CULTURAL INFORMATION WITHIN THE CONTEXT...

CULTURAL INFORMATION WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE MALAYSIAN NATIONAL

INFORMATION POLICY'

HI'

SHAHAR BANUN .IAAFAR**

AHSTRAK Kerras kerja illl 1/J(,lIlbincol1gkllll pelhagai aspek dasar negara berkaitan dengan kebudayaan dan hubungkaitnya dengan

Dasar MaklulI/at Negara. Perkembollgall teknologi reiah membawa kepada pelbagai perubahan da/am saluran penyebaran dall penggl.llw(/n lIIakfulII(ft dan ilmu seterusllya merubah budaya sehuah masyarakat. Dosor Maklumat Negara perlu

mengambilkira pembel1111knl1 Injraslruklur Maklumar dan Ilmu dalam /legaro yang akan berangkaian denagn lnfrastruklur Maklumot Sertl/1/al/ serla juga In!rastruktur Maklumat Global. Bagi maksud illi, Malaysia periu menggalakkan sistem

peluioktlmellrasian, Jwmbel1lukclll sumber ilmu digital dan pangkalan data khususIlya mellgenai kebudayaan. Malaysia kaya dengan sumber mak/uma/ berkaitan dengan kebudayaan tempatan, !!amlln begitu kebanyakan sumba ini masih dalam

benluk lisan. dan be/11m laakam secara siSlematik dan didokumenkan untuk kemlldahan rlljukan yang boleh dicapai secm'a elektronik. Kerlas illi jllga ada menyenaraikan beberapa pangkalan data dan sumber maklumat mengenai kcbudayaan dari

lamanweb dalall1l1egara serra menjelaskall secara sepinras lalu usaha yang perfu unruk pembentukan Injraslruklllr Maklwnat dan 11111/,/ KeballgSQQll dan usaha ke arah pengwujudan rangkaian maklumat serantau dan secara global,

INTRODUCTION

En alaysia is located in the heart of South..... east Asia. It consists of the Peninsular Malaysia and the states of Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territory of Labuan in the northwestern coastal area of Borneo Island. The South China Sea separates the two regions. Antiquity writers once referred to the Peninsular Malaya as the Golden Chersonese. Malaysia central geographical position in Southeast Asia has been responsible for many changes over the century in term of political, economic and cultural influences coming from its neighbouring nations as well as from the West.

Malaysia is a land of diversity. It is a land of diverse races, diverse languages. diverse

cultures and diverse religions. It has a total

population of 21 millions consisting of the Malays, Kadazan, Dayaks, Bajaus, Melanaus, Muruts, Chinese, Indians, Eurasians and aborigines. The official language of Malaysia is Bahasa Melayu. However, different ethnic grou ps speak their own dialects . Its multi-racial population practice various religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism and Christianity. Under the Federal Constitution, Islam is the official religion of Malaysia but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony. Each ethnic group has its own beliefs and practises its own cultures. The Malaysian culture places high value on courtesy, moderation and harmony, harmonious and cordial relations among family members, neighbours and community. As Malaysians respect each other's beliefs and faiths, cultural and religious festivals and other auspicious occasions are regarded as important festivals. Gotong-royong or

Paper presented at lht: 2".1 Asia-Pacific Cl1ltural Forum and pi Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting of the Culturelink Network, 10-12 March 1998, Seoul. Korea

** Depl1ty Director Gencr<ll. Perpllstakaan Negara Malaysia

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Hakcipta Terpelihara © 1998 – Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia


community participation is a basis for community life in Malaysia and this is being practised especially in the rural community.

The 1991 census showed that about 51 % of the Malaysian populations res ided in urban areas compared with 34% in 1980. Urbanisation brings about changes in it s population. The re sult of the 1996 survey of Readin g Habits among Mala ysian s indicates th at th e lit eracy rate of Malay s ian is 93% . Mala ys ia is expected to achieve 100% literacy rate by the year 2010. The survey also indicates that about 21 % of Malaysia's urban population have accessed to computers.

CULTURAL AND INFORMATION POLICIES

The Malaysian government recognises that cultural programme s are in s trumental to improve the quality of life and to promote national integration . The ro le of culture is to enrich national identit y, s tren gt hen cultural understanding among different ethnic groups and inculcate consciousness and appreciation of arts and culture among the people. In an attempt to establish national unity acceptable to all citizens, rega rdle ss of ethnic origins or religion affiliations, the government introduced " Rukunegara" (Mal aysi an nationhood ) as pillars of national philo so phy. The "Rukunegara" is guided by 5 principles, namely: (a) believe in God; (b) loya lty to the King and the country; (c) uph o lding the supremacy of the constitution and rules of law; (d) mutual respect; (e) moralit y and good soc ial behaviour. All Mal ays ians are enc o uraged to incul cate a deep respec t for moral values and adopt them as a code of conduct.

The National Cul tltral Policy was formulated in 1971. Th e poli cy co n s i s ts of three important ele ments i. e. Malaysia g ives greater emphasis on c ultural programmes that enhance nati o nal id e ntity, promote

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national integration and unity as well as maintain racial harmony. The policy states that the base national culture of Malaysia is the Malay culture, however other cultures of different ethnic groups practise their own unique cultures. The objectives of the Malaysian National Culture Policy can be achieved by adopting the following strategies; (a) reviving, preserving and promoting national characteristics to strengthen the basic of the national culture; (b) promoting and strengthening cultural leadership and relations ; (c) establishing effective communication to foster nationalism among the people; (d) fulfilling the socio-cultural need s of the people; and (e) enriching the country's national culture development.

Vi s ion 2020 was introduced In 1990, whereby the government set a national agenda to attain a fully developed nation by the year 2020. Vision 2020 emphasises that Malaysia to be developed in all dimensions: a nation united and at peace with itself and with others, with its people strong in moral and spiritual values. The thrust is to develop Malaysia as an information-rich society, imbued with science and technology culture.

As Malaysia moves forward into the next millennium, where information technology is being recognised as the strategic resource and the prime mover of the global community, th e Malaysian government is aggressively promoting IT culture among its soc iety. The government of Malaysia is committed to develop Malaysia as a digital nation. A digital city, Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), located in an area of 15km by 50km stretching from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and the new capital centre at Putrajaya is being developed. The MSC will be the nerve centre for the development of Malaysia as a global economy anchored by an information-rich and knowledge society. It will be the headquarter for research and development , the des ign and marketing of multimedia indu stries. In thi s respect, the government is encouraging Malaysian software ho uses to develop Malays ia n loca l multimedia contents, which include Malaysian cultural heritage in multimedia formats. Cyber cities will be spreading throughout the country

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as every state takes initiative to develop its own IT c ity ce ntres. In future, each state will be able to highlight its own unique cultures in multimedia forms accessible through the Intemet or any computer networks.

In January 1996, Malaysia launched its own satellite - the MEASAT I and in December of the same year, the MEASAT II was l a un ched. The Satellite te c hnologies enable vast resources of multimedia knowledge. information and entertainment

to be transmitted to homes even in remote places. The ASTRO, Malays ian's own sate llite television channel, provides home viewers access to 30 TV channels 24-hour a day. Thus, the ASTRO provides Malay s ian v iewe r wit h additional te lev is ion and media se rvi ces, in additon to the exs isting 4 channels of radi o and television stati ons. Television and radio broa dcas ting form an import ant media for di sse minating and reinforc ing national culture to the gene ral publi c.

Th e advent of th e Inter ne t form s another comm uni cati on media that allows individual to exchange information interactive ly and to access globa l informatio n resources from any locations at any time of the day.

The Malaysian Government has passed a number of policies that are relevant to cu ltural development of th e cou ntr y, name ly th e Dasar Buku Negara (Natio nal Book Policy), the National Policy on Library and Informalion Services, Ihe National Film Policy and the Nalional Telecommunication Policy. The National Book Policy was passed in 1984. The policy a ims to improve the development of book industry in Malays ia. The Policy states that books publ ished in the country shou ld be of high quality that can stimulate intell ectual , soc ial and cu ltural developments of Malaysians. The National Policy on Lihrary alld In/ornw/ion Services was

passed in 1989. In line with th e government 's objectives to crea te a readin g and informed soc iet y, the Poli cy aims at the provi s ion and progress ive improvement of library services in o rd e r to co ntribut e e ffecti ve ly to national development. It also a ims to provide support for (a) the poli cy formul a ti o n a nd decisio n

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making proce ss; (b) planning, research and development activity ; (c) the educational process; (d) the intellectual and fulfilm e nt of cultural a nd rec re ational needs of the society. The policy States that, as part of the intellectual and cultural herit age of the nation, all library materials published and produced in the country shall be deposited and co nserved in accordance with legi s lativ e provi s ion s in force and made as accessible as poss ibl e. Library shall have provision to access to databases at the national and international level s. In order to reduce the nation 's depend e nc e on ex te rn a l sources of information, effective measures shall be taken: (a) to exploit national resources of inform a tion and de ve lop databa ses, particularly in major development sectors; and (b) to establish specialised information centres and systems in areas deemed to be of national importance. In 1997, the National Film. Po li cy was pa ss ed by th e government, which aims to raise the standard of Malaysian films in term of its aesthetics, quality and the industry to international standards . Among its objectives is to raise the quality of local films by emphasising the infu sion of good cultural and humanitarian values.

The Nalional Tele commun ica tion Poli cy was formulated in 1995 to ensure that the growth of telecommunication services and its use of technology to support national development in line with nati o na l aspirations. The Policy will be the main catal yst towards the creation of an information-rich and intelligent nation . Some of its objectives are to; (a) prov ide modern , sophist icated and qualit y te lecommunicati ons se rvices at affordable cost; (b) ensure that tel ecommunication serv ices are exte nd ed to th e urban and rural population; (c) increase communication links with other countries with the aim of making Malaysia an international telecommunication hubs.

LEGISLATION

Formulating Cultural Information Policy s hould ta ke into co n s ideration of the ex i s tin g legis lati ve provi s ions of the country as we ll as policie s related to culture and

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information. In term of legi slative provisions, the Federal Constitution states that all persons are equal before the law and entitled for equal protection under the law. The Federal Constitution gives special power to the Legislative Assembly of Sabah and Sarawak to establi sh a native COLIrt system in addition to the existing common laws. Both states have utili sed this power and set th e ir own Native Courts, co mplete with pro cedures and u s ing native law and c us to m s (adat) as its substantive law. Malaysia recogn izes that indigenous people reli ed upon their oral traditions where customs and rites were passed from one generation to ano th e r. Therefore, 3 legal systems coexis t - th e co mmon , syar iah and native law. The legal pluralism provides the necessary mec hani sm in protecting the cuitu ral he ritage of the indigenous people of Malays ia . The legal foundations of the Malaysian cultural policy are also derived from the following acts: (a) National Art Gallery Act, 1958; (b) National Archive Act, 1966, ( Revised 1971), (Revised 1993J,(c) Bernama Act, 1967, [Revised 1990}; (d) National LibrGlY Act, 1972, {Amendment ACI, 1987J, (e) Tou ri st Development Corporation of Malaysia Act, 1972; (f) Broadcasting Act. 1988. [Amendment Act, 1997J; (g) Antiquity Act, 1976; (h) Perbadanan Kemajuan Kraftangan Malaysia Act, 1979; ( i) Perbadanan KemajLlal1 Filem Nasiol1al Malaysia Act, 1981, {Amendlllent Act1984}. With the es tabli shme nt of Malaysian Multimedia Super Corridor, a seri es of Cybe rJaws bei ng in trod u cedi co n sidered, s uc h as the CopyrightAmelldmel1t Bill, the Digital SignafLlre Bill, the Computer Crime Bill to name the few.

INFORMATION FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPM E N T

It is widely acknow ledged that information is a key fac tor in nat iona l deve lop ment. One of the most important indicators for measuring the status of a developed nati on is the availability of a syste mat ic and in tegrated nati on-wide information system, which permits every individ ual to have easy and equal op portunity to access and utilize information. Information and knowledge are needed not only for academic pursuit but also for decision making

process, for effective technology transfer, for social and cultural development as well as for entertainment. Understanding of one's own culture as wel l as cu i t u re s of different countries will lead to better relationship among global communiti es. Hence, developing National Informat ion and Knowledge Infrastructure within a country is a s vita l as developing the nation' s physical infrastructure for economic progress. Many countries have taken initiatives to deve lop National I nformation Infrastructure (NIl). The foundation for d eve lopin g the National Infor m atio n Infrastructure in Malaysia should be an integration of all knowledge-based instituti ons within the co untry. The NIl should be linked up to the Regiona l Information National Information Policy (RII) and formed as an integral part o f the Global Info rmation Infrastructure (Gil). The development of the National Information Policy should take into account the existence of the NIl, the RIT and the GIl. Cultural information shou ld be a component of th e National In fo rm ation Policy. The aim is to ensure effective dissemination, delivery ancl use of information by all individuals in the nation .

Information comes in variou s med ia and formats such as in print forms and in electronic forms. In the last decades, there ha ve been tremendous developments in inform at ion technologies. The advent of new techn ologies such as affordab le powerful mi crocomputers/worksta tions, wit h mass ive storage media and multimedia capabi lities have c hanged the way informati o n is being processed and delivered. T he emergence of scanning, imaging and digital technologies allow photos and graphic documents to be converted into digital formats. The co nverge nce of powe rful technologies - computing, communicat ion and media creates an era of informedia. The lnformedia Revolution will chan ge the people work, play, entertain and conduct their everyday culture. Today children are leading the change into the 21" century using the new media that is centered on the Internet. The Intemet allows any indi vidual to explore g lobal in fo rm atio n resources from any place at any time. The Internet makes it possible for information to be transmitted across national and regional boundries. The ex pan sion of sa t e llit e



services enables e lectronic transmission of vast resources of knowledge and multimedia information to any remote places. All these developments will reshape how society and individual interact, thereby impos in g a new culture that is heavily dependent on interactive digital media. Globalization shapes the world co mmunity into a global village. Globalisation ex poses the societies to the wealth and diverse global information resources created by various countries. However, Malaysia lacks digital local information/databases that can be accessible through the Internet. The rich and diverse culture of Malaysia should be systematically documented and create databases that can be accessed by anyone. Malays ia needs to preserve its distinctive cultural heritage taking advantage of the enabling technologies, such as th e Internet and th e avai lability of digital techn o logy with compressed storage capabilities to develop digital culture information resources and databases that can be accessed by anybody. Deve loping a virtua l exhibition of our cultural heritage and our soc io cultural development will better und e rstand and apprec iation of our c ultures and cultures of other soc iety. The Developmen t of National Information should also stress the imp0I1ance in the systematic documentation of cultural informati on resources, preservation of c ultural he rita ge and th e c reation of cultural databases that can be linked to regional and intern a ti onal network s. There is a need to develop or adopt standards for documentation of development of c ultural he ritage available in var iou s formats a nd s tand a rd s for graphic presentation of cu ltu ra l products so that databases created at nati ona l leve l can be linked at regional and g lobal c ultural networks. Thi s will ensure accurate, timely and integrated information on culture that will beneht global soc iety.

CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS

Malaysia has ri ch cu ltural heritages. Much of its cultural heritages are recorded in variou s formatsmanusc ript s, artefac ts, sc ulptures, traditional motif and des igns on tex til es and jewellers, etc. Some of these items are kept in libraries, museums, archiY.es, art galleri es and cultural centres. There are also traditional so ngs and musics, poems and rhymes. legends, traditional herbs and oral traditions, which are handed down fro m generation to gene ration.

These rich heritages need to be documented for the appreciation of our future generation. Culture at its broadest term, may be considered to include every aspect of life. However, for this paper, culture is restricted to social and artistic aspects . Promoting, documenting, preserving and di sseminating cultural information of Malaysia are as follows:

(a) The Cultural Division of the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism is entrusted to be responsible for planning, coordinating and monitoring cultural programmes and activities at Federal and state levels to be consistent with the National Culture Policy. The Ministry has undertaken research and documentation works on various aspects of Malaysian cultural products. Some of the products of these research works are being published and so me are available as unpublished works. A Resource Centre complete with Data Bank is being set up to house comprehensive resources on Malaysia cultural heritage. There are about 1,800 cultural organisations in Malaysia. Efforts are being made to strengthen cu ltural networking among various cultural institutions and voluntary organisations through activities such as music and arts performances, cultural shows, creative writing, research and various conventions and symposia and language and literature. Cultural and art offices were established in all s tates to organise and manage cultural networking and initiate cultural activities with cultural associations. There are Arts and Cultural Centres in various cities in Malaysia.

(b) The Department of Museum and AI/tiquity is the official repository of the country 's cultural and natural history. Thi s was made poss ible through research and display of various items of interest relating to the country's history, culture and flora and fauna . The Department plans to deve lop databases on muse um products and to digiti se the rich photos/prints of museum cultural products and have a virtual exhibition of its cultural products in the near future.

(c) The National Art Gallery acts as the custodian of Malaysian 's artistics heritage as well as an initiator for the development of arts in the country. The Gallery is responsible for collecting Malaysian art works, organising art exhibitions locally and abroad and promoting

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the learning and deve lo pm en t of v isual art s among the Malay sian soc iety. The development of multimedia Malay s ia arts databases will contributes towa rd s th e ri c hness of Mal ays ian cultural heritage in digital for ms.

(d) The National Library of Malaysia (Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia) is responsible for acquiring and maintaining a comprehensive national collection of library resourc es reflect ing the intellectual , literacy and cultural herita ge of the nation. Its Malays Manusc ript Centre is responsible for identifying, documenting, preserving, collecting manu scripts (i n orig in al forms , in microforms or in facsimile) and und e rtak ing research on Malay manuscript s which are impo rtant co mponents of Malay sia 's lite rary and inte ll ect ual heritage. The National Library stri ves to be the Centre of Excellence for Informa t ion Resources on Malaysiana, thereby facilitating research pertaining to Malaysia. The National Library is also responsible for enforcing the Legal Deposit of Library Material Act, 1986 (Ac t A667) [ rormerly was Preservation of Book Act, 1966 j. The act requires all publ ishers in Malay sia to deposi t 5 cop ies of print mate rials (books, seria ls, maps and charts) and 2 co pies of non print material s (cinematography, film, microform, video , audi o recordings a nd other e lec tronic media) publi shed Iprodu ced in Malaysia to the National Library of Malaysia. Thus, the National Library of Malay sia acts as th e Deposiro fY Centre for local publi cat ion s that constitute the major portion of Malays ian literary and inte ll ec tual heritage. From the stati sti ca l records of materia ls recei ved under th e lega l deposit act, there are about 1,630 titl es of pub li ca ti o ns related to customs, folkl ore and traditions be ing published from 1966- I 996. The Nationa l Library promotes literary and cultural heritages through its activities such as organi s in g ex hibitions on cu ltura l and literary heritage, promoting children and youth theatres, publishing special bibliographies/catalogues on Malaysian cultures and through continuous use r educati on programmes. It has developed major biblio graphi c databases in Malaysian information resources that ca n be accessed through Int ernet and a r e a lso ava ilable on CD-ROM. In 1996, The Na t io nal Library with the coopera ti o n of Esso Malaysia , prod uced Puisi Kanak-Kanak dalam CD-ROM

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(Malaysian Nursery Rhyme on CD-ROM). Thi s CD consists of a compilation of Malaysian popular trad itional children nursery rhymes. The National Library has started a pilot project to di giti se its rare illuminated manuscript. A project to scan co llection of Mala y Champa manuscr ipt s is be in g done with th e cooperation of Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient France. In future, the National Library plans to digitize collections of it s rare photograph s on various cultural heritages and have it accessible thro ugh the Internet.

In addition to mass med ia and education system, librari es in Malaysia ca n play an important role

. as a catalyst of acc ulturation of cultural he ritage through the ir various promotional activities.

Malaysian libraries are beg inning to introduce IT for public to access databases and informati on resources throu gh Internet. Plan s to set up hypermedia centres in all the 14 state libraries as we ll as in branches and v illage libraries are underway. A nation-wide network of digital librari es integrating a ll types of librari es is being planned. As a fir s t step, the National Library of Malaysia has installed compute r with Internet facilities at all State Publi c Libraries. Th e re fo re , librarie s ca n act a s Cu ltur a l , Informedia and Edutainment Centres by providing vari ety of multimedia serv ices, which include cultural products in print and non-print. With ava il ability of modern technologies such as multimedia computers, libraries can encourage loca l youths to collect , compile and docume nt cultural heritage and these can be done through the use of multimedia computers. Systematic User Education Programmes that integrate use of IT and apprec iation of local cu ltural heritage are another means to inculcate IT appreciation of national heritage . Having virtual exhib ition on cu ltural products accessible through the Internet w ill nurture younger ge nerations to understand and appreciate their own cu ltural heritages.

(e) The National Archives of Malaysia co llects, sto res and preserves all re co rd s and information which has national value and hi storical heritage in accordance to th e National Archives Act. It also maintain s the Prime Mini s ter 's Museums. The National Archives is in the process

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of developing databases of its holdings, which include also digitisation projects of its important collections. Having a multimedia of information resource s on archival products will contribute to the richness of cultural information in the country in multimedia format s.

(j) The Karyaneka Exhibition and Marketing Centre was set up to display the richness of the Malaysian handi c rafLs of the various ethnic groups. It has deve loped database on Malaysian art and crafts as w e ll as Malay s ian textual design. However, thi s database is only available for refe rence at its ow n premise.

The Malays ian Government has al so set up facilities to house national artefacts of historical s ig nificance such as the National Historical Museum, Tun Abdul Razak Memorial, Tunku Abdul Rahman Memorial and Gallery Perdana. In addition, th ere are Foundations and Ethnic Cultural Centres that have collected their own unique cultural herirages in vari ous formats. A systematic programme on documentation , digitali sat ion and deve lopment of database and information resources of these cultural products will contribute to the ri c hn ess o f Malaysian cullural heritage in multimedia formats.

CULTURAL INFORMATION SOURCES AND DATABASES

Information so urces on Malaysian c ulture can be obta ined frolll librari es and resource centre of various cultural institutions. -Most of the abovemention ed c ultural instituti ons have developed inhouse databases for internal li se. Plans to link up variou s cultural ce ntres, academic in stitution s, research in stituti o ns, libraries, mu seum s, archives pri vate sec tor s that ha ve co llected differe nt aspects of cultural products of Malaysia is underway.

Some of th e major databases o n Malaysian c ultures ca n be accessed from Online Public Access Ca tal og u e CaPAC) of the National Library of Malaysia and major university libraries , especially the Uiliversiti Malaya Library, the University Kebangsaan Mala ys ia Library and the

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University of Science Malaysia Library. The National Library of Malaysia, for example, has developed the following databases:

(a) EINAR database - consisting of more than 210,000 bibliographic records of the National Library'S collections, with an annual update of approximately 5,000 records. Thi s database consists of approximately 265 entries on Malaysian culture, 920 entries on Malaysian music, 70 entries on Malaysian Drama, 42 entries on Malaysian festival s, 36 entries on Malaysian Dance, 12 entries on Malaysian traditional theatre, II entJies on Malaysian ethnobotany, 10 entries for Malaysian customs, 7 entries on Malaysian traditional medicine and 3 entries on traditional house.

(b) MENTARI database - consisting of about 55,000 records of index to se lect periodicals articl es publi shed in Malaysia, with an annual update of 7,000 records. There are approx i mately 20 entries on Malays ian culture, 30 entries on Malaysian traditional theatre, 28 entries on Malaysian traditional medi cine, 13 entries on Malaysian dance, 10 entries on Malaysian fes tival s, 5 entries on Malay s ian music, 3 entries on traditional house and 2 entries on ethnobotany.

(c) PANCARAN database - consi sting of about 9,000 record s of index of working papers presented at conferences and seminars held in Malaysia, with an annual in c rease of 1,000 reco rd s. There are approx i mately 4 3 e ntrie s on various aspec ts of Malaysian cultures.

There are also databases on CD-ROMs published by private sectors that contain rich cultural elements. These databases are Window to Malaysia .- an interactive odyssey from antiquity produced by Cosmopoint Sdn. Bhd., and Almanak Utusan 1996/ 1997 produced by Vtusan Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. In 1996, the National Library and ESSO (M) Sdn. Bhd. produced an interactive multimedia Puisi KanakKanak dalam CD-ROM (Malaysian Children Nursery Rhyme on. CD-ROM) which is a compilation of traditional children nursery rhym es of Malaysia. Software house, such as Mekktoon Sdn. Bhd. has produced Malaysian legend on multimedia CD-ROM. Some Schools of Information Science

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have encouraged their student to deve lop multimedia products focli s ing 011 Malays ian culture as themes.

The late 1980s and earl y 1990s saw the emergence of Internet that all ows linkages of global information sources. In Malaysia, MIMOS Bhd. initiated JARlNG (Joint Advanced Integrated Networking) as a research ne twork that linked to oth e r ne twork s around the world via dedi cated leased-lin e co nn ecti on o r the Internet. The ge ne ral aim s of th e JARING are to promote informati on exc hange and encourage c reation of publi c do main databases access ibl e thro ugh th e Inte rn e t at a ffo rd a bl e cos ts . The objectives of JARTNG are:

(a) to e s t a b li s han i n t e g rat e d d a t a communi cati on network s;

(b) t o e nhan ce multi-di sc iplin e R&D ac ti vities; and

(c) t o s tud y and ev al uat e th e use o f data communi c ati o n tec hn o l o gy and it s impact on th e socia-economic acti vities.

MIMOS ha s o utlin ed th e pro jec t statem ent of JARTNG as fo ll ows :

(a) to pro v id e t ra n spare nt a c c ess to th e global Int e rn e t ,

(b) at an a ff o rd a bl e and predict ab le cos t , (c) through a nati o n-wide netwo rk based o n

open stand ard s, (d) for th e purpose of nurturin g information

exc ha nges and database deve lopment , (e) in support of more creati ve and innovati ve

edu cati onal , researc h and comm ercial acti v iti es, and

(f) lea din g t owar d s th e c rea ti o n o f th e informati on- ri ch soc i ety .

Towards th ese ends MIMOS has jo intl y undertaken research and development programmes to establi sh linkages with vari o us in stituti o ns. Today, many libraries including researc h and acade mic libraries and individuals ha ve used JA RING ne two rk to

databases among its members, MIMOS is conducting training, work shops and seminars relatin g to I nterne l. Und e r th e JARINGAN project , th e fo llowin g information net work s have been deve loped:

la) Jaringal1 Penye/idikan (Research Networks) - a network among research in stitulions

in Malaysia ; Ib) Jaringan Pendidikall (Education Network)

a network among school s and the Ministry of Education;

Ie) Ja rin gal1. Awam ( Public N e twork ) - a ne twork o f informatio n of interest to th e general pu bli c;

Id) Jaringall Perral1.ial1 (Agriculture Network) - a network among agricultural instituti ons.

Ie) Jarill gan 1111111 (Kn owl edge Netwo rk ) - a network amon g libraries .

Since the introduction of JARING, institutions and variou s organi sati ons that are regi stered LInd er

JARING have developed websites and homepages to promote their corporate activities and programmes. However, information sources on Malays ian culture are rather di spersed and they are found in various websites. Cultural links may be found at the foHowing websites:

(a) http ://www.jaring.my.msialnewhp/genera l/ sc.html

(b) http://wwwjaring.myikolimy; (c) http://wwwperak.gov.my/; (d) http://www.selangor.gov.my (e) http://wwwpahang.com/ (f) http://wwwterengganu.gov.my/ (g) http://tourism.gov.my (h) http://wwwjb-online.comijohoriculture.htm; (i) http://tourism.gov.myical.html; (j) http://siI.org!ethnologue!counHies! mall .h tml ; (k) http://www.pmTI.my (I) http://spl.pnm.my/-arkib/ (m) http://spl.pnm.my/- muziumi (n) http://www.cc.um.edu.my/library.htmJ

access the global info rmation resources from remote Malaysia is planning to deve lop Cultura l Heritage location s. MIMO S is ac ti ve ly e nco ura g in g Information Sources as part of the above netwo rk s M a la ys ia n in stitut io ns to beco me inform at ion o r JARINGAN access ibl e th rough Intern et. Thi s provide rs by c reatin g publi c do main data bases network s should fo rm part o f the Reg ional and and to all o w me mb e rs of th e publi c to access G lobal Cultural Information Networks. At nati onal suc h databases . To fac ilita te tec hn o logy tra ns fe r level, the Cultura l Heritage Informati on Sources in th e useof co mput e r ne two rk s a nd deve lo ping should consist of the following: -

O==============================~=====--



a)

(b) (c) (d)

Directory of cultural and art centres which inc ludes: addres sess , personnel in charge, telephone. facsimile , email , core collections on culture and activities on culture; Legislation and polic ies on culture; Cultural coopGrati ons and networks; Virtual exhibition of se lected cultural produ cts - art s . des igns , c raft s, artefact, traditi on al architecture, rhyme, traditional mu s ic and mu sical eq uipment , traditional g am es .e tc. co mplet e wilh de sc riptions of each c ultural products;

(e) Archaeologi ca l sites, hi storic buildings and landmarks complete with descriptions;

(f) Expert s on cultural heritage co mpl ete with addressess and the ir ex perti se;

(g) Awards on cu lture; (h) On-going research and products of research; (i) Publicati onsire po rts on Malaysian culture; Ul Lege nd s, oral hi story and oral traditions; (k) Cultural products; (I) Ethnobotany; (m) Cultural event s; (n) Indi cators and budgets on culture; and (0) Hype rlink with other cultural information

resources at regi onal and international leve ls.

See appendix I.

ISSUES PERTAINING TO COMPILATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

Some of the issues that arise in developing Cultural Heritage Informati on Source are:

(a) Lack o f standard s on the description and graphic presentations of cultural products;

(b) Large portions of invaluable cultural heritage

(c)

(d)

(e)

are fast deteri orating due to poor maintenance and preservati on practices; Large po rt ion of cultural heritages are in oral traditions, so me are regarded as sacred; Most c ultural produ c t s are located in diffe rent institutions and most often they are not properl y documented; There arc proble ms of ducumentation and bibliographical control of this cultural he ritage es pecially at local and village leve ls: and

· SeRillir PerpW,llIlwllII

(f) Large portion of cultural heritage products are in private or individual hands and very little is known about it. There is a need for training on documentation of cultural information sources and database creation and on cultural information resources com p 1 ete wi th graphic presentation of cultural images.

REGIONAL CULTURAL NETWORKS

Development of cultural information policy should take into consideration with the existing cultural information networks in the region. There are a number of regional culture co-operations in the region of Southeast Asia such as ASEAN-COCI (ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information), CONSAL (Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians) , Regional Association of Archaeology and Fine Arts and UNESCO especially in the area of Memory of the World project.

(a) ASEAN-COCI

Malaysia is actively involved with the ASEAN-COCI (ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information). This committee provides a platform for mutual understanding and exchanging of ideas among 9 ASEAN member countries (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) through culture and information. The Committees of ASEAN-COCI include Working Committee on Visual and Performing Arts, Working Committee on RadiofTelevision and Film/Video, Working Committee on Literary Works and ASEAN studies and Working Committee on Print and Interpersonal Media. Each working Committee have undertaken research projects and produced publications on various aspects of ASEAN culture.

ASEAN-COCI has outline the second ASEAN Plan of Action for culture and information for 1997-2000, among which is that "ASEAN shall seek to conserve, preserve and promote the cultural and artistic heritage as an integral part of life and spirit in ASEAN. Towards this end, ASEAN shall seek to foster a dynamic environment conducive to the creative expressions of indigenous , traditional. modern and contemporary cultural forms and values

=========--=========================0



while recogni sing the commonalities (similarities) and di fferences in traditi ons as great source of artistic creativity". Among its action programmes are ASEAN will:

(a) Optimise the usc of the radio, news agency, pri nt media and informati on networks to di sse minate accu rate, timel y and re levant information and all aspects of ASEAN cooperati on

(b) Expansion of the ASEANWEB to cover more member coulltry acti viti es and that is to establi sh lin ka ges to websites of member co untries. This programme will also look int o th e deve lopm en t o f th e the ASEAN Sa te llite channe l

(c) Under the ASEAN C ultural Heritage Programme, it will integrat e all projec t pro posa ls and ac ti viti es into a cohes ive pro gra mm e t hat would l ea d to the development, preservation and enhan cement of ASEAN cu ltu ral her itage.

(b) ASEANWEB

The idea of ASEANWEB was first mooted by the 26,h ASEAN Eco nom ic Ministerial Meeting in September 1994. The objecti ve of ASEANWEB was originally to facilitate trade and investment among private sectors in ASEAN Member countries throu gh the utili sati on of a t rade and investm ent databases. The databases provide up-to-da te information on economic pol icies, trade opportuniti es, statisti cs an d directory of serv ices in each member countries to enab le private sectors to have a better insight of the member co untri es eco nomic performance and future direction. TheASEANWEB was officiall y launched in Bangkok, Thailand on 12 December 1995 at the joint Ministerial Meeting of the Fifth ASEAN Summit. The scope of information contains an overview of ASEAN activities, high li ght of political and economic cooperation, calend ar of meeting and list of new publications.

e liar erpusta lIan

At the Fourth of the ASEAN Minister Meeting res ponsible for information held in Singapore on 7 March 1996, it was agreed that ASEANWEB be deve loped as a broad umbrella homepage wh i Ie the detailed perspective should be establ ished with hypertext links to the respective homepages set up by ASEAN members countries. The 31" meeting of ASEAN-COCI held in Bali , called for an ex perts group meeting to study the expansion of the ASEANWEB to include culture and information. The content of ASEANWEB con tinues to ex pand which multimedia showcase for the 30" ASEAN Anniversary. The ASEANWEB guiding principle is that it should be eas ily accessible, entail minimum cost of maintenance and be se lf-sustainable. To this end , Internet was chosen as the medium for dis seminating information. The Internet address for the ASEANWEB is hllp://www.aseansec.org.

(c) CONGRESS OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN LIBRARIANS

The Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians (CONSAL) has its bi-annual Conference in its mem ber countries. At the 10'" CONSAL he ld in Malaysia on 2 1-25 May 1996, it was recommended that each member co untry must develop its own indi genous databases which could in the future be integrated Southeast Asian network to be know n as CONSALNET or SEANET. A major portion of th ese databases sho uld in c lud e information sources on SEA Cullural Heritage . At the recent I FLA Regional Confe rence on Public Libraries: Planning for The FUTure, held at the National Library of Malays ia on 10-12 November 1997 , it was a lso recommended th at "Each country to establish library cooperation and network ing amongst public libraries at both national and regional leve ls". Each co untry therefore must take steps to create bibliographic databases of each library 'S co llection to facilitate sha rin g of re sources wit hin and outs id e the cou ntry, and to co llaborate and estab li sh linkages with other libraries using the latest technologies.



CONCLUSION

C ultural inform at ion shou ld be an integral part of the Nati ona l Informati o n Pol icy o f a ny country. Formu la ti o n of Cu lt ural In format ion Policy s ho uld ta ke in lo co nsiderati o n so me o f the leg is lative prov is io ns and poli cy dec is io ns o n in forma ti on and culture at national and regional leve ls . The Nat io na l Info rmati o n Po li cy s hould st ress the impo rlance o f de ve lo pin g a Na ti o nal In fo rm at ion Infrast ru cture that wi ll link up all knowledge-based in stitut ions in th e country, such as cultural in stit uti ons/ce ntres, academic institutio ns. researc h in stitut io ns, librari es, museums, archi ves and private sec tors that have co ll ec ted differe nl aspec ts o f c ultural products of Malaysia. Th e aim is to ensure that eve ry ind iv id ual in t he co untry has easy access, timely delivery and co mprehensive utili satio n of cultural information of it s own country and al so cultural info rmation of o th e r countri es. Th e C ultural Information Policy shou ld take into considerati o n the fo ll owing stra tegies, that:

(a) Eac h country shou ld stri ve to document and pre~e r ve it s cultu ra l herit age and to faci I itme Ihe creati on of cui tura l Info rmation databases by takin g advantages of the new technologies.

(b) Cultural In formatio n Reso urces and Data bases developed should be linked to Regional Infor mation Resources a nd be an integral part o f the G loba l In fo rm ation Resources. Cul tural Informatio n Resources developed at nat io nal leve ls s hould have hyper links wilh o lher s imilar and s pecifi c cultural inform ation resou rces accessible through the Inter ne l.

(c) Each cou ntry s ho uld develo p it s human r eso urces by organi si ng training and workshops o n documentat ion of cultural heritagc, standards for digiti sati on of cultural produ cts. crcation of c ultural in for mation standards. Unesco should assis t developing countri es to provide or sponsor ex pert s to conduct such tra ining and workshops.

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Appendix I

CUL TURAL INFORMATION RESOURCES



Sekililf PerplnlllkullII

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