So, was Jebat or Tuah the hero?

By MT Webmaster Last updated Jul 7, 2015

So you see, the Hang Tuah versus Hang Jebat story is not really as simple as it sounds. That story is what shapes the Malay psyche today. Some Malays align themselves to Hang Tuah and some to Hang Jebat. And that is why many Malays place obedience and loyalty above other values such as good governance and so on.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Today, Shahril Ahmad wrote an interesting piece in Free Malaysia Today titled Kassim Ahmad, the unwitting Jebat. In that piece Shahril said:

Malay scholar Kassim Ahmad may have unwittingly cast himself into the role of Hang Jebat by his latest blog post.

In his 1964 dissertation, Perwatakan dalam Hikayat Hang Tuah, Kassim had dared to challenge traditional Malay thinking by contending that Hang Jebat, not Hang Tuah, was the true Malay hero for his earnestness in defending honour and principles, even if it meant turning against the Sultan.

Fast forward 51 years to last weekend, and we find Kassim challenging Malay thinking once again. (READ MORE HERE)

I have written about this subject a couple of times in the past but it mainly attracted comments about whether Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat (plus the other three comrades) really existed or whether this story is just a myth.

Some even argued that the five ‘brothers’ might have actually been Chinese — the bodyguards of the Chinese princes, Hang Li Poh. The fact that all six were ‘Hang’ sort of gives this impression. And the fact that their silat was most unusual probably meant they were Kung Fu masters (that was why Malays at that time had never seen this form of silat before).

Anyway, the study of Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat is not about whether they really existed or were mere myths, or whether, if they did exist, they were actually Chinese rather than Malays. The focus should be on the moral of the story and the values that the story teaches us.

This event, if it did happen, is not about the rakyat versus the Sultan. At that time the Sultans represented the authority. And Hang Tuah and gang represented the inner circle of the Sultan’s court or what we would call the courtiers. So this story is about a crisis between the monarch and members of his royal court, the courtiers.

Basically, the rakyat was not involved. In fact, some of the rakyat became victims who lost their lives in this clash between the two titans. Hence it was not a class struggle as much as it was a power struggle between the elites.

So, to say that the Tuah-Jebat story is about the rakyat turning on or rejecting a zalim (evil) ruler is not correct. The rakyat had nothing to do with this. And this is how the story has been distorted as if it represented an uprising of the people against the ruler.

According to the story, Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat were like brothers. Then someone accused Hang Tuah of a crime and the Sultan passed a death sentence on him. But the Minister who was supposed to execute Hang Tuah did not want to do so. So he hid Hang Tuah and reported to the Sultan that Hang Tuah had been executed.

Hang Jebat then went on a rampage and the Sultan did not know what to do. No one was as skilled in silat to be able to kill Hang Jebat. Only Hang Tuah was powerful enough to do that.

When the Sultan expressed regret at having ordered Hang Tuah’s execution the Minister confessed that he had actually not executed him but had hidden him. The Sultan then ordered Hang Tuah back to deal with Hang Jebat, which he did — and Hang Jebat was killed.

Hang Tuah was innocent of the crime he had been alleged to have committed. But he still obeyed the Sultan who ordered his execution and did not resist. Hang Jebat was angry at this injustice and went against the Sultan. Hang Tuah represented obedience (to authority) while Hang Jebat represented loyalty (to his comrade).

Even when Hang Tuah knew that Hang Jebat was loyal to him and his disobedience to the Sultan was because of this loyalty, Hang Tuah still obeyed the Sultan and killed Hang Jebat. Hence obedience to authority overrode friendship and loyalty even if that authority was evil or wrong.

To me this is a story of contradictions, which only confuses the Malays.

So who, then, was the hero? Was it Hang Tuah or was it Hang Jebat? And did the Minister not disobey the Sultan by not executing Hang Tuah? Is disobedience to authority when that authority is wrong good or bad? Does that not make the Minister a Jebat rather than a Tuah? The Minister knew that the Sultan was wrong (which is why he did not execute Hang Tuah but hid him) and yet he brought Hang Tuah back to kill Hang Jebat. Was that not obedience?

That conclusion is left to the Malays to figure out. It all depends on your value system.

And this Hang Tuah-Hang Jebat story is a story that makes the Malays into what they are today, unfortunately. They cannot decide whether loyalty or obedience is more important. Do you obey someone even when that person is wrong or do you oppose that person? Do you place loyalty above everything else even if that person you are loyal to is wrong?

Now, let us equate that to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. The Jebat type Malays who feel that Najib is wrong will oppose him. The Tuah type Malays who feel that obedience is paramount will support him.

What about right and wrong? Should you not support only right and oppose what is wrong? Right and wrong are subjective to many Malays, again, unfortunately.

Was it right for Hang Tuah to kill Hang Jebat who only opposed the Sultan out of loyalty? Or was Hang Jebat wrong to have opposed the Sultan? What if everyone was allowed to oppose the Sultan? If there was no obedience and unity would not Melaka face the danger of falling to its enemies or to a foreign power?

And when Melaka did fall in 1511 was that because there were too many Hang Jebats and not enough Hang Tuahs around? So, was Hang Tuah right in punishing Hang Jebat for the sake of the country, as 1511 showed when there was disunity in Melaka?

Malays are complicated animals, are they not?

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK