On 19th of June 2021, the Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies (FSPPP), Universiti Teknologi MARA, students from the Bachelor of Administrative Science (Hons) program, and the Pejabat Undang Luak Rembau and Lembaga Muzium Negeri Sembilan co-organized an International Seminar titled “Adat Perpatih Knowledge Sharing and Book Donation Collaboration With Undang Luak Rembau Community”. The program was part of the Service Learning Malaysia – University for Society (SULAM) initiative, considered one of the High Impact Educational Practices introduced by the Ministry of Higher Learning Education Malaysia. The book donation project, which started a month earlier, managed to collect books worth RM7000.00. The books will be donated to primary and secondary school students around Rembau once the Movement Control Order is lifted. Meanwhile, the webinar consisted of three sessions covering different topics that managed to gather excellent feedback from the viewers. The accumulated number of viewers for the three sessions were almost 12000. One of the comments from the live session stated that this webinar had opened his eyes to know more and sparked his interest in acquiring more knowledge on this unique custom.
Malay customs and traditional culture inherently strive to demonstrate good moral values and guidance to acceptable behaviour and conduct according to the norms of the society. A prominent example of such custom is the Adat Perpatih, which has been practised longer than the Common Law. The custom originated from the Minangkabau ethnic from Sumatra, Indonesia, and was brought and adopted in Negeri Sembilan. Adat Perpatih divides the lineage based on the maternal or matrilineal lineage system. Adat Alam Minangkabau has undergone three main forms of development, namely the Nan Tigo Law, Adat Tarik Baleh and Adat Tuah Disakato arranged by Datuk Perpatih Nan Sebatang. Another concept related to Adat Perpatih is Laras Nan Dua, which consists of Bodi-Cianago and Koto-Piliang. Historically, the concepts exist through the consensus between two community leaders marked with batikam stone and baling stone. Then, the two maternal lineage and paternal lineage systems merge and are known as Adat Tuah Disakato or Adat Alam Minangkabau. In Malaysia, Adat Alam Minangkabau is known as Adat Perpatih. The Adat Perpatih is a dynamic and comprehensive social system as it provides the space, opportunity and rules so it can be changed according to the time, situation and era.
This project was inspired by Dr Muhamad Fuad bin Abdul Karim, a senior lecturer and resource person of the course. The panelists for the first session, “Adat Perpatih dan Kepatuhan Syariah di Malaysia”, were Dr Suhaimi bin Hj. Abd. Samad, Deputy Rector from UiTM Seremban Campus; Dr Mohd Kamel bin Mat Salleh, Senior Lecturer from ACIS UiTM Seremban Campus; and Yang Mulia Dato’ Perba Abdul Razak bin Mohd Yassin, a representative from Balai Undang Luak Rembau. The second topic, “Urbanisasi dan Era Digital serta Kelangsungan Amalan Adat Perpatih” involved Dr Muhamad Fuad bin Abdul Karim, a Senior Lecturer from the Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Dr Mohd Afendi bin Daud, a Senior Lecturer from Universiti Melaka, Yang Mulia Dato’ Raja DiRaja Haji Bahaman bin Harun, a representative from the Balai Undang Luak Rembau, and Drs Shamsudin bin Ahmad, the Director of Lembaga Muzium Negeri Sembilan as the panelists. For the third and final session, the panellists were Dr Nur Zafifa binti Kamarunzaman, a Senior Lecturer from the Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies; Dr Mohamad Fauzi bin Sukimi, a Senior Lecturer from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and Dr Sulikah Asmorowati, the Vice Dean II from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Airlangga Indonesia with the topic “Budaya dan Hubungan Etnik di Nusantara”. The opening speech was given by Drs Shamsudin bin Ahmad, the Director of Lembaga Muzium Negeri Sembilan and the Yang Teramat Mulia Dato’ Lela Maharaja Dato’ Haji Muhamad Sharip Bin Haji Othman (DTNS, PPT, ANS, PMC, PJK, PKL), Dato’ Undang Luak Rembau officiated the event. Meanwhile, the event concluded with the closing remarks by Yang Berbahagia Prof Madya Dr Abdul Jalil bin Mohamed Ali Dean Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA.