Hang Tuah - Man or myth?

Who is Hang Tuah? Warrior, mystical figure or a figment of a writer’s imagination? ALLAN KOAY talks to a historian about whether documentation leans towards man or myth.

MANY stories abound, of the great Malay warrior, who – along with his four friends, Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekir and Hang Lekiu – upheld and protected the kingdom of Malacca, and who was so loyal to the Sultan that he even killed his own friend who had rebelled against the ruler.

Schoolchildren grow up learning about the adventures of Hang Tuah, older students study them in history lessons. Filmgoers have seen Hang Tuah in many guises, the latest being M. Nasir’s portrayal in the RM16mil epic Puteri Gunung Ledang.

Yet, according to Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Yusoff Hashim, who has written several books and hundreds of articles on Malay history, there is no solid historical record that could undeniably prove Hang Tuah’s existence. Except for one.

Prof Yusoff, whose books include Persejarahan Melayu Nusantara (Historiography of the Malay Archipelago) and Sejarah Melayu: Persepsi Sejarah dan Kesusasteraan (Sejarah Melayu: A Historical and Literary Perspective), strongly believes Hang Tuah did exist, and that the proof is in the Sejarah Melayu written in 1537. The main problem, said Prof Yusoff, is that people’s perception of who Hang Tuah is is very much coloured by the more fictional Hikayat Hang Tuah. 

“Malay literature consists of many genres, such as history, undang-undang (laws), religion and epics. We have to differentiate between them,” said Prof Yusoff, who is president and rector of the Malacca Islamic College of Technology. “The story of Hang Tuah comes in two genres – history and the epic.” 

The only historical record that perhaps could prove the existence of Hang Tuah, portrayed by M. Nasir in the film Puteri Gunung Ledang, is the Sejarah Melayu. 

Oral history also plays a part in the story of Hang Tuah, and Prof Yusoff sees that as problematic because oral history can be very speculative. 

“People can say anything they want,” he explained. “The Javanese say Hang Tuah originated from Java. The Bugis say he originated from Bugis. The Perak people say he came from Perak. These people based their stories on the oral tradition. Of late, they are saying Hang Tuah came from China.”

Sejarah Melayu was written much, much earlier than Hikayat Hang Tuah. According to Prof Yusoff, the earliest version of Sejarah Melayu was written in 1537. 

“After that, it became a very popular work,” he said. “It was copied and re-copied so many times that now, we have at least 29 versions of the Sejarah Melayu.” 

The Hikayat Hang Tuah is believed to have been written sometime between 1641 and 1726, and as such, the book contains a lot of additions, omissions and interpolations. It is “an epic based on historical facts” and as such, should not be taken literally as the truth, but should be regarded as truth blended with fiction. 

But Hikayat Hang Tuah proved to be the more popular work, as it contains fantasy and romance, unlike Sejarah Melayu which contains facts and records of historical events that, to the layman, may be dull and boring. In Hikayat, the famous warrior is portrayed as having mystical powers and lethal fighting moves. He even possessed the ability to speak many languages, after being given a magical potion by a prophet. All he had to do was dab his lips with the potion and he would be able to speak the local tongue of whatever locale he was in. 

As such, the writer of Hikayat wrote that the warrior was an ambassador sent by the Sultan to many foreign countries such as India, China and Turkey. He is said to have even performed the Haj. Prof Yusoff said none of this is mentioned in Sejarah Melayu. But he believes the writer probably referred to various written works for ideas. In fact, Prof Yusoff made an interesting discovery in his research. 

“The writer also referred to the Bustan’us-Salatin (Garden of Kings), which was a historical and religious work by Sheikh Nuruddin ar-Raniri (a religious scholar from Aceh),” he explained. 

“This work was written in the early part of the 17th century. So it was written earlier than the Hikayat Hang Tuah. I found that the writer of the Hikayat not only referred to the Garden of Kings, but also copied certain passages word-for-word, to make up the story of Hang Tuah visiting Turkey. 

“And the story about Hang Tuah visiting China was taken from the Sejarah Melayu, from the story about Malaccan delegates headed by Tun Perpatih Putih who were sent to China. 

“Hang Tuah may have been an ambassador, but he was probably sent to only as far as Indonesia and other places in the Malay Archipelago.” 

Hang Tuah, according to Sejarah Melayu, also never met Puteri Gunung Ledang, but it was instead a member of his entourage who met the princess and noted her conditions for marrying the Sultan. Hikayat Hang Tuah also claims that Hang Tuah and his entourage went to Majapahit 10 times, but in the Sejarah Melayu, they only visited it once. 

Hang Tuah also never went to Pahang to bring Tun Teja back to Malacca, as written in Hikayat, but it was a court official by the name of Hang Nadim who did so. 

Hikayat’s immense popularity, said Prof Yusoff, could possibly account for the many discrepancies and variations pertaining to the story of Hang Tuah, and it even prompted some people to claim that Hang Tuah never existed and was just a figment of someone’s imagination. And the many versions of Sejarah Melayu also add to the confusion. 

It has been long known that it was not Hang Jebat but Hang Kasturi who was killed by Hang Tuah, and Prof Yusoff said this was written in the original Sejarah Melayu. But the more popular story that involves Hang Jebat prevails in people’s minds. That episode alone has over the years divided opinions. In the P. Ramlee film Hang Tuah, as Hang Jebat dies in his arms, Hang Tuah (played by P. Ramlee) utters: “Siapa yang bersalah? (Who is wrong?)”

In the 1960s and 70s, the popular opinion was that Hang Jebat was the hero, and Hang Tuah was giving blind loyalty to the ruler. But Prof Yusoff said this view was borne of the anti-establishment mindset of the time. 

“To me, Hang Tuah was the hero,” he elaborated. “He was the one who really upheld the kingdom. Without this kind of character, the kingdom would have fallen into chaos and collapsed. Whatever happened, regardless of what people said about him, he remained loyal to the ruler, until the day he died. 

“There was even an anecdote about how, one day, the Sultan’s horse fell into a pool of faeces. No one dared rescue the horse, except Hang Tuah. He jumped into the pool and pulled the horse out. After that he had to clean himself for seven days and seven nights. 

“That may be a joke, but the message is about undivided loyalty. The king is the highest, without whom there would be no kingdom. After all, the word kerajaan (kingdom or government) comes from the word raja (king).” 

But it remains that no definitive historical record exists to prove Hang Tuah’s existence, except for Sejarah Melayu. Even in The Suma Oriental, by Tome Pires who came to Malacca in 1513, two years after the collapse of the empire, there is mention of a laksamana (admiral) but no specific mention of Hang Tuah by name. But the site claimed to be the grave of Hang Tuah in Tanjung Kling, Malacca, was gazetted by the state government more than 10 years ago as the true Makam Hang Tuah. 

And Prof Yusoff remains strongly convinced that Hang Tuah was a real person, of flesh and blood, who lived in Malacca and served under three rulers, and died during Sultan Mahmud’s rule. And his reason is more than convincing. 

“I dare say that Hang Tuah was a real figure, and I base my conclusion on the Sejarah Melayu,” he said. “If you deny Hang Tuah’s existence, it means you also deny the whole historical text of the Sejarah Melayu.” 

Your views or comments are appreciated. 

An ominous journey on the trail of headhunters

Trekking through the jungles of Borneo was a risk worth taking, according to PAUL MALONE, who retained his head and tells of his expedition.

THE PLAN to go up the Headhun- ter’s Trail from Limbang in Borneo seemed like a good one until I read a book recommended by a friend. 

Stories of guides abandoning their charges and tourists being robbed or even beheaded put a few doubts in my mind. And here I was planning to go alone with a guide I had not yet met on a three or four day trek and longboat ride up the Limbang River and through jungle to the World Heritage-listed Mulu National Park. 

Maybe I should fly to Mulu as tourist operators recommended and as most people actually did?

But on paper my plan seemed a good one. The cheapest flights to Borneo were via Royal Brunei Air into Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of the tiny oil-rich state of Brunei. The flight would land early in the afternoon and then, according to Lonely Planet, I could take a 30 minute boat ride to Limbang in Sarawak,Malaysia,and be ready the next day to start trekking up-river to the national park.

But my trip did not get off to a promising start.The flight was fine and immigration and customs in Brunei a pleasure, but when I got to the wharf in Bandar Seri Begawan I found there was no boat to Limbang. The service had been discontinued! 

With the help of some locals I discovered that I could catch a boat to Temburong, still in Brunei, then a taxi to the river where a ferryboat would take me across and another taxi would take me into Limbang, where I could present myself to immigration. 

Limbang proved to be a quiet, pleasant little town. My guide spotted me on the afternoon I arrived, even though I had not planned to meet him until the next morning. 

‘‘There wouldn’t be any other 50-year-old European walkers in Limbang,’’ Clive Lim told me when I asked him how he had known I was his client when I’d simply been walking by the market. 

Clive proved an excellent choice. From the moment I met him I had no fear of being abandoned or beheaded. Speaking good English and having a wide range of contacts, including welcoming people in the longhou- ses on the river, he also turned out to be an excellent trekking cook.

The Mulu National Park is one of the jewels in Sarawak, boasting huge limestone caves inhabited by millions of bats, hundreds of species of butterfly, thousands of moths, 262 species of birds and 75 species of mammals.

But first I had to get there. I am relatively fit for a 59-year-old and I had trained for the jungle walks by throwing a six litre container of water and other assorted goods in my backpack and hiking up and down Mount Majura on the weekends before I left. 

But would this be good enough for the 11.3km real jungle walk which would come on the afternoon of my first day? 

The day started at 7am with an easy drive to the Limbang River where we boarded our longboat taking us on to the Medamit tributary and visiting two sharply contrasting longhouses. One was old and rundown, and the other tiled and sparking like a hospital foyer. For a modest charge, those who wish to can stay overnight at the longhouses, learning of the native people’s cultures. 

But after a rice wine toast and a brief chat we headed up-river to Kuala Terikan.

Thankfully, the trek to Camp 5 was pretty flat and the leeches scarce – only two got me. About half way along the walk, I was congratulating myself on how well things had gone. The morning had been sunny and I had not needed the poncho that Clive had insisted I have ready to wear. So far, it had not rained. Then I realised that it actually was raining. In the heat and humidity of the rainforest I hadn’t noticed. I was so wet one way or another, from sweat or tramping in swamps and streams, that I hadn’t felt the rain dropping through the canopy. 

Then it really rained– true tropical, belting down rain. In some ways this made things easier. There was no longer any point in trying to avoid the swampy bits on the path. The whole path was a swamp, so I might as well charge straight ahead,regardless of what it was like. 

The other surprise was the darkness. I had thought I’d been asked to bring a headlamp because we would be walking in caves. But by late afternoon the light was so poor a torch was essential. 

As for seeing the wildlife? There might have been 262 species of birds and 75 of mammals standing within 10m of me, but I saw none. For a start, you are forced to walk with eyes glued to the ground to avoid slipping or falling. 

And secondly, the forest is so thick that anything more than two metres into it is quite impossible to see.

You hear plenty – bird and animal calls, and branches breaking. At one time I heard a great crash in the forest and was reliably informed that it was one of the huge old trees falling. You do see many beautiful butterflies, including the large iridescent green-striped Raja Brooke bird-wing. 

Camp 5 was a joy – good clean showers and toilets, big airy rooms with vinyl sleeping mats and a sprinkling of tourists from around the world who’dwalked down from the Mulu park. Clive provided the mosquito net, guaranteeing a peaceful night. 

Day one gave me the confidence that I could walk in the rainforest. The more intrepid can take a diversion from the headhunters trek up Gunung Api to see the Pinnacles, a natural formation of sharp limestone spikes. 

Otherwise it’s an easy walk and longboat rides from Camp 5 to the Mulu National Park headquarters. On the way you take in some of the caves which are a major tourist attraction. 

In the late afternoon, providing it is not raining, hundreds of thousands of bats stream out of them, looking from a distance like a plume of smoke. There are said to be 28 species of bat in the park, with many dependent on the caves. 

Each of the caves offers different attractions, from viewing the stalagmite and stalactite formations, to adventure caving.

The easy way out of Mulu is to fly back to the coastal town of Miri in Sarawak. 

But there is another, more interesting way. It is possible to get a longboat from Mulu to Long Terawan and then another boat down river to Marudi. 

From there it is an easy express boat ride down the huge Baram River, just south-west of Brunei, to the coast. 

By doing this you have skirted round Brunei, taking in stays at the longhouses of the various tribal groups as you go. Finally, it’s a short road but a somewhat complicated multiple bus trip back to Bandar Seri Begawan airport.