipenuhi dengan pokok-pokok yang menghijau dan merimbun, sungai yang mengalir
daripadanya air yang jernih, buah-buahan yang bergantungan, dan bunga-bungaan yang bercahaya.
Dalam keasyikan menikmati suasana yang amat indah itu, ‘Isa ibn Hisham telah terserempak dengan
seorang tua yang sedang duduk beristirehat. Setelah menemui si tua itu dan menceritakan
masalahnya, ‘Isa ibn Hisham telah diminta untuk memperdengarkan kepadanya bait-bait syair
daripada penyair Arab yang terkenal seperti Imr al-Qays, ‘Abid, Labid, Tarfah, Jarir dan Abu Nuwas,
lalu dipenuhi permintaan tersebut. Apabila tiba kepada syair Abu Nuwas, ‘Isa ibn Hisham mendapati
si tua tadi memukul gendang tanda gembira mendengar syair tersebut. Lalu ‘Isa ibn Hisham bertanya
kepada si tua tentang kelebihan syair Abu Nuwas berbanding syair-syair yang lain, sedangkan Abu
Nuwas merupakan seorang yang bersifat fasik atau dengan kata yang mudah, beliau memiliki sifat
yang tidak baik untuk dibanggakan dan dicontohi. Lalu si tua itu memberitahu bahawa setiap penyair
mempunyai iblisnya yang tersendiri sebagai pembantu, dan iblis bagi Abu Nuwas adalah dirinya
sendiri, lalu si tua tadi terus menghilangkan diri (al-Hamadhani, 2003: 208-212).

Daripada sinopsis karya ini, dapat dilihat bahawa terdapat unsur peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj yang
dimanfaatkan oleh al-Hamadhani secara jelas dalam al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah. Ini dilihat menerusi
beberapa titik persamaan yang terdapat dalam al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah dan peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-
Mi‘raj. Sebagai contoh, al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah memberi gambaran pertemuan seorang manusia
dengan iblis di alam ghaib serta mengambil tempat yang digambarkan seperti syurga. Si tua yang
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ditemui ‘Isa ibn Hisham turut diperlihatkan sebagai nabi Adam a.s. yang merupakan bapa kepada
umat manusia seluruhnya serta pernah tinggal dan merasai nikmat syurga sebelum diutuskan ke
dunia. Jika dilihat dalam peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj, Rasulullah s.a.w. diriwayatkan telah
bertemu nabi Adam a.s. di langit pertama iaitu sebagai pertemuan pertama Rasulullah s.a.w. sebelum
menemui para nabi yang lain di langit yang seterusnya. Selain itu, jika diperhatikan secara mendalam,
peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj dikaitkan sebabnya dengan kehilangan dua insan yang amat rapat
dengan Rasulullah s.a.w. iaitu isterinya Sayyidatina Khadijah dan bapa saudaranya Abu Talib.
Manakala dalam karya al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah secara jelas, ia memaparkan bahawa sebab utama
kepada penemuan ‘Isa ibn Hisham dengan alam yang indah tersebut ialah kerana kehilangan untanya.

Justeru, dapat ditegaskan di sini bahawa para pembaca al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah yang mengetahui
peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj akan dengan mudah mendapati bahawa karya al-Maqamah al-
Iblisiyah lahir daripada manipulasi peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj. Walaupun mungkin bagi
sesetengah pembaca al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah yang tidak mengetahui peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj,
maka mereka tidak menemui pengaruh peristiwa ini dalam karya secara jelas, namun, al-Maqamah
al-Iblisiyah tetap dianggap sebagai sebuah karya yang secara terang memasukkan unsur penghinaan
terhadap peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj. Justeru, dapat disimpulkan bahawa pengaruh peristiwa al-
Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj dalam karya al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah secara jelas menjurus kepada penghinaan
yang semestinya memberi impak negatif terhadap akidah para pembaca karya tersebut khususnya
bagi mereka yang memiliki pengetahuan tentang peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj. Malah gambaran
tempat indah dalam al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah amat mirip dengan gambaran syurga. Selain itu,
menurut Muhammad al-Tunji, karya al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah telah memberi impak yang besar
dalam kesusasteraan Arab apabila muncul karya-karya lain yang turut memanfaatkan jalan cerita
peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj seperti al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘ dan Risalat al-Ghufran (al-Tunji,
1995: 126).

3.2 Al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘

Kisah al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘ pula merupakan sebuah kisah dalam bentuk puisi yang dikarang
oleh Ahmad bin ‘Abd al-Malik bin ‘Umar bin ‘Isa bin Shuhayd atau lebih dikenali sebagai Ibn
Shuhayd (382H-426H) (Ibn Khallikan, 1969: 1/69). Menurut Muhammad al-Tunji karya ini telah
dihasilkan pada tahun 403 Hijrah (al-Tunji, 1995: 126). Karya al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘
mengandungi mukadimah dan empat fasal yang menceritakan perihal jin bagi para penyair, penggiat
seni prosa, pengkritik sastera, manakala fasal terakhir menceritakan perihal haiwan milik jin-jin
tersebut. Sebenarnya, karya ini merupakan surat Ibn Shuhayd yang dikirimkan kepada sahabatnya,
Ibn Hazm bagi memberitahu akan keletihannya mengkaji dan menelaah karya-karya yang ditulis oleh
para karyawan zaman lampau. Perkataan al-Tawabi‘ berasal dari perkataan al-Tabi‘ yang merupakan
nama bagi jin yang sentiasa mendampingi manusia, manakala al-Zawabi‘ berasal daripada perkataan
al-Zawbi‘ah yang bermakna ketua sekalian jin, atau juga dikenali sebagai al-Shaytan (Hilal, 1983:
228; al-Tunji, 1995: 126). Menurut Butrus al-Bustani dalam mukadimah buku al-Tawabi‘ wa al-
Zawabi‘ yang dihurai olehnya, tujuan utama Ibn Shuhayd menghasilkan karya ini adalah untuk
menempelak para menteri dan karyawan lain pada zamannya serta untuk memperlihatkan
kehebatannya dalam menghasilkan karya sastera yang bersifat luar biasa apabila ia mengambil
suasana alam ghaib sebagai latar karya (Ibn Shuhayd, 1980: 70). Mustafa al-Shak‘ah pula
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menjelaskan bahawa sumber utama penghasilan karya al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘ ialah karya al-
Maqamah al-Iblisiyah (al-Shak‘ah, 1993: 682). Hal ini secara jelas membuktikan bahawa Ibn
Shuhayd turut mengikut jejak langkah Badi‘ al-Zaman al-Hamadhani dalam memanipulasi fakta
peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj dalam karya masing-masing. Malah Mustafa al-Suyufi menyatakan
bahawa al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘ mempunyai kaitan rapat dengan peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj
walaupun secara tidak begitu jelas jika dibandingkan dengan Risalat al-Ghufran karya Abu al-‘Ala’
al-Ma‘arri (al-Suyufi, 1985: 76).

Ibn Shuhayd menceritakan perjalanannya bersama seekor kuda yang hebat dan tangkas ke alam
ghaib, lalu bertemu dengan Zuhayr bin Numayr yang merupakan antara jin yang paling kuat dan
berkuasa. Kemudian kedua-duanya berbual mengenai kisah para khatib dan penyair Arab terkenal
pada zaman lampau. Selain itu, dikisahkan bahawa Ibn Shuhayd telah membuat satu permintaan
kepada Zuhayr bin Numayr untuk bertemu dengan jin-jin yang lain di alam tersebut. Lalu mereka
menunggang seekor kuda milik Ibn Shuhayd yang berwarna hitam serta amat tangkas dan hebat.
Mereka pun terbang dengan menggunakan kuda tersebut, dari satu tempat ke tempat yang lain seperti
terbangnya seekor burung yang bebas, sehingga mereka sampai di suatu tempat yang agak ganjil. Di
tempat ini, Ibn Shuhayd dan ketua jin tadi bertemu dengan beberapa jin lain yang merupakan jin-jin
kepada para penyair terkenal zaman Jahiliyah seperti jin Imr al-Qays, Tarfah, dan Qays ibn al-Hatim.
Selain itu, mereka juga bertemu dengan jin-jin bagi para penyair zaman Islam seperti jin Abu
Tammam, al-Buhturi, Abu Nuwas, dan al-Mutanabbi. Setiap kali berjumpa dengan jin-jin tersebut,
Ibn Shuhayd akan berbual mengenai syair mereka yang sememangnya memiliki keistimewaan
tersendiri, selain daripada mengambil ijazah atau pengiktirafan daripada mereka. Turut diceritakan
dalam al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘ bahawa Ibn Shuhayd telah bertemu dengan syaitan al-Jahiz, Badi‘
al-Zaman al-Hamadhani (pengarang al-Maqamah al-Iblisiyah) dan ‘Abd al-Hamid al-Katib.

Jika karya ini diteliti secara terperinci, ia amat jelas menunjukkan bahawa Ibn Shuhayd telah
memanipulasi fakta peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj yang dijadikan asas kepada penggemblengan
jalan cerita al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘. Secara jelas, pertemuan Ibn Shuhayd dengan jin-jin kepada
para penyair zaman Jahiliyah dan Islam menyamai peristiwa yang dialamai oleh Rasulullah s.a.w.
dalam al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj. Baginda s.a.w. telah bertemu dengan beberapa orang para rasul
terdahulu seperti nabi Adam a.s., nabi Idris a.s., nabi Musa a.s., nabi Harun a.s., nabi ‘Isa a.s., dan
juga nabi Ibrahim a.s. Pemanipulasian fakta peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj dalam karya ini juga
dapat dilihat secara jelas dengan penggunaan seekor binatang ajaib dalam pengembaraan Ibn
Shuhayd iaitu seekor kuda hitam yang hebat kerana ia dapat terbang seperti burung dari satu tempat
ke tempat yang lain dengan pantas (Ibn Shuhayd, 1980: 91). Keadaan ini menyamai peristiwa al-
Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj iaitu apabila Rasulullah s.a.w. menunggang seekor binatang daripada syurga
bernama Buraq yang memiliki ketangkasan dalam pergerakannya. Selain itu, pengembaraan ke alam
lain yang dialami oleh Ibn Shuhayd dengan ditemani oleh jin yang amat berkuasa bernama Zuhayr
ibn Numayr menyerlahkan lagi unsur al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj dalam al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘. Seperti
yang dimaklumi, Rasulullah s.a.w. telah ditemani oleh Jibril sepanjang peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-
Mi‘raj sehinggalah baginda s.a.w. mengadap Allah s.w.t. di Sidrat al-Muntaha.

Selain itu, sebagai pengukuhan kepada dakwaan bahawa berlaku proses memanipulasi peristiwa al-
Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj dalam karya al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘, secara mudah dapat diperhatikan apabila
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karya ini menjadikan alam ghaib sebagai latar karya. Maka semestinya perkara ini berlaku natijah
daripada usaha memanfaatkan fakta berkaitan peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj. Hal ini kerana akal
manusia amat terbatas dalam memikirkan sesuatu yang tidak mampu digapai oleh pancaindera yang
lima. Perkara ini turut diulas oleh Munjid Mustafa Bahjat yang menyatakan bahawa titik persamaan
yang amat jelas antara karya al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘ dengan peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj ialah
apabila kedua-duanya membicarakan satu situasi yang sama iaitu peralihan latar kisah dari alam nyata
ke alam ghaib (Bahjat, 2001: 223).

3.3 Risalat al-Ghufran

Risalat al-Ghufran merupakan sebuah karya terkenal dalam dunia kesusasteraan Arab yang
dihasilkan oleh Abu al-‘Ala’ al-Ma‘arri (363H-449H) pada tahun 424H (al-Ma‘arri, t.t: 387). Karya
ini terbahagi kepada dua bahagian iaitu yang pertama mengenai pengembaraan ke alam khayal,
manakala bahagian kedua lebih menjurus kepada surat yang diutuskan kepada sahabat yang dikenali
sebagai seni al-Rasa’il al-Ikhwaniyah (al-Ma‘arri, t.t: 46). Sebenarnya karya ini merupakan jawapan
kepada sepucuk surat yang diterima daripada sahabat al-Ma‘arri iaitu Abu al-Hassan ‘Ali al-Mansur
atau lebih dikenali sebagai Ibn al-Qarih (351H-421H). Perbincangan dalam bahagian ini akan
tertumpu kepada bahagian pertama Risalat al-Ghufran kerana jalan ceritanya merupakan hasil proses
manipulasi fakta peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj. Karya ini juga mempunyai persamaan dengan karya
al-Tawabi‘ wa al-Zawabi‘ sepertimana yang telah dibincangkan oleh Rahmah Ahmad dan Mohd
Shahrizal (2010). Karya ini memaparkan persoalan-persoalan yang diutarakan oleh Ibn al-Qarih
kepada al-Ma‘arri tentang kesalahan dan dosa-dosa yang dilakukan oleh manusia seperti
meninggalkan kewajipan agama, minum arak, menggunakan kata-kata yang mengghairahkan dalam
pengucapan dan sebagainya. Hakikatnya, kesemua bentuk kesalahan ini boleh membawa manusia ke
neraka sebagai penghuni yang kekal di dalamnya. al-Ma‘arri menulis risalahnya dengan menjadikan
Ibn al-Qarih sebagai watak utama bagi memberi penjelasan kepada manusia bahawa keampunan
Allah s.w.t. amat luas bagi mereka yang telah melakukan kesilapan kepada-Nya.

Justeru, Umar Farukh menyatakan bahawa tujuan al-Ma‘arri menulis Risalat al-Ghufran ialah untuk
menerangkan kepada manusia bahawa keampunan Allah s.w.t. itu amat luas yang secara tidak
langsung memberi galakan kepada Ibn al-Qarih untuk segera bertaubat (Farukh, 1992: 3/125). Dalam
Risalat al-Ghufran, al-Ma‘arri menyebut terdapat ulama yang berpendapat bahawa ramai penyair-
penyair zaman Jahiliyah mahupun Islam yang akan menjadi penghuni neraka, tetapi mereka boleh
masuk ke dalam syurga dengan sebab kerja-kerja sastera mereka, walaupun ada yang berpendapat
mereka adalah daripada golongan zindiq (Farukh, 1992: 3/125). Seterusnya al-Ma‘arri
membayangkan bahawa Ibn al-Qarih telah sampai ke satu tempat yang amat indah iaitu yang
digambarkan seperti syurga. Tempat ini dipenuhi dengan pokok-pokok yang merimbun dan dipenuhi
dengan kenikmatan seperti terdapatnya pelbagai jenis minuman. Minuman tersebut dihidangkan
menggunakan gelas-gelas emas, minuman-minuman itu pula dituang daripada jag-jag yang diperbuat
daripada zabarjad, selain tempat itu juga dihiasai dengan bunga-bungaan yang amat indah dan segar.
Gambaran ini secara jelas membuktikan bahawa terdapat pengaruh al-Quran yang dijadikan sumber
pembentukan imaginasi al-Ma‘arri ketika proses penghasilan karya Risalat al-Ghufran. Sama seperti
karya sebelum ini, dalam Risalat al-Ghufran, Ibn al-Qarih telah bertemu dengan beberapa orang
penyair zaman Jahiliyah yang berada di syurga. Para penyair tersebut berada dalam syurga
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disebabkan karya-karya mereka yang baik dan indah. Walaupun mereka hidup di zaman Jahiliyah,
namun mereka telah diberi keampunan atas segala dosa-dosa mereka dan seterusnya ditempatkan di
dalam syurga.

Di samping itu, dikisahkan bahawa Ibn al-Qarih sendiri telah menerima syafaat daripada Rasulullah
s.a.w. melalui perantaraan Sayyidatina Fatimah, lalu Ibn al-Qarih dibenarkan masuk ke dalam syurga
bagi meninjau keadaan syurga tersebut (al-Tunji, 1995: 129). Hakikatnya, keadaan ini secara jelas
menunjukkan al-Ma‘arri telah melakukan satu kesilapan besar kerana melibatkan ahli bayt dalam
karya imaginasinya. Seterusnya, Ibn al-Qarih dibawa melihat keadaan neraka bagi melihat keadaan
iblis yang menerima seksaan yang amat pedih daripada Tuhannya. Selain itu, al-Ma‘arri menyatakan
bahawa Imr al-Qays, ‘Antarah, Tarfah, al-Akhtal adalah antara penyair-penyair yang berada di dalam
neraka tersebut. Menerusi pengkisahan di neraka, dapat diperhatikan secara jelas bahawa al-Ma‘arri
telah memanfaatkan pengertian ayat al-Quran yang menceritakan gambaran seksaan penghuni neraka
dalam karyanya. Adalah tidak keterlaluan jika dikatakan bahawa karya Risalat al-Ghufran ini
mempunyai beberapa penyelewengan secara jelas terhadap fakta agama Islam, meskipun tujuan
utama penulisannya ialah untuk menyatakan bahawa keampunan Allah s.w.t. itu amat luas terhadap
hamba-Nya. Sesungguhnya perkara yang melibatkan penyelewengan fakta agama Islam harus
dipandang secara serius kerana ia membabitkan akidah yang merupakan antara perkara terpenting
dalam Islam serta tidak boleh sama sekali disalah tafsir mahupun ditokok tambah kesahihannya. Bagi
menjelaskan hujah bahawa Risalat al-Ghufran merupakan sebuah karya yang dimanipulasi daripada
peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj, kajian ini mendapati bahawa wujudnya beberapa persamaan antara
jalan cerita karya ini dengan peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj. Sebagai contoh ialah wujudnya
penceritaan tentang nikmat syurga dan azab neraka sepertimana yang disaksikan oleh Ibn al-Qarih
dalam Risalat al-Ghufran dan keadaan inilah yang telah dialami oleh Rasulullah s.a.w. semasa al-
Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj.

4.0 Manipulasi kandungan wahyu Ilahi

Hakikatnya, terdapat Qissah Qur’aniyyah yang telah dimanipulasi oleh beberapa orang karyawan
sastera dalam usaha memperlihatkan kehebatan karya ciptaan mereka. Perkara ini bukan sahaja
disandarkan kepada peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj sahaja, tetapi ia turut melibatkan beberapa lagi
kisah-kisah al-Quran seperti kisah nabi Yusuf a.s. dan Zulaykha, kisah Taufan nabi Nuh a.s. dan
beberapa lagi. Keindahan Qissah Qur’aniyyah yang dirakamkan oleh Allah s.w.t. semestinya didasari
oleh aspek benar dan mengandungi pengajaran baik (Mohd Shahrizal & Nurazan, 2014). Hal ini
menyebabkan Qissah Qur’aniyyah mampu dijadikan asas kepada jalan cerita karya seni yang
diadaptasi daripada peristiwa tersebut. Ini bermakna, masyarakat akan lebih mudah untuk mengikuti
jalan cerita serta mesej disebalik karya tersebut tanpa perlu membuat sebarang kajian atau penelitian
yang khusus. Sepertimana yang dimaklumi bahawa kesemua isi kandungan al-Quran sentiasa bersifat
benar, mampu difahami oleh akal fikiran manusia serta tidak terkeluar daripada ruang lingkup
kehidupan. Jika disoroti pada zaman permulaan Islam, sememangnya al-Quran telah memberi
pengaruh yang besar dalam perkembangan kesusasteraan Arab pada ketika itu.

Martabat al-Quran sebagai kalamullah amatlah tinggi. Justeru, al-Quran tidak boleh ditafsirkan
menurut akal fikiran manusia yang amat terbatas. Setiap peristiwa yang dirakamkan dalam al-Quran
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memiliki nilai keindahan yang tinggi bagi membolehkan sesiapa sahaja yang membaca dan
menghayatinya dapat memperoleh kebaikan daripadanya. Setiap peristiwa dalam al-Quran membawa
mesej benar dan jauh daripada sebarang bentuk khayalan dan imaginasi karut. Walaupun kadang-
kala peristiwa tersebut menjangkaui batas fikiran manusia, tetapi ia semestinya jauh daripada
khurafat yang menyesatkan. Sebagai contoh, peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj yang dibincangkan
dalam kajian ini, ia merupakan salah satu daripada beberapa buah Qissah Qur’aniyyah yang faktanya
menjangkaui batas fikiran akal manusia. Namun, kepercayaan terhadap peristiwa ini yang termasuk
dalam perkara-perkara ghaib (al-ghaybiyyat) menjadi titik-tolak kepada pembuktian keimanan
seseorang kepada Allah s.w.t. Justeru, sebarang bentuk usaha memanipulasi peristiwa benar yang
dirakamkan dalam al-Quran adalah sesuatu yang amat bertentangan dengan akidah Islam. Perlu
ditegaskan di sini bahawa, perkara ini tidak bermakna manusia tidak boleh mengambil idea daripada
isi al-Quran, tetapi jika ini berlaku, ia haruslah selari dengan konteks ayat itu diturunkan dan tidak
sesekali dicemari dengan imaginasi yang boleh merosakkan kesahihan dan kebenaran wahyu Ilahi
tersebut. Sebarang bentuk adaptasi Qissah Qur’aniyyah dalam karya sastera perlu selari dengan
konteks atau tujuan ayat tersebut dinyatakan dalam al-Quran, manakala sebarang bentuk usaha
memanipulasi Qissah Qur’aniyyah perlu ditolak secara tuntas agar kesucian al-Quran dapat terus
dijunjung dan keteguhan iman khalayak pembaca dapat dipelihara.

5.0 Penutup

Peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj merupakan salah satu daripada tanda-tanda kekuasaan Allah s.w.t.
yang tidak dapat dijangkau oleh fikiran manusia yang amat terbatas. Hal ini dijelaskan oleh Allah
s.w.t. menerusi ayat pertama surah al-Isra’ yang menegaskan bahawa tujuan utama berlakunya
peristiwa ini ialah untuk memperlihatkan sebahagian daripada tanda-tanda kebesaran Ilahi. Tidak
dapat dinafikan bahawa kehebatan peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj ini telah mempengaruhi dunia
kesusasteraan Arab. Perkara ini bertitik-tolak daripada hasrat para karyawan yang mahu
memperlihatkan kehebatan masing-masing dengan penciptaan sebuah karya yang melangkaui batas
kemampuan akal manusia untuk menghasilkannya. Walau bagaimanapun, usaha memanipulasi
peristiwa al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj dalam karya-karya sastera yang dibincangkan dalam artikel ini perlu
dilihat sebagai satu perkara yang boleh merosakkan akidah pembaca yang beragama Islam serta
memberi imej buruk terhadap Islam sendiri. Justeru, usaha mengkaji dan menolak karya yang
mempunyai elemen pemanipulasian Qissah Qur’aniyyah perlu terus giat dijalankan agar kesucian al-
Quran dapat terus dipelihara. Dalam masa yang sama, adalah menjadi tanggungjawab setiap individu
Muslim khususnya yang terlibat dalam dunia kesusasteraan agar sama-sama berusaha untuk
menghasilkan karya-karya Islami yang secara langsung dapat menolak sebarang unsur-unsur negatif
berkaitan Islam dalam dunia kesusasteraan. Keadaan ini juga dapat dilihat sebagai satu usaha murni
dalam meningkat dan mengembangkan karya-karya Sastera Islam yang mampu menjadi wadah
penyampaian dakwah Islamiah kepada masyarakat pembaca.

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