PUBLIC SEMINAR
The Chulia in Penang and Their Endowments
Khoo Salma Nasution, nee Khoo Su Nin, is a fifth-generation Penang Peranakan and the author and/or co-author of more than 10 books. She is a principal of a Penang-based publishing house; Areca Books, and custodian of the Sun Yat Sen Museum Penang at 120 Armenian Street in the George Town World Heritage Site. She has been involved in the Penang Heritage Trust since 1989, as Honorary Secretary, President, and currently as vice president. Her book The Chulia in Penang: Patronage and Place-Making around the Kapitan Kling Mosque 1786–1957 (2014) was shortlisted for the ICAS Book Prize 2015 Best Study in the Humanities and won the ICAS Colleagues’ Choice Award.
The Chulia in Penang and Their Endowments was organised by the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue (UMCCD) and International Institute of Public Policy and Management (INPUMA), in collaboration with the Department of History, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, University of Malaya on 30 November 2016. The seminar which was delivered at the Resource Centre, Department of History by Madam Khoo Salma Nasution, the principal of a Penang-based publishing house; Areca Books, and custodian of the Sun Yat Sen Museum Penang at the Resource Centre, Department of History.
The seminar began with a simple introductory speech by CCD's Director, Professor Dr Shakila Yacob, who was also a representative to respective co-organiser and collaborator of the programme. Madam Khoo started her talk with a brief explanation of the organisation of her presentation and stated that the talk would start off with a brief history of Penang and later will lead on to discussing on Waqf or can be known as Muslim endowment. She shared her thoughts on this matter based on historically-evolved institutions of waqf administration which have influenced the current concept of waqf. Interestingly, the “Chulia” was then known as Tamil Muslim mercantile and land-owning elite where they passed on their endowments to prevent fragmentation of family estates.
The Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) participants from various countries who attended the seminar truly enjoy and appreciate the talk on the minority group in Penang. Overall, the talk received full audience and positive response from all participants, and it is hoped that there will be more of this kind of talk shortly.
9 | UMCCD Bulletin Dec 2016 - Jun 2017
Audiences were enthralled by Madam Khoo's presentation
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