Za'ab 1895 - 1973
(17
September 2002)

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enlarge.
Zainal Abidin bin Ahmad or Za'ba was born on September
16, 1895 in a small remote village of Kampung Bukit Kerdas, Batu
Kikir, Jempol, Negeri Sembilan. Born into a very religious family,
not surprisingly, by the age of seven Za'ba had completed his
reading of the Quran seven times, memorized the Surah Yassin and
able to perform the berzanji.
Za'ba's school experience only began at the age of
12 when he and 82 other kids registered at Sekolah Melayu Batu Kikir
to start their school life. Not long after that Za'ba was
transferred to Sekolah Melayu Linggi so he could further his study
in Arabic and religious knowledge. In 1915, Za'ba successfully
completed his Senior Cambridge. As it was, he was the first Malay
student from Negeri Sembilan who completed standard one to Senior
Cambridge in six years.
Za'ba started to write seriously while he was
serving as a temporary teacher at Johor Bahru in 1916. His first
article entiled "Temasya Mandi Safar di Tanjung Kling" was published
twice in Utusan Melayu. Za'ba's gift was his ability to bring all
aspects from language, literature, religion, economy, education and
politics into his writings. He was also very keen in writing about
the backwardness of the Malays, so much so that the British colonial
government became suspicious. Although his writing activities were
restrained, he remained active. While he was working at the Sultan
Idris Training College, Za'ba focused his effort to adopt the Arabic
and English grammar into Bahasa Melayu and to use these grammatical
rules in the publishing of school text books and public reading
materials.
His first marriage in 1917 did not last but he had a
daughter, whom he brought up. Za'ba them married again to Fatimah
Umar. Za'ba continued his writing career by revising his published
religious articles to be compiled into a book. His first effort,
Umbi Kemajuan was published in 1932.
Za'ba was also very active in community services.
These include being the General Advisor for the Persaudaraan Sahabat
Pena Malaya (Brotherhood of Pen Friends of Malaya) in 1937, and in
1945 as the Yang Dipertua Persatuan Melayu Selangor (Selangor Malay
Association). In 1946, at the congress against the formation of
Malayan Union, he was appointed as committee member of the
Jawatankuasa Penggubal Rang Piagam UMNO (Legislator Committee of
UMNO Charter Bill) and in the same year he ended his political
activity after the UMNO Charter was accepted and passed. In 1947, he
started working as a lecturer of Malay Language at the University of
London. He retired from government service when he was 55 years old.
Za'ba's service was still needed. Therefore in 1953
he was appointed as senior lecturer at the Malay Study Department (JPM)
in University Malaya, Singapore. Together with Ungku Aziz, he
organized the formation of students' language society and two years
later the Federation of Malay Language of University Malaya was
established.
Za'ba sat for the final examination for the
University of London external course and received his Master of Arts
Second Class (Lower) when he was 59 years old. Za'ba received the
title Pendeta (Scholar) officially, in the form of a Malay cap (songkok)
in 1956 at the Third Malay Language and Literature Congress in Johor
Bahru. All the sweat and effort that Za'ba poured into his work was
because he wanted to put the Malay language on a pedestal. He never
asked for recognition. Thus, he purposely declined the medal of
honor - Pingat Manku Negara - that carries the title Dato', and also
the Bintang Kebesaran Brunei. However in 1962, he finally agreed to
accept the award of Pingat Manku Negara that carries the title Tan
Sri.
Tan Sri Dr. Haji Zainal Abidin bin Ahmad or Za'ba
passed away on October 23, 1973 at the age of 78. The nation in
general and Negeri Sembilan in particular lost a great statesman. No
one can replace or even compare to him.
Za'ba or Zainal Abidin bin Ahmad, a language figure
has left us since early 70s. But, this son of Negeri Sembilan, who
was born in 1895, had left an impact on all of us through his
contribution in language and literature. Za'ba was considered as the
pioneer of Malay language grammatical rules, which was very vague at
that time. He contributed further when he was given the
responsibility to plan a curriculum for school children, as an
interpreter, lecturer, and during the Japanese era he was given the
duty to write books that could be used in Malaya and Sumatera.
Za'ba officially received the title Pendita(Scholar)
in September 1956. Tan Sri Dr. Haji Zainal Abidin or Za'ba passed
away in 1973 at the age of 78. It is not easy to follow the
footsteps of a scholar but it is hoped that Za'ba's effort and
sacrifice to upgrade the Malay Language will be continued.
Technical Details
Date of Issue |
17 September 2002 |
Denomination |
30 sen, 50 sen |
Stamp Size |
40mm X 30mm |
Miniature Sheet
Denomination |
RM1.00 |
Miniature Sheet
Size |
100mm X 70mm |
Stamp Size in
Miniature Sheet |
40mm X 30mm |
Perforation |
14 |
Sheet Content |
20 stamps |
Paper |
SPM Watermarked,
Phosphor Coated |
Printing Process |
Lithography |
Source :
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