GOPENG: The National Archives of Malaysia (ANM) is encouraging the public to contribute documentation on local knowledge, community expertise and local history to ensure these valuable heritage records are preserved for future generations.
ANM director-general Zaidin Mohd Noor said submitted materials would be preserved and made accessible to the public for reference and research.
The materials may include documents, photographs, audio recordings and audiovisual records containing historical, cultural and traditional knowledge.
He said the initiative was being carried out through a community archives approach, which allows records beyond official government documents to be collected and preserved.
“ANM encourages anyone with information on local knowledge, expertise or history to submit it so that it can become part of the nation’s heritage,” he said.
He was speaking to reporters after officiating the Heritage Talk on Pregnancy and Childbirth Customs Among Communities in Perak, held at the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) banquet hall at the Gopeng Rural Transformation Centre (RTC).
Zaidin said documenting community traditions, including pregnancy and childbirth practices, was important because such knowledge might not be widely recorded in written form.
He added that community records could support research and help people better understand the expertise and traditions of groups that have received limited attention in mainstream historical documentation.
As an example, he cited the Temiar community among the Orang Asli, which possesses knowledge of plants and the natural environment that could be studied to expand understanding of local expertise.
He said preserving such records would provide researchers with more detailed information about traditional practices and communities.
Zaidin added that collecting community records was not limited to Perak or Malaysia, but was also part of a broader international trend.
-AWANI
