Portrait of a Penghulu : A Study of Leadership in a Malay Village

Abstract

The aim of this paper is, based on field research in a Malay village in the Malay Peninsula, to analyze what constitutes leadership among Malays in a village context. In the situation that political conflicts or changes at the national level seem to dissolve village unity, the fact that there is still a strong village leadership which extends beyond political factions makes us believe some "power" must be at work besides political and economic power. But unfortunately, up to now, most studies of Malay leadership have been done within the sociostructural/functional paradigm, therefore, the nature of this "power" remains to be clarified. The present study thus also intends to begin to make up for the insuficiency of the former studies of Malay leadership. In section 2, the background of Malay political conditions is described. After the so called "UMNO crisis" of April, 1987, political conflicts between UMNO and PAS46 intensified, especially in the Malay state of Kelantan. The UMNO dominated State Government gives local administrative posts, such as district officer, village head, and so on, to their supporters, and UMNO keeps up its influence on local-level decision-making by controlling local authorities at various levels of administration. The most prominent example of their control is seen in the village committee, through which many kinds of development programs are realized. All committees are usually monopolized by UMNO royal supporters and they can and often do make decisions to their own satisfaction. In these situations, most villages in Kelantan have split into two political factions, with the political haves and havenots in conflict with each other. Section 3 describes a Penghulu, the head of a mukim, the lowest unit of administration, in the area where field research was conducted. In spite of the situation mentioned above, the Penghulu of this mukim (who is also an UMNO Iocal leader), is supported by almost all the villagers, from both the UMNO and the anti-UMNO side. To elucidate the enigma of his leadership which functions beyond village politics, I try to describe him as concretely as possible. This is done in three respects: 1. his lineage and his family; 2. his relationship with his co-villagers; and 3. personal factors. 1. He and his wife are grandchildren of village founders. He is successful at "semangat silat (the spiritual power of silat Malay martial arts)", 2. His private relations are with relatives and friends, both of which are overlapping. They have continued since his childhood. Official relations are the ones which he keeps as both a Penghulu and a local UMNO Ieader. He can mediate between village and administrative/political center, and can control village politics if he wants to. 3.