WILLIAM GIRDLESTONE SHELLABEAR (1862-1947)

For the past few weeks, our weekly church newsletter, Channels, has both regaled and inspired us with biographies of missionaries and their exploits. Sadly though, not much has been written of those who have impacted us locally. A trip to your local bookshop or library may conceivably yield an odd volume here and there about the lives of Asian missionaries like John Sung or the ‘Sadhu’ Sundar Singh but this is not a common experience.

If one were to take a survey, most Malaysians – Christians included- would not have heard of William Shellabear, although his contribution to missions in Malaysia is considerable. His is a story worth telling. He was in fact, more than a missionary. Indeed, he was a soldier, missionary, planter, scholar, teacher and businessman.

At the age of 23, Shellabear converted to Christianity and one year later, in 1886, shipped out to Singapore (which was then still a part of Malaya) as a captain in the British army. It was during his sojourn as a soldier that he developed a deep love for Malaya, especially for the Malay culture.

The era in which Shellabear lived was not the romanticised ‘Christian’ one which is often presented to us in popular culture. Instead, one often reads of moral conflicts between missionaries and the rest of the European community over issues like horse racing, alcohol and the missionaries’ insistence that opium be banned. The European community strongly resisted the prohibition of these activities since the primary purpose of colonialism was commercial, not spiritual. For instance, it is estimated that opium accounted for 52% of the income of the Straits government in 1890.

Nevertheless, after his marriage in England in 1891, he returned to Singapore with his wife as a missionary under the auspices of the American Methodist Mission. Shellabear set up the Methodist Mission Press through which he published hymnals, tracts and booklets in the Malay language for the Bible Society and Tract Society. An accomplished linguist, he translated or penned most of the published items. The Methodist Mission Press eventually became known as the Methodist Publishing House which in turn evolved into what we now recognise as the “MPH” bookstore.

Indeed, his literary efforts did not stop there. He translated the Bible into Malay, Jawi and even into “Baba Malay” for the Straits Chinese! In his later years, he wrote commentaries on the gospels in Malay. His love for Malay culture led him to even translate classical Malay manuscripts (most notably, the Sejarah Melayu) into English so that English readers may come to know this rich tradition.

Nevertheless, in his effort to evangelise the Malays, Shellabear met with considerable opposition. After the Treaty of Pangkor in 1874, the British government was naturally cautious about evangelising this community. Thus, Shellabear’s grand vision was somewhat hindered and made largely ineffective by the government and even by the Christian institutions themselves. This has led Shellabear’s biographer, Robert Hunt, to comment that the Christians “demonstrated their institutional instincts by following the path of least resistance.”

Shellabear was not found wanting on the social front as well. From 1896 when Shellabear was made Presiding Elder of the Methodist Mission, he oversaw a campaign against licensed prostitution and the sale of opium. Then there was his ardour for the marginalised sections of society. At a time when societal norms did not see the need for females to be educated, he championed for their right to schooling. For this purpose, he founded the Methodist Girls’ School in Melaka. Whilst the education policy of the British government was aimed at maintaining the status quo (translated to mean: keep the Malays unlearned with minimal education), Shellabear fought for educational institutions up to the secondary level for the Malay-speaking population – in their own language.

The man Shellabear seemed however to be a paradox. In spite of being a soldier, he was a pacifist at heart. And although he had a deep love for the local community, he remained the quintessential Englishman. Perhaps the greatest paradox he faced was in relation to the Malays. There is no doubt that he was ‘in love’ with them. However, he recognised that Islam and the Malays were in one sense synonymous. To quote Hunt again, “He (Shellabear) could not love the Malays without respecting their religion. Yet it was the very thing he most longed to supplant with Christianity. He came to Malaya as a bearer of Western civilization, yet spent his life trying to translate the attributes of that civilization into Malayan cultural norms.”

In 1918, after suffering a series of attacks of malaria which left him mentally and physically exhausted, he retired and went on to serve as a teacher at Hartford Seminary in the United States on the Malay language and culture. In 1924, he was elevated to the chair of Muhammedan Studies and served as an editor of the Muslim World journal. He retired in 1936.

The life of William Shellabear should surely lead us to consider our role in the context of not only the church, but our duty to the wider society as a whole. Hunt sums up the essence of Shellabear’s life in the following manner:

“In our present time, when rising religious consciousness has brought about inter-religious tensions, it is of value to explore the life of a person who remained faithful to his own convictions, loved others enough to share them, and respected others enough to earn their enduring friendship and trust while he did so.”

May the same also be said of us.