Modal Insan Melayu: Iktibar dari Persuratan

In any cultures, human capital is developed through the initial building of thinking. With the development of thinking, the civilization of a nation would be further built. History has shown that the Islamic civilization is revealed through Allah s revelation or words in the Al-Quran. The Western civilization is spread through rhetoric knowledge by the western thinkers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The Malay civilization, however, is expanded through the combination ofAl-Quran and the Malay literature such as poem, proverb, idiom and others. Many scholars believe that human capital development should be established from school to university level through the knowledge of literature. F.R. Leavis (1972) in his book Education and the University states that the studies of literature knowledge should be the studies of all other field of knowledge taught in the university. The studies of literature are more significant than the studies of vokasional in the effort of enhancing the nation civilization. This is then followed by the studies of science and technology. Science and technology provide the related skills for human to enter certain fields. It is, therefore, the literature or letters education should be elevated in developing the broad-minded human capital as stated by Taib Othman (1994), who are not the tools of actions but knowledgeable humancapital in performing actions.