Google Doodle commemorated the late Azah Aziz’s 94th birthday, who was regarded as Tokoh Budayawan Melayu, or the embodiment of Malaysian culture.On August 21, 1928, Sharifah Azah binti Syed Mohammad Alsagoff, also known as Mak Ungku, was born in Singapore.
Happy 94th birthday to one of the most respected figures of Malaysian culture, Azah Aziz, who promoted Malay literature & fashion globally 💁🏽♀️🌎
Learn more about her incredible impact in today’s #GoogleDoodle → https://t.co/LaaxZtsX0n pic.twitter.com/ZeE3SXgcJC
— Google Doodles (@GoogleDoodles) August 21, 2022
Thanks to her mother, Azizah Jaafar, Azah Aziz fell in love with the language, culture, and arts for which she is today well-known. She inherited a beautiful collection of antique Malay textiles and apparel from her mother, which sparked her interest in Malay textiles and helped her establish herself as a leading figure in Malay culture.
With the late Royal Professor Ungku Abdul Aziz bin Ungku Abdul Hamid, a Malaysian economist, and professor, she shared her strong love for the Malay language and culture. Ungku Zeti Akhtar binti Ungku Abdul Aziz (TanSri Zeti Aziz), their daughter, made history as the first female governor of Bank Negara in the nation.
Azah Aziz spent approximately forty years of her life working as a journalist. She began her career as a Straits Times secretary before founding the Malaysian Women Journalists Association and serving as its first president from 1971 to 1978.
She advocated for causes like pay equality, separate taxes for working wives, and Muslim family amendments while fighting for women’s rights. She held other leadership positions as well, serving as the organization’s founder for Islamic Women’s Action Organization and Pertubuhan Tindakan Wanita Islam (Pertiwi).
During her career as a journalist, she had the opportunity to speak with several well-known figures, including Muhammad Ali and his family, the legendary boxer Indira Gandhi, and Valentina Nikolayeva-Tereshkova, the first woman to travel into space.
After starting her own publishing company, Azah Aziz produced several children’s poetry, game, and songbooks. She then established her own publishing company, as if her accomplishments weren’t amazing enough.
Azah Aziz never lost her love of the visual arts and textiles.
She accumulated an amazing collection of more than 100 various traditional clothing types, such as kebaya, baju kurung, and baju Melayu. Because of her wide knowledge of apparel, jewelry, and textiles, Azah Aziz was the go-to person for everything and everything relating to Malay culture and customs. She made them known to the globe through art exhibitions and conferences abroad.
She even authored more than ten books on Malay textiles, including the seminal work Rupa dan Gaya: Busana Melayu, which examines how these clothing items have changed through time in light of cultural norms, rituals, and historical shifts.
