Page 997 - Proceedings Collega2023

THE SWETTENHAM PAPERS: THE SIGNIFICANCE AND ERRORS IN

DOCUMENTATION

Nabila HASSANAH*
1
Tatiana DENISOVA
2
RZS-CASIS, University Technology Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1,2
nnhassanah@gmail.com
1
denistat@hotmail.com
2

ABSTRACT
The Swettenham Papers is a collection of documents belonging to Frank Swettenham (1850-1946)
which resides in the National Archives of Malaysia. His authority and significance to Malay studies is his
mastery in the Malay language, direct communication with the Malay people; and his writings and records
pertaining the Malay people as a British colonial official. He seeded the idea of the Federation of Malay
States and became its first Resident General. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the significance of
this collection as a primary source in Malay studies from a colonial perspective, highlight the creativity and
sustainability features of the Malay people and bring forth discovered errors pertaining documentation.
The methods used were qualitative where the collection had undergone a physical examination, and a
visual examination, thus, it was cross-examined and analysed. The results are the Swettenham Papers is a
significant primary source in studying Frank Swettenham and his writings and records regarding the subject
matter of Malays.

Keywords: National Archives of Malaysia; Swettenham Papers; Colonial Malay History; Archival Records;
Malay Creativity and Sustainability; Documentation

Introduction

Frank Athelstane Swettenham (1850-1946) (1886), KCMG (1897), GCMG (1909) was the first
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Resident General for the Federation of the Malay States, an idea he had seeded. He spent 32 years 9
v
months and 9 days from 18 July 1870 to 12 October 1903 (Colonial Office Treasury 1903) in service as a
British Colonial Official in the Malay States. Among his other major contributions were the railway
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system, replacing debt-slavery with Indentured Labour ; opposing the Malayan Union; and his corpus
of writings. The significance and authority of his writings is his mastery in the Malay language which was
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the founding-stones in his career, the direct communication he had with Malays of various social levels,
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and the friendship with the Malays that was churned from the various position and titles he held. He
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was also mainly the prime Malay translator, Main Malay Advisor on Malay Affairs; and British Resident
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for Perak and Selangor.
International Conference on Local Wisdom of the Malay Archipelago (COLLEGA 2023) Page - 984 -