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The Asian Centre

A CULTURAL CENTRE filled with books, audio and videotaped materials, slides, photographs; a haven of study and research; a press publishing papers, monographs, and books; an organizer of seminars and conferences, performances, exhibitions, film and video shows, lectures and demonstrations; a museum housing a collection of artifacts such as musical instruments, puppets, costumes, and handicrafts  with a special focus on Southeast Asia; a consultancy in specific areas of culture, providing instruction in relevant languages 

That was the dream of  Dr Ghulam-Sarwar Yousof,  a specialist in the performing arts of Asia. The doctor?s specialty is the  traditional theatre of South East Asia  His  lecturer, James Brandon, whose subject was Kabuki Theatre had told him to specialise in South East Asia which advice he took, graduating as a Ph D in Asian Theatre.  When he retired from the University Science, he decided that his collection of books should be the nucleus of a resource library (a research library) open to the public. The books filled the back rooms of a second hand bookstore in Dato Keramat Road. Dr Ghulam-Sarwar called the temporary home ?The Asian Centre?. 

Today the Centre?s library has some 20,000 books. They cover a wide range of subjects:  religions, philosophy, customs and traditions, literature, visual arts and performing arts. The focus is on Asia. Materials may also be found on Western literature, anthropology and New Age studies, including those on various  alternative healing sciences, and general works on the history and culture of  Asian countries. The special collections include those on Malay culture, and on Penang. 

There is a section on Asian literature, philosophy and religion with books on Java in 14th century, theatre in Asia and  SEA . A large section is devoted to Islam which includes Iqbal?s books on the Islam legacy, Islamic literature, the legacy of science and civilisation and Sufism, one of his major interests 

Although the emphasis is mainly on Malay and SEA cultural traditions,  the collection on Singapore and Malaysian literature is impressive with works by Oliver Thamboo, Kay Tiang Hong,  Cecil Rajendra, , Goh Po Seng,  and  Lee Kok Liang  and Ghulam-Sarwar?s own poems. Also in the collection are books on Sanskrit plays, Chinese geomancy, Northern Indian music, on Western philosophy  as well as Indian and Chinese books on healing ? alternative therapy (meditation mantras). English literature is represented by such writers as T E Lawrence and V S Naipaul, 

The Asian Centre, the full description of which should be ?a centre for South-east Asian culture with the concentration on Malay culture? houses the doctor?s documentation on the performing arts, his recordings of mak-yong music, his large collection of photos, slides, 
video, tapes of music and theatre and joget, his collection of audio-visual materials focusing on the Malay cultural heritage,  as well as musical instruments, and artefacts of various kinds. This is not surprising considering that the doctor?s special focus of interest is the traditional culture of  Southeast Asia, and in particular the traditional performing arts of the region.  But he stresses firstly, that the arts, and the traditional performing arts in particular,  cannot be studied  without reference to other aspects of culture, and secondly, that  compartmentalisation according to region  is neither totally feasible nor  always desirable. The Asian Centre?s range of secondary interests must therefore extend  beyond  Southeast Asian performing arts into other related disciplines. 

But to be effective the Centre needs money. Until that comes Dr Ghulam-Sarwar?s savings maintains the Centre. The odd project relies on sponsorship and grants. But Dr Ghulam-Sarwar is an enthusiast. He wants his Centre to bring about a greater awareness and understanding of Asia?s rich cultural heritage, not only to preserve and conserve 
traditional art forms but to stimulate research in our beliefs, customs and manners, religion, literature and folklore, performing arts and fine arts. He hopes to foster and stimulate the development of the creative and interpretative talents of indigenous artists as well as of 
persons working in the contemporary arts and  make accessible relevant materials in the  form of artifacts as well as published and unpublished works. The setting up of a cultural foundation, securing financial independence will make all this come true. 

Dr Ghulam-Sarwar, a linguist, is equally at home in English, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil and Malay. His output of poems, plays and short stories reveal him to be a man of boundless energy. In 1982, a collection of poems, Perfumed Memories, was published in Singapore; a selection of writings, Mirror of a Hundred Hues is soon to be published. In 1997, the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism published his Biography of a Master Puppeteer. Lectures are organised, the one on Reiki, the Japanese  art of healing, was particularly popular. He has done a video film of festivals in Penang, commissioned by the Penang Museum; he has been asked by the ministry to organise a course on play writing;  together with The Bookshop he has organised a reading for a Lee Joo For play, and there will be poetry reading at The Bookshop. Help is given to students who come into the Centre for guidance to fit in with their lessons in school,  writing on mak yong and workshop discussions. 

The Asian Centre is also a publisher. Its Muzik Malaysia: Tradisi Klasik, Rakyat dan Sinkretik by Patricia Matusky and Tan Sooi Beng  was used by the education ministry when they started music education in 40 selected schools in Penang. So also is a simpler version in two volumes, Muzik Wayang Kulit Kelantan. (In Malay, 1998) Patricia Matusky and Hamzah Awang Amat 

The good doctor is also active in outer space: he runs two websites: 
www.theasiancentre.com and www.malayculture.org

Dr Ghulam-Yousof indeed deserves the Maal Hijra Award for culture, awarded this year 

Thanks to an English University the Asian Centre and its vast collection has moved into larger premises in Glugor.  But to be fully useful the Asian Centre needs staff and until the setting up of a foundation it will be starved of funds. # 

Books published by The Asian Centre

*Patricia Matusky:  Malaysian Shadow Play and Music: Continuity of an Oral Tradition. 

*Tan Sooi Beng: Bangsawan: A Social and Stylistic History of Popular Malay Opera. (Reprint, 1997)

*Patricia Matusky & Tan Sooi Beng: Muzik Malaysia: Tradisi Klasik, Rakyat dan Sinkretik. (In Malay, 1997). A scholarly study of the traditional roles and instruments of the vocal and orchestral, classical, dance, wayang and court music of Malaysia. 

*Ghulam- Sarwar Yousof: The Malay Shadow Play: An Introduction. (1997).  This short study focuses mainly on the wayang kulit siam of Kelantan with drawings and photographs. 

*Tan Sooi Beng and Patricia Matusky: Pengantar Muzik Malaysia Buku I. (In Malay, 1998).  An illustrated account of the various strands which make up the fabric of traditional and popular Malaysian music includes drawings, and scripted melodies and gamelan stoppings. 

*Machiko Nakayama:  Origins of IKEBANA Philosophy, (1999)ISBN 983-9499-06-8, a pioneer work on the philosophies associated with the important role ikebana practices has played in Japanese development. The author finds the 7 point motif in some temples in Penang 

*Patricia Matusky and Hamzah Awang Amat. Muzik Wayang Kulit Kelantan. (In Malay, 1998).   The country?s leading dalang and Matusky describe the traditional orchestra and music used in Kelantan Wayang Kulit performances. 30 songs/introits are given in tonic solfa and in scored notation. In Malay. This has become a University text book. 

*Machiko Nakayama:  Origins of IKEBANA Philosophy (in Japanese)

*Grace Chang: A Promise Kept : an account of four visits to China. # 

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