ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, many thanks and gratitude goes to Allah SWT for his mercy, I am
given this opportunity to pursue PhD. I also would like to thank a number of people for
their support and advices during the period of my study. Many thanks go to Prof. Dato'
Dr. Mohammad Redzuan Othman, my supervisor for his invaluable assistance and
encouragement throughout the study. I also would like to thank lecturers and friends
from the University of Malaya for their constructive comments and criticism.
My appreciation also goes to Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (KPM) formerly
known as Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi Malaysia (KPTM) for rendering me
scholarship under the SLAB/SLAI scheme to pursue my PhD at the University of
Malaya. To my employer, the Islamic Science University of Malaysia (USIM), thank
you for giving me this opportunity to further study for my career development. I also
would like to thank the University of Malaya (UM) for providing me financial
assistance under the Student Grants, which help me a lot in my oversea trips to the
United Kingdom to collect data from the National Archives and the British Library in
London.
I am grateful to the library of the University of Malaya (UM), the Library of the
National University of Malaysia (UKM), and The National Library of Singapore for
providing me with facilities and assistance in collecting materials. My thanks also go to
the National Archive of Malaysia and its branches throughout Malaysia in the Malay
Peninsula, the National Archive of London and the National Archive of Singapore for
their assistance and facilities provided during my research study.
Last but not least, I wish to take this opportunity to thank my mother Fauziyah
Binti Saad, for her love and constant du‘a’. To my husband Hir Azli, thank you for your
understanding and patience. And also to my lovely daughters Nur Khir Yusra and Nur
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Khir Hannah, thank you for cheering up my gloomy days, who put up with my busy
schedule as a student, I owe you two holidays that we missed during the past three
years. To my siblings, eight sisters and a brother, thank you for your support. To Haji
Md Tahir Yassin and Hajjah Patimah Yaakop, thank you so much for being a supportive
and understanding parent in laws.
LATIFAH ABDUL LATIFF
University of Malaya
March 2016
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