The Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society was founded in November 1877 to research and document information relating to the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago. It was formed by a group of colonial administrators in Singapore, and started with 150 members. Its journal, the Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, is the oldest active publication in Singapore and Malaysia, and is highly valued for its scholarship on the region.

Founding
A meeting on 4 November 1877, with Archdeacon (later Bishop) G. F. Hose chairing and ten significant members of the early expatriate community in the Straits Settlements in attendance, set in motion the beginnings of the Straits Asiatic Society. Its goal then was to "promote the collection and record of information relating to the Straits Settlements and the neighbouring countries". Its secondary goals included producing a journal and establishing a library of pertinent resources.

Members included luminaries such as D. F. A. Hervey (Resident Councillor of Malacca), C. J. Irving (Lieutenant Governor of Penang), and W. A. Pickering (first Protector of Chinese in the Straits Settlements). Many of the society's early members also took on appointments in the society and contributed actively to its journal. The society's parent organisation was the Asiatic Society of Bengal, which was founded by Sir William Jones on 15 January 1781.

Society Name
Immediately upon its formation, the Straits Asiatic Society sought an affiliation with the Royal Asiatic Society, a decision that was confirmed by the meeting of 6 May 1878. Thus the name of the society was duly changed to the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.

In 1923, the society's name was changed to the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, primarily to reflect the increased British political influence in the Malay States, which by then had extended beyond the original Straits Settlements.

In 1964, the society again changed its name to MBRAS due to political changes in Malaysia. The society also moved its headquarters from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.

Structure
On 21 January 1878, the first committee was elected along with an editorial team. The society was led by a committee of officers made up of volunteers and many high-ranking public servants and distinguished scholars. Regular committee positions were President, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer. Bishop Hose was the first and one of the longest serving Presidents when he was elected in 1878, ending his term in 1908. The position of Honorary Editor was tied to that of Honorary Secretary but was made separate after the war and from 1914 to 1922, mainly to relief the Honorary Secretary during the war period when resources were limited. From 1909 to 1922, an Honorary Librarian was appointed until the library was subsumed under the Raffles Library in 1924. In 1984, a position of Review Editor was established with Patricia Lim Pui Huen being the first.

The society's monthly General Meetings were held at the Raffles Library until it moved to Kuala Lumpur. The society's close association with the Raffles Library and Museum also meant that many of the institution's staff were key members of the society.

The society was exclusive to men for some time although in 1889, a member wrote to the press suggesting that women be admitted so that dwindling membership can be improved.

Journal and other publications
Reflecting the several names of the society over the years, the society journal was initially known as the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JSBRAS), and thereafter as the Journal of the Malayan (Malaysian) Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JMBRAS). It was styled after the learned periodical produced by James Richardson Logan, the Journal of the Indian Archipelago, which had established its name as a premier source for Asiatic information, particularly of the area around the Straits of Malacca. The journal's first issue was in July 1878. Journal papers were often read at society meetings.

The bi-annual journal carried articles on diverse subjects including culture, anthropology, art, history, language, literature, archaeology, botany, and zoology. Amongst its contributors were eminent scholars such as W.E. Maxwell, R.O. Winstedt, R.J. Wilkinson, R. Braddell and H.N. Ridley. Over the years, reprints of selected journal articles have been made. The society also published a series of monographs, such as Coleman's Singapore and British policy and Malay politics during the Malayan Union experiment 1942-1948. It continues to have a high standing amongst scholars for its insightful articles on the region.

Through more than 130 years, the society has published more than 166 journals, 30 monographs, 19 reprints, three indexes, a statistical gazetteer, a map of the Malay Peninsula, and a textbook on eastern Geography. Today, the society has more than 1,000 members from various countries including Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei.

Library
In Hose's inaugural address, he noted the need to collect Malay manuscripts of the region, identifying that the best collection of such works was found at the British Museum and it comprised of about 30 volumes, mainly obtained from Crawford in 1842, and many of which were copied for European consumption. Hose warned of the imminent loss of such local heritage, unless effort was made to discover and preserve them.

Hose began the society's library collection with his personal copy of the Hikayat Abdullah. The library grew as the society's journal was exchanged for works of other institutions. By 1879, the collection had grown to 135 volumes. Right from the start however, the collection's growth and development competed with that of its host institution, the Raffles Library. For example, D. Logan, a member of the society had solicited government funding for the acquisition of his father's collection of philological works for the society's library. Yet, government approval was for the collection (Logan Collection) to be deposited at the Raffles Library instead. Nonetheless, the society's collection of works had grown large enough by 1907 to require a larger room in the Raffles Library and Museum.

In 1909, the appointment of an Honorary Librarian brought significant improvements to the preservation of the collection, such as bookbinding. The Raffles Library and Museum has had at least one of its directors (namely Hanitsch) and its first Librarian, Johnston, hold the position of Librarian in the society's committee. However, by 1923, the drive to maintain a separate library declined and the society's library was transferred to the Raffles Library.

Author
Bonny Tan

References
Gullick, J. M. (1995). A short history of the Society. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 68(2/269), pp. 67 - 79.
(Call no.: RSING 959.5 JMBRAS)

Hose, G. F. (1878, July). Inaugural address of the President. Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, pp. 1- 12.
(Call no.: RRARE 959.5 JMBRAS) (NLNL263/1583 )

Jaafar, J. (2005, July 9). Reading more and more about less and less. The New Straits Times. Retrieved October 29, 2009, from Factiva database.

Khoo, K. K. (1999, November 6). Princes and prime ministers. The New Straits Times. Retrieved October 29, 2009, from Factiva database.

Makepeace, W. (1918). A review of the forty years work of the Society, Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 78 : x-xvi.
(Call no.: RRARE 959.5 JMBRAS) (NLNL263/1583 )

Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. (n.d.). About us. Retrieved June 5, 2006, from http://www.mbras.org.my

Otness, H. M. (1996). The library of the Straits Branch, Royal Asiatic Society, 1877-1923: A history. Singapore Libraries, 25(2), pp. 46 - 56.
(Call no.: RSING 020.5 SL -[LIB])

The Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. (1889, February 18) [Microfilm NL5051]. The Straits Times, p. 3.

The Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. (1890, February 15). [Microfilm NL1969]. The Straits Times, p. 2.

Tan, G. E. (1999, March 31). Society brings out book of articles on Brunei. The New Straits Times. Retrieved October 29, 2009, from Factiva database.

Tiew, Wai Sin. (1998, July). History of Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JMBRAS) 1878-1997: An overview. Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, 3(1), pp. 42-60. Retrieved September 7, 2009 from http://majlis.fsktm.um.edu.my/document.aspx?FileName=235.pdf

Tiew, Wai Sin. (1999). The history of the Library of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 1877-1923. Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia. Retrieved, September 7, 2009 from http://eprints.rclis.org/8842/1/2A7C5E40.pdf .

The information in this article is valid as at 2009 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the library for further reading materials on the topic.

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