Malay Literature ½01: Hang Tuah Would Totally Cap Your Ass, But Politely And In A Self-Effacing Way

[nyarlathotep]

Hello there. I’m here to talk about a famous mythological figure.

They called him Hang Tuah.

It’s really funny, but when I was asked, earlier this year about fictional Muslims, I actually truthfully said that I couldn’t remember any.

Thing is, dhobikikutti started pestering me to talk about Muslim characters, write some Muslim fic, and I honestly couldn’t get myself started, because… well because I was lazy. Still am, actually.

But then I remembered: Hey, isn’t Hang Tuah a Muslim? It’s weird, because I normally associate Hang Tuah with Malay-ness (he’s kind of the quintessential Malay guy, really). And this is funny, because I remember playing him once in an amateur play. I was really bad at it.

So. How does Hang Tuah’s story go?

The most common story we get told about Hang Tuah, one that gets discussed so often, is how Hang Tuah defeated his bond-brother, Hang Jebat.

See, the story goes like this:

1. There were once five boys, named Tuah, Jebat, Lekir, Lekiu and Kasturi. They were close friends, and learned silat and the Qur’an together.
2. When they grew up, all the boys, through acts of bravery and renown, were given the honorific ‘Hang’ (other famous recipients included Hang Li Po, Sultan Mansur Shah’s fifth wife).
3. Hang Tuah gains possession of a keris called Taming Sari.
4. He becomes one of the most accomplished of the Sultan’s laksamana, which is the equivalent to “admiral”, which was pretty damn important, considering how Malacca built most of its wealth from the sea trade.
5. Plus he was really nice. People liked him.
6. But then, RUMORS STARTED CIRCULATING. That Tuah was havin’ the sexins with the Sultan’s wimmins. And the Sultan can’t be havin’ that, so he ordered Tuah killed. Despite Tuah’s years of service.
7. But the Bendahara (which roughly translates to “Treasurer” and had the position analogous to the Prime Minister of that time) hid Tuah away, instead of killing him. And so Tuah lived in exile.
8. Jebat, his bestest buddy, decides to avenge Tuah’s death, and uses the Taming Sari and his awesum mad skillz to take over the kingdom. Sultan got kicked out of his own palace. Laments that Tuah is dead.
9. The Bendahara goes, “Actually, about that…”
10. TUAH COMES TO THE RESCUE, KILLS JEBAT AND THE DAY IS SAVED, THANKS TO HANG TUAH.

A starting point for political discourse here in Malaysia among the Malays when we’re in school is who is the main villain of this piece, and whether Tuah was justified in killing Jebat. Focus tended to be on Jebat, as a passionate (if misguided) friend of Tuah, who questioned the Sultan’s right to rule, as he had been clearly unjust. Tuah didn’t really get a lot of personality when I was a kid, mainly because he was seen as the ultimate straight arrow boy scout SuperMalay, and as a result didn’t get a personality.

I don’t know about you guys, but I figured that the Sultan was a right dick, and it’s kind of informed my attitude towards Malay royalty every since (the tale of Sultan Mahmud Mangkat Dijulang kind of reinforces that belief. Trigger warning; it’s horrible).

But what most people don’t get is that the Hang Tuah’s tale is told through many variations of Sejarah Melayu and Hikayat Hang Tuah. In some tales, Hang Tuah becomes remorseful and ends up becoming a pacifist, travelling as a diplomat to far-flung kingdoms, as shown here by Farish Noor, who isn’t a mythical person. The excerpt he uses is as follows, in which I’ll try to translate myself (a bit fail though; my Malay isn’t that good, and this is actually classical Malay, which is harder than vanilla Rempit Malay):

Mendengar sembah Laksamana dengan bahasa Nagaram itu, maka Kisna Rayan dan Bendahara Mangkubumi dan segala raja-raja dan menteri-menteri yang mengadap itu pun hairan terchengang-chengang, kerana melihat Laksamana tahu bahasa Nagaram itu. Maka Kisna Rayan juga gemar melihat laku Laksamana berkata-kata itu dengan bahasa Keling yang faseh lidah-nya dan manis muka-nya, dan dengan merdu suara-nya; patut ia berkata-kata itu.

Maka titah Kisna Rayan: “Hai Laksamana, Kau ini Peranakan apa?”

Maka sembah Laksamana, “Ya tuanku shah alam, patek ini peranakan Melayu, tapi patek dari kechil-kechil ke-Majapahit, maka patek berlajar mangaji bahasa Keling dari pada sa-orang Lebai; maka oleh itu patek mengerti sedikit bahasa Keling itu.”

Hearing the Admiral’s speech in the Nagaram’s language, thus Kisna Rayan (the King of the Kelings, which I believe is a term (now sadly racist) to describe those of Indian extraction) and his Prime Minister Mangkubumi and all the princes and ministers who were facing them were all astonished, thus seeing the Admiral speak in the Nagaram tongue. And thus Kisna Rayan was so pleased to see the Admiral’s fluent use of the Keling language and sweet demeanor, so sweet his tone; indeed, so well-placed were his words.

And thus spake Kisna Rayan: “Hai, Admiral, Art thou a Peranakan?” (i.e. someone who was born and raised in Malay culture, but whose heritage is traced to China or India)

“Yes, your majesty, your humble servant is a Malay peranakan (i.e. no, I’m Malay), but your humble servant once, when he was young travelled to Majapahit, and I learned the language of the Kelings from an elder (Lebai); and thus your humble servant is able to understand the Keling language in some small manner.”

And this from a dude who, when in that trip to Majapahit, actually took down a fierce warrior by the name of Taming Sari, who was armed with a magical keris that granted him immunity from weapons. Don’t mess with him; he’d kill you, but in a polite and self-effacing manner.

Anyway, I thought it was cool, and I wanted to share.

ETA: Just got a friend who suggested to me that the second and third paragraph of Farish Noor’s excerpt should be as follows (turns out that “Peranakan” could also mean “ancestry” in Classical Malay, and that only did it later refer to the Baba-Nyonya and Jawi Peranakan. See? This stuff hard):

And thus spake Kisna Rayan, “Hai, Admiral, what ancestry are ye?”

Thus sayeth the Admiral, “O Your Majesty, Shah Alam (King of the Realm, roughly), your humble servant is of Malay ancestry, but your humble servant once, when he was young, traveled to Majapahit, and thus learned the language of the Kelings from an elder (Lebai); and thus your humble servant is able to understand the Keling language in some small manner.”

Makes a lot more sense. FWIW, Majapahit was a Hindu empire that existed more or less concurrently with the Malaccan empire, and was its greatest rival before it fell apart to internal strife.

Comments

[dhobikikutti]

Dude, you wrote it! This is awesome.
And Hang Tuah killed his best friend for the mis-guided love of the evil Sultan! He is so gay tragic!

Thanks so much for writing this up. I may need to request this as a Yuletide fandom, if this comm cannot generate any fic for it.

[nyarlathotep]

You know, a friend of mine totally did Malacca Empire fic at some point (the Princess of Mount Ophir tale fanfic), so lemme go and try and find it.

[nyarlathotep]

Got it. It's about Yet Another Foolish Sultan, mucking about Things Not Meant To Be Possessed By Men.

Malay Men, at any rate.

http://community.livejournal.com/muses_on_strike/6028.html

[hokuton_punch]

Ahhhh that is so neat! ♥ bravecows mentioned him once in a post of hers and I thought he sounded really neat, but it's cool to hear more about him, especially from an original source! *_* AWESOME.

[nyarlathotep]

Original source?

[hokuton_punch]

The bit you quoted and translated - well, I guess it's not original-original, but it's a closer source than Wikipedia. XD

[nyarlathotep]

Well, yeah, I got it off Farish Noor, who possibly got it off the original copy.

I've got an edition of Hikayat Hang Tuah at home somewhere. I mean to get into it, but the book's dusty and Classical Malay occasionally makes my head hurt.

There doesn't seem to be an online version of the Hikayat, though. Shame.

[hokuton_punch]

A great shame indeed, I really want to read it. D:

[bravecows]

I've also been having a hell of a time trying to find it in bookshops. ;________; How am I ever going to write my comic about how Tuah & the Hangs time-travel to modern-day Malaysia and become a pop rock band?

[bravecows]

Wait, Farish Noor says Kino got! yesssss KLCC here I come