Report on Malay Studies. 
By C. 0 . Blagden. 
(Read at the joint session of Orientalist Societies at 
Paris, July, 1920.) 
I have been asked to contribute a report on the progress of 
Malay studies in recent years. This is a branch of research that is 
not often mentioned in meetings of Orientalist Societies; it plays 
but a very small part by the side of larger subjects as India, Islam, 
China, and the like. I am glad, therefore, to comply with the re- 
quest. For practical reasons I must confine myself to Malay studies 
properly so called, excluding the numerous other languages and 
peoples of Indonesia. Even in regard to Malay studies proper, I 
can venture to deal only witli the work done by British scholars.: 
to take a wider range would occupy more time than I have at my 
disposal, and I must therefore omit from my survey the excellent 
work done by many eminent Dutch and other foreign scholars in 
This and the cognate lines of research. The Dutch, owing to their 
extensive possessions in Indonesia, naturally take the lead in this 
department, and their great names, among whom I cannot refrain 
from mentioning those of H. N. van der Tuuk and of my old friend 
Dr. H. Kern, will always be regarded with reverence. If I omit 
to deal with the work done by Dutch and other non-British scholars, 
it is not for want of appreciation but merely because I could not 
do justice to it in the time at my command. 
Within the last few years British research in this branch of 
studies has received a new and remarkable impetus. This has been 
due to several causes, but chiefly, to the fact that the growth of the 
British sphere of administration and influence in the Malay Penin- 
sula has brought home to the local Governments the desirability of 
encouraging by all possible means the systematic study of the 
Malay language and people. It was felt that the haphazard way 
formerly pursued of allowing individual officers of Government to 
pick up at first hand, each one for himself alone and without assis- 
tance, such information as he could acquire, was inadequate to the 
growing needs of our time. The interests of good administration 
demanded that an attempt should be made to collect and co-ordinate 
all such information in a methodical manner. The senior officers 
of Government realized that the younger men were tending to lose 
touch with native life. In former days a junior Government officer 
was often stationed in a district where he was the sole European: 
he was thus almost inevitably forced to learn something about his 
Malay neighbours. Nowadays that seldom happens: he is sur- 
rounded by European neighbours, and has not the same compelling 
incentive for interesting himself in the native population. His 
official routine duties also have increased materially and leave him 
less time and energy for individual research. 
Jour. Straits Branch R. A. Soc., No. 83, 1921. 
