The vernacular press in the Straits
This short note by E. W. Birch, read at a meeting of the Society on 30 January 1880, provides a detailed account of the Jawi Peranakkan, the first Malay-language newspaper published in the Straits Settlements.
Summary
Birch describes the Jawi Peranakkan as a Monday publication with a circulation of approximately 250 copies, priced at 30 cents per copy or $5 per annum. Initially printed in manuscript and lithograph, it adopted Malay type from England after its first year. The paper’s tone towards the colonial government was generally non-hostile, with one notable exception: indignation at the “Holidays Ordinance” for omitting Ramzan Eed and Haji Eed (p. 193). Birch notes its literary significance in standardising the Malay language and unifying dialects (p. 193).
The bulk of the note is a detailed resume of the contents of a single issue dated 12 January 1880, which Birch uses to illustrate the paper’s editorial character. The issue included market prices, a Government Circular on the Malay College at Telok Blanga, a notice of the reprint of the Hikayat Abdullah, the death of the Datoh Klana of Sungai Ujong during his return from Mecca, commentary on the Moar disturbances, a correspondence column reporting an amok incident on the SS Japan, and news items drawn from the Straits Times, Rangoon Times, and London and China Express covering events from Java to Peru (pp. 193–194). Birch also notes the paper’s practice of rendering journalistic terms in Malay script or Arabic equivalents, and mentions a companion publication: a Mahomedan and English Comparative Calendar sold at ten cents per copy (p. 195).