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Ri char d Ol af W i nstedt | Infopedi a
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Richard Olaf Winstedt (mailto:?subject=Richard%20Olaf%20Winstedt&body=I%20thought%20you%20might%20find%20this%20interesting.%3A%0ARichard%20Olaf%20Winstedt%20(http%3A//eresources.nlb.gov.sg/inf (https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http%3A//eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1629_2010-01-30.html) (https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?hashtags=NLB&original_referer=http%3A//eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1629_2010-01-30.html&text=Richard%20Olaf%20 (https://plus.google.com/share?url=http%3A//eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1629_2010-01-30.html) (http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1629_2010-01-30.html) Richard Olaf Winstedt (Sir) ( b. Oxford, England, 2 August 1878 – 1878 – d. London, England, 2 June 1966 ), ), was a colonial administrator and scholar. He introduced numerous reforms
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as director of education for the Straits Settlements but is better remembered for his contribution to the study of Malayan folklore, history and language, language, on which he published hundreds of works over a 50-year period.
Raffles College (http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP _1797_201 _1797_2011-03-15.h 1-03-15.html) tml)
Early years Winstedt studied at Magdalen College Scho ol and New College, Oxford. He joined the Colonial Service and requested posting to the Federated Malay States, arriving in
Raffles College was set up at 469 Bukit Timah Road in 1928 as a college for higher education in the arts and sciences. ...
Taiping in late 1902. Sarah Winstedt Civil service Early career In 1903, he became an assistant schools ins pector in Perak. Visiting Vis iting remote villages by raft, bullock cart, elephant, and even more u nusual (at that time ) bicycle, he rarely saw
(http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP _1832_201 _1832_2011-08-25.h 1-08-25.html) tml) Sarah Mary Josephine Winstedt, née O’Flynn (Dr) (b. 4 April 1886, Six Mile Bridge, County Clare, Ireland–d. 9 September ...
other Europeans, which helped him to master the Malay language. From 1904, he was assistant district officer in a series of Perak towns. After nearly dying of blood poisoning he became district officer for Kuala Pilah, in Negeri Sembilan. Here, H ere, he attended many rural functions and became very familiar with local culture. This knowledge of Malays' language and customs prompted his appointment as assistant director of education for Malay schools in the Straits Se ttlements and Fede rated Malay States in 1916. Education and Johore After fact-finding trips to Java and the Philippines he recommende d a greater focus o n handicrafts and horticulture to equip Malays for kampong life. He was largely responsible for founding Sultan Idris Training College in Tanjong Malim, Perak, to address the shortage of Malay teachers, and later established a Translation Bureau to prod pro duce Malay texts. I n 1924, he became Director of Education. His insistence on
Richard James Wilkinson (http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP _1681_2010 _1681_2010-07-16.htm -07-16.html) l) Richard James Wilkinson (b. 29 May 1867, Salonika, Greece–d. 5 December 1941, Izmir, Turkey) was a colonial administrator ...
William G. Shellabear (http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP _156_2005-01 _156_2005-01-26.html -26.html) William Girdlestone Shellabear (b. 27 August 1862, England¬–d. 16 January 1947, Hartford, Connecticut, United States) ...
schooling Malays in Malay, lowering of the school-leaving age and focus on vernacular subjects like basket-weaving, designed to preserve their traditional lifestyles, was later
Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic
criticised for hindering their advancement. This conservative approach was exemplified
Society
in a contemporary’s remark that the system aimed to make the sons of farmers and fishermen better farmers and fishermen. However, he also widened the curriculum for girls, recruited more inspectors to enforce new standards and centralised the supply of textbooks to ensure comprehensive
(http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP _1172_20 _1172_2009-10-30.h 09-10-30.html) tml) The Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society was founded in November 1877 to research and document information relating ...
distribution. One of his own texts, a moral primer, was used in British schools. He drafted the first Education Code and assembled an expert staff which helped him to master every aspect of educational issues. Although he was more interested in elementary education he helped establish Raffles College and was its first president from 1921 until 1931 and chaired a committee which finally secured the College of Medicine’s financial footing in 1928. As Director of Education he sat on the legislative and federal councils of the Straits Settlements and FMS.
Constance Mary Turnbull (http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP _1382_2008 _1382_2008-12-31.htm -12-31.html) l) Constance Mary Turnbull (Professor) (b. 9 February 1927, Northumberland, England–d. 5 September 2008, Oxford, England), ...
In 1931, he became General Adviser to the State of Johore. At the sultan’s request he extended his stay then retired and received a knighthood in 1935. Scholarly work
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Lexicography Winstedt’s fascination with Malaya and ample vocabulary led him to assist the distinguished scholar-administrator Richard Wilkinson with research before publishing his own works. In Perak he met a celebrated poet who interested him in court ceremony and an illiterate old Bugis village chief whose many hours of stories Winstedt transcribed and published. Working in his spare time, Winstedt collected vast amounts of original material and would publish articles on Malay folklore, arts and crafts, law, religion, archaeology and beliefs and customs. During Winstedt’s long recovery from blood poisoning Wilkinson recommended studying Malay grammar. The result was possibly his most significant book, Malay Grammar, published in 1913. The book established his reputation and earned him from Oxford University the first British doctoral degree for a Malay topic in 1920. He also published a three-volume English-Malay dictionary between 1914 and 1917 and would later produce several more, including an all-Malay dictionary over forty years later. Other notable works included Shaman, Saiva and Sufi, a study of Malay magic (1925). Histories Winstedt had co-authored a short history of Malaya in 1918, later adapted for school use, which reiterated for Malays the sometimesforgotten distinction between legend and history. He focused on history more seriously during his final years there. A project to establish the sultan’s genealogy led to a history of Johore, soon followed by histories of Riau, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Malaya. The last
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