Malaysian Literature: National Literature and the National Laureate Title

Before there were novels and before there was a language council, a storyteller was already composing Malay heroes in the courtyard of the Malaccan palace. It is from that oral tradition that one of the richest literary heritages in the region grew — a tradition that today is celebrated with a national title, hundreds of thousands of ringgit and a seat of honour in the nation’s civilisation.

Where did the Malay literary tradition begin?

The roots of Malaysian literature far predate the modern nation. It began with folk literature transmitted orally — storytellers’ tales, myths and legends — before being recorded in Jawi manuscript form.

Two classical forms became the pillars of this tradition. The hikayat is a narrative prose that recounts kings, heroes and events, while the syair is a four-line stanzaic poem commonly used by court writers to praise the sultan and record contemporary events.

The most renowned works of this era are the Sejarah Melayu (also known as the Sulalatus Salatin) and the Hikayat Hang Tuah. The Sejarah Melayu offers a traditional interpretation of the origins, glory and fall of the Malacca Malay Sultanate, as well as the great transition of Malay Archipelago society from a Hindu-Malay tradition to an Islamic-Malay civilisation.

The value of this work is recognised internationally. The Sejarah Melayu was inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2001 (submitted by Malaysia in 2000) as “the only historical record of the Malay Sultanate of the 15th and early 16th centuries” that survives. It is an important reference source not only for literature, but also for the fields of sociology, anthropology, economics, politics and linguistics.

Who safeguards the national language and literature?

After the colonial era, the responsibility of nurturing modern Malay literature was placed with a dedicated institution.

The Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) was established on 22 June 1956 in Johor Bahru, originally under the name Balai Pustaka. Through the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Ordinance 1959, it was elevated to a statutory body with autonomous powers to plan the building and development of the language and literature.

DBP’s roles include:

• Formulating programmes for the building and development of the national language and literature.
• Carrying out publishing activities and the book trade competitively.
• Organising writing competitions to unearth new talent.
• Publishing magazines and journals that feature short stories, poetry, drama as well as essays and literary criticism.

DBP expanded by opening regional offices across the country from 1977 and moved to its current headquarters, Menara DBP, which was completed in 2002.

What is the National Literary Award and who are the National Laureates?

The highest recognition in the nation’s literary world is the title of National Laureate (Sasterawan Negara), conferred through the National Literary Award (Anugerah Sastera Negara).

This award is conferred by the Government of Malaysia on writers who write in the Malay language and who, in the panel’s view, have made an outstanding contribution to the development of the nation’s literature through high-quality creations. The selection is managed by a panel led by the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka based on criteria such as contribution through creative works and thought, a role in the advancement of literature, impact on the dissemination of knowledge, as well as leadership in literary associations.

This award was first conferred in 1981. To date, 16 figures have received the title.

No.	Year	Recipient
1	1981	Keris Mas (Kamaludin Muhammad)
2	1982	Shahnon Ahmad
3	1983	Usman Awang
4	1985	A. Samad Said
5	1987	Arena Wati (Muhammad Abdul Biang)
6	1991	Muhammad Haji Salleh
7	1993	Noordin Hassan
8	1996	Abdullah Hussain
9	2003	S. Othman Kelantan (Syed Othman Syed Omar)
10	2009	Anwar Ridhwan (Mohd Anuar Rethwan)
11	2011	Kemala (Ahmad Khamal Abdullah)
12	2013	Baha Zain (Baharuddin Zainal)
13	2015	Zurinah Hassan
14	2019	Siti Zainon Ismail
15	2022	Rahman Shaari
16	2026	Mana Sikana (Abdul Rahman Napiah)

The 16th recipient, Mana Sikana (real name Dr Abdul Rahman Napiah), was announced by Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek on 28 April 2026 for his consistency in producing high-quality works laden with critical and innovative thought.

What is the value and benefit of the National Laureate title?

The title is not merely a symbolic honour. It comes with a substantial package of benefits:

• A National Letter of Honour as a mark of official recognition.
• RM60,000 in cash.
• A publishing allocation of up to 50,000 copies of a book or a maximum value of RM500,000, to be purchased by the government and distributed to schools, libraries and government agencies.
• Free medical treatment in a first-class ward at any government hospital.
• Facilities for creating and publishing works, as well as translating works into foreign languages.
• A monthly allowance of RM5,000.

This package reflects the view that a national laureate is a cultural asset to be cared for throughout their lifetime, not merely given a one-off prize.

What about literature in English, Chinese and Tamil?

Although the National Literary Award is limited to Malay-language writing, Malaysia’s literary landscape is far broader and multilingual.

Malaysian literature in English has its own roster of writers. The novelist K.S. Maniam (1942–2020), of Tamil descent and born in Bedong, Kedah, is renowned for works such as The Return and In a Far Country, which are often required reading at local universities. The colonial era also produced works such as The Malayan Trilogy by Anthony Burgess, who taught in Malaya between 1954 and 1959 and captured the diversity of Malay, Indian, Chinese and other communities.

The Chinese-speaking community, for its part, contributes to the tradition of Mahua literature (Malaysian Chinese literature), while Tamil-language writers continue the heritage of Malaysian Indian literature. All three streams — Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil — together form the nation’s literary treasury, even though only Malay-language works are officially titled “national literature”.

What’s next

If you wish to delve into Malaysian literature, begin by reading classical texts such as the Sejarah Melayu and Hikayat Hang Tuah, now widely available in modern editions published by DBP. For modern literature, explore the works of the National Laureates — from the novel Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan (Shahnon Ahmad) to the poetry of Usman Awang.

Follow, too, the official channels of the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka for news of National Literary Award nominations, annual literary prizes and its literary magazines. Enthusiasts of multilingual literature can explore the collections of Malaysian writers in English, Chinese and Tamil to understand the full picture of the nation’s multicultural literary identity.