Firstly this news is from the New Straits Times here.
Where's Hang Tuah's grave?
forum to affirm existence of Hang Tuah instead raised another historical fact
(dont know) exact location of the Malay warrior’s grave.
Huzaifah Hashim said Hang Tuah’s resting place was Palembang
Iksep chairman Dr Jamil Mukmin insisted the grave in Tanjung Kling
(My comments : Both have written references to back up their contradicting claims. This shows that even written sources can be contradictory. Arent we thankful that you dont "go to hell" whether Hang Tuah existed or not. Without more substantial historical and scientific evidence all these claims are just claims.)
polemic about existence of Hang Tuah emerged since 1950s
90% of scholars and historians agreed Hang Tuah did exist and is not a myth
(My comments : This sounds like 'ijma of the scholars' or 'consensus of the scholars'. How do you know 90%? Did you count? 90% of how many scholars? 5 scholars? 50 scholars? 500 scholars? Who are these scholars? Who recorded their consensus? Even if 1000 scholars agree, can they show any real evidence and proof? Even if 10,000 scholars agree, they still have to show proof. Scholars with a racial bias, nationalistic bias etc have to be weeded out. Bring historical and scientific evidence.)
Hang Tuah’s name etched in books by historians from Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, Britain and Spain which was proof of his existence.
(My comments : Not exactly. This week Hang Tuah's name has been "etched" in the New Straits Times, in this Blog and in the media. So what? That does not prove Hang Tuah existed. We still need historical and scientific evidence).
Malaysian History Association secretary Jamil Jaamat, said Hang Tuah existed because the latter’s family genealogy could be seen and studied to this day.
(My comments : Jamil, like that descendant of Mahsuri they found in Phuket not too long ago. There was once a clown who sent a comment to my blog saying that he could trace his geneology back to Nabi Noh or something. The question is how do you prove that you are not bullshitting?)
Jamil criticised UM Prof Dr Ahmat Adam for stating that Hang Tuah did not exist
“As seasoned academician, he should make an in-depth study first before making such statements,” he said.
(My comments : Well Prof Dr Ahmat Adam, can you speak up again why you think Hang Tuah did not exist?)
Senior lecturer at (UPM) Dr Rohaidah Kamaruddin, said the discovery of letters sent by Hang Tuah to the emperor of the Ryukyu Kingdom between 1480 and 1481 was evidence that the Malay warrior existed.
(My comments : This is new information. How come Prof Emeritus Khoo Kay Kim (previously of UM) did not know of these letters? Or Prof Ahmat Adam of UM too. Is there a conspiracy by University Malaya scholars to conceal such information?)
Professor Emeritus Dr Hashim Musa said a personal note in The Commentaries of the Great Afonso de Albuquerque was another hard evidence that Hang Tuah existed.
“The note by the Portuguese conqueror mentioned that when Malacca was invaded in 1511, Hang Tuah was living in Singapore (Temasek) and was 80 years old at the time,” he said.
(MY comments : This sounds very dubious to me. If Hang Tuah was 80 years old and living in Singapore around 1511, then he would have been born in 1431. Why and when did he leave Malacca and move to Temasek (Singapore?). Apa pasal dia tak mahu duduk di Melaka? The other question is why would a "great conqueror" like Alfonso De Albuquerque write a personal note about some 80 year old man who did not exist in Malacca at that time ie the time Alfonso conquered Malacca? The Portugese ruled Malacca until 1641. Di Hang Tuah return to Malacca to die and be buried in Tanjong Kling? Or did Hang Tuah go to die in Palembang? Or did he die in Temasik (Singapore) Which is which?
Meanwhile, Malacca state assembly Speaker Datuk Othman Muhamad, who opened the forum, said confusion over certain matters, such as the exact location of his grave, did not mean the existence of Hang Tuah could easily be denied.
He recalled that during the “Hang Tuah Wira Alam Melayu” seminar held here in May 2006, all eight panellists from Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia agreed that Hang Tuah existed.
“I urged researchers and history enthusiasts to agree on the issue of Hang Tuah so his existence is no longer disputed,” he said.
(My comments : Hello Datuk Poli-tikus, you cannot simply order people 'do not dispute Hang Tuah's existence'. Thats not how it works lah brader. You must show proper proof, logical, historical and scientific - that can be verified. Even if Hang Tuah existed, did Hang Tuah really do all those things that are spoken and written about him? For example did he really go up Gunung Ledang to meet the mythical Puteri Gunung Ledang?
If there was a Puteri Gunung Ledang, then who was her father? He must have been a raja or a sultan. So was there a Sultan Gunung Ledang? Or a Raja Gunung Ledang? Puteri Gunung Ledang binti Sultan Gunung Ledang? Give us the whole picture lah.)
Read More : http://www.nst.com.my/news/2015/12/117829/wheres-hang-tuahs-grave
My comments :
Folks, why not just apply the 3,5,6 on anyone who does not believe in the existence of Hang Tuah?
3, 5, 6 means three years jail, RM5000 fine and/or six strokes of the rotan?
Or lock them up under the Sedition Act, the SOSMA or the new NSC Act?
Siapa tak percaya Hang Tuah boleh didakwa di mahkamah, dihukum dan dipenjarakan.
Instantly you will find everyone believing in Hang Tuah, Puteri Gunung Ledang etc.
Yo bro, even I will say that I believe in Hang Tuah, Hang Lekir, Lekiu, Puteri Gunung Ledang etc.
Tambah lagi, my sons and I have camped in the jungle on Gunung Ledang and bathed in the river there. Wonderful place. If it becomes a 3,5,6 offense NOT to believe in Hang Tuah and etc I will even say that I met Puteri Gunung Ledang.
Who wants to go to jail over a myth? I belieeeeeeeeeevvvee in Hang Tuah.
No need for evidence, no need for proofs, no need for any scientific method. Just point a gun and say, 'You must believe in this'.
Because this is what I gather from this news report.
At that special forum in Malacca, there were NO OPPOSING arguments.
They only invited scholars who agreed with the existence of Hang Tuah.
There were NO scholars who did not agree with the existence of Hang Tuah.
Tak aci lah macam tu.
What type of scholarship is this where you only invite "scholars" to confirm your own position that Hang Tuah existed? Ini bukan scholarship lah bro.
Now here is some very interesting new information. A few years ago, a PhD student at the ATMA in UKM (Institut Alam Dan Tamaddun Melayu at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia which was headed by the scholar emeritus Professor Shamsul Amri Baharudin) wanted to present a PhD thesis that there was no such thing as an 'Empayar Melaka' or 'Malacca Empire'.
In 1511 the Portugese were able to capture Malacca with just 17 ships and about 1200 men, not exactly the type of effort one would expect to topple a great Empire.
The PhD thesis suggested that Malacca was a succesful trading port - but it was not an 'empire'.
Historians say that Malacca did exert control over neighbouring areas like Pahang, Terengganu, Jambi, Indragiri and even Kelantan.
But what exactly is the definition of an "empire"? Was Malacca present "on the ground" in Jambi, Indragiri, Terengganu, Pahang etc or did these areas become just vassals (meaning they ruled themselves but paid money to Malacca?)
Again these are all debateable, disputable, study-able, research-able and discuss-able history.
Malacca was also under the protection of the Ming Empire in China at that time. So can an 'empire' be under the protection of another empire? And the Mings wrote everything down.
But sadly, the professors at the ATMA in UKM (all of whom were Malay) refused to allow the PhD student to pursue his thesis.
They did not want the student to create any doubt about a 'Malaccan' empire.
Not only Hang Tuah was at risk, but the whole idea of a Malaccan Empire was at risk.
The student (an Indian) later left the UKM and completed his PhD in Europe (in a different area).
The question is, what type of scholarship is that when the professors do not even allow a researcher to present his evidence?
Why not let the student present his thesis and then tear it to shreds if what he said was not backed by evidence. Isnt that the proper historical and scientific method?
The politics (plus a very, very huge textbook publishing industry) believes that Hang Tuah did exist and that a Malacca Empire did exist.
Imagine if there is no evidence for Hang Tuah or the Malacca Empire did not exist, then all those history texts must be redone.
Unfortunately Hang Tuah and the Malacca Empire have been tied very tightly to the political identity of UMNO (aka the UMNO ketuanan issue as well).
Genuine scholarship (which does not have to be brave or bold, just diligent, jangan jadi pemalas ok) must be based on studying all sides of an argument, research, evidence, scientific method AND PRESENTATION AND PEER REVIEW.
PRESENTATION AND PEER REVIEW is what establishes the truth and new knowledge.
But if you prevent dissenting views or different people from speaking or you only invite people who look like you, bau ketiak sama macam you, speak like you and believe the same as you do to your forums and seminars, then you cannot call yourself scholars or intellectuals.
Your forum or seminar cannot even be called intellectual.
SO WERENT ANY OTHER SCHOLARS WITH DISSENTING VIEWS AND OPINIONS INVITED TO SPEAK AT THAT SPECIAL "DID HANG TUAH EXIST" FORUM?
Sadly this is the kebaculan intelek or intellectual cowardice that reigns supreme in this country especially among the Malay scholars
The worst case of this is of course in the religious scholarhsip.
That is why the religious scholars are so damned stupid.
The religious scholars are protected DIRECTLY by the 3, 5, 6 (three years jail, RM5000 fine and/or six strokes of the rotan.)
IF you say something that goes against the orthodox religion of the kepala balut they can report you to the religious auta-rities and you can be charged in Court under the threat of the 3-5-6 mentioned above.
How can you claim to be a religious scholar when people who disagree with your religious views are sent to jail?
How can you claim to be a history scholar when people who disagree with your views are not invited to speak? Or their PhD thesis not even entertained?
Sadly this is the state of the Malay Muslim scholars in this country.
They all exist inside their 'katak bawah tempurung' comfort zones, protected by the politicians, protected by the religious orthodoxy, protected by the text book publishers
I have a line to things going on here and there. Talk is sadder things are going on in Malaysia. As more excavations are being done in the Bujang Valley in Kedah, the excavated items are being destroyed.
It was already reported in the newspapers that one candi in the Bujang Valley was destroyed by a housing developer. I hear sadder things. Sculptures and patung and artefacts are still being unearthed in the Bujang Valley and they are either thrown away or destroyed. Like that candi that was destroyed by the housing developer.
The problem : Hinduism.
The Bujang Valley civilisation was Hindu. Plus it was not imported Hinduism from India but local Kedah hindus.
The architecture of the Hindu temple structures in the Bujang Valley do not conform to any Hindu temple in India. It has a distinct 'Malay' flavor. Just like Bali has its own distinct Hindu architecture.
In the present scheme of 'Melayu itu Islam' enshrined in Article 36-24-36 of the Federal Constitution and the politically dominant 'ketuanan Melayu' plus the 'ketuanan Islam' concepts, a "Hindu history of the Malays" or a "non existence of Hang Tuah" are absolute no no. Disaster betul.
What kind of a moron would deny their true history in favor of an untrue and imaginary history?
And if you have a history as fantastic as the Bujang Valley, why on earth would you want to deny it?
I have been to Angkor Wat in Cambodia and the Bujang Valley in Kedah. Although they were at different periods in history, it is evidence enough of the great civilisations that existed in these parts of the wold.
And I believe there is some kind of relic at Kota Gelanggi in Johor. I think it is also Hindu and that is why people are afraid to excavate the place.
(Kekawan, hangpa tak faham ke "tourist potential")?
In Langkawi there is a huge Mahsuri Museum - another myth. She never existed.
Yet the Bujang Valley (which is real archaeology) is almost ignored.
Islamic history itself has major "scientific myth" issues. How do you scientifically prove a hybrid four legged animal with wings flying through the sky?
That is why they need the 3, 5, 6.
It solves the "we cant bear to tell the truth" problem.
Maybe someone will dig up a statue of the Puteri Gunung Ledang.
Wearing tudung and all. Maybe with her real name inscribed : Bibi Mastura.
Sad. Very sad.