UNS — Proud achievement was accomplished by the collaboration between Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta student and faculty member; Bayu Aji Prasetya and Asep Yudha Wirajaya, M.A., who succeeded in transliterating a manuscript to be published by the National Library (Perpusnas) of the Republic of Indonesia (PNRI). The news was shared by Bayu on his Instagram account, announcing that his transliteration manuscript will become one of 20 texts to be published by PNRI in 2022.
In the interview, Bayu explained that he transliterated the Kitab Pengajaran MSS Malay B.13 manuscript stored by the British and Singapore National Library. The manuscript itself is a law consisting of several articles teaching daily life activities that align with Al-Qur’an. “But it is delivered in simpler language,” Bayu explained.
The three hundred years manuscript was written in Jawi letter and Malay language, which Bayu and his teacher transliterated into Latin characters to facilitate comprehension from the community members. “According to the metadata from British Library, the manuscript was written in 1794 using Kawi letter and in the Malay language, with a total of 189 pages. I studied the manuscript in my undergraduate thesis. This time it is transliterated, and I submitted it together with my supervisor,” the Master student in Cultural Studies, Postgraduate School UNS stated.
The selection for manuscript publication took a great deal of time since participants were required to submit their fully completed transliteration, translation, adaptation, and study of ancient manuscripts to the committee from 10 January to 20 February 2022. Twenty transliteration texts, 20 translation texts, five adaptation texts, and five studies of ancient manuscripts were selected to be published as a book at the end of 2022 by PNRI. Participants also receive IDR 15 million funding for transliteration, IDR 20 million for translation, and IDR 25 for adaptation and study of ancient manuscripts.
Through this work, Bayu hoped that the community could be more aware of the existence of ancient manuscripts because they provide extensive information and teaching.
“Hopefully, the transliteration that we worked on could benefit the community and allow them in reading or comprehending ancient manuscripts in Jawi letters,” Bayu concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Ida Fitriyah
Editor: Dwi Hastuti