A woman’s passion in preserving the wealth of priceless ancient Malay manuscripts

British-born and Brunei-raised historian Dato’ Dr Annabel Teh Gallop has been the global ambassador for the golden heritage of the Malay language for over three decades, traveling the world to promote ancient manuscripts of the language in a way few have.

Elected as a Fellow of the British Academy in Sep 2019 for her distinction in the humanities and social sciences in her work on the writing traditions, book cultures and the art of the Qur’an in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean world; Malay and Indonesian manuscripts, letters, documents and seals, and comparative Islamic diplomatics, she is currently employed as the Head Curator for Indonesian and Malay Affairs in the South and Southeast Asia Department of the British Library.

Dr Gallop has been digitizing priceless, Malay documents of yore to make them readily available to anyone interested in learning more. Her work has revived interest in ancient Malay manuscripts, rich for not only their prose but also the designs and unspoken words on their pages.

She has been the world’s leading expert in the study and history of ancient Malay letters and manuscripts, Malay seals and documents since she completed her doctorate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, in 2002 with the thesis, ‘Malay Seal Inscriptions: A Study in Islamic Epigraphy from Southeast Asia’.

Today, her remarkable catalog of over of 2,168 Malay seals sourced from more than 70 public institutions and 60 private collections worldwide originating from the Islamic World of Southeast Asia from the second half of the 16th century to the early twentieth century has been published by National University of Singapore (NUS) Press, in  association with the British Library and Lontar Foundation in Indonesia. Her publication is also being sold and distributed in the United Kingdom by Bernard Quaritch Ltd, rare book and manuscript distributor and in North and South America by Chicago University.

Dr Gallop’s passion for history and Malay studies shines through in her conversation with #biztechasia where she speaks how she stumbled upon these studies, the level of interest in Indonesian and Malay s studies globally, including how she digitalizes these priceless Malay documents to make them readily available to anyone.

Additionally, she shared:

• What winning the 2022 Merdeka Award Recipient for Outstanding Contribution to the People of Malaysia means to her and her work
• How Malaysian corporations can do their part to preserve these precious Malay documents
• The accomplishments that she’s most proud of to date

This conversation is part of our partnership with the 2022 Merdeka Award.

Guest: Dato’ Dr. Annabel Teh Gallop, Head Curator for Indonesian and Malay Affairs in the South and Southeast Asia Department of the British Library.

Host: Brian Fernandez

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