Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir
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Munshi Abdullah Bin Abdul Kadir (1796-1854) was a Malayan writer. He was born in Malacca and died in Jeddah, in what is now Saudi Arabia (then part of the Ottoman Empire).
An ardent critique of the Malay political system of Kerajaan, Munshi Abdullah followed his father's career path as a translator and teacher of colonial officials in the Malay Archipelago, mainly the British and the Dutch. The term 'Munshi', means teacher or educator. It is interesting to note that Munshi Abdullah was not a Malay but was of Indian origin, or would be referred to as a Jawi Peranakan or as described by Malays then, Jawi Pekan.
Munshi Abdullah argued that the system of the Kerajaan was detrimental to the Malay individual as it was an impediment to the social improvement of the Malays. The Malay Raja was deemed as someone who was selfish with no concern towards his subjects to the extent they were treated like animals rather than humans. The idea of modernity and striving for excellence amongst the malay community stemmed from his ideas and stinging criticisms of the ancient Malay polity of the Kerajaan. Under the Kerajaan, the Malays were deprived of education and hence they were easily oppressed. Without education, they did not have the ability to question the injustice meted out to them and did not have the initiative to constitute changes in order to improve their lives.
Although the condemnation may be exaggerated, Munshi Abdullah's allegations were not without basis.
Munshi Abdullah wrote the Hikayat Munshi Abdullah, which remains a very reliable and accurate reference on early Malay history to this day.
