Kota Kinabalu: Upko has waded into the debate over Hang Tuah with its Deputy President Datuk Wilfred M. Bumburing saying the government of the day must be prepared to accept dissent and criticism from the rank and file of Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties. From time to time, he said, they have witnessed component parties being asked to quit the BN just because the party was vocal about an issue that is affecting the people.
"I have experienced during debates in Parliament when my fellow Barisan Nasional backbenchers challenged me to state whether I am a Barisan Nasional MP or opposition MP whenever I said certain things that seemed to be critical of the Government.
"I thought that everybody has learned from the fact that times have changed where we should be more tolerant and be able to accept criticism," he said.
To this, he said he fully agreed with former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad when the latter said that, "if we don't change, then the people will change us."
While some leaders in the BN are following the philosophy of Hang Tuah, Bumburing said he would remain a Hang Jebat follower.
The question of whether Hang Tuah was a historical figure or just a legend is being hotly debated among academicians and politicians, he said.
As a student in Form Six, he said he took up Malay Literature as a subject.
On this, he agreed with Mahathir in at least two points.
Firstly, he said the existence of Hang Tuah as a historical person could be totally discounted just because of the absence of abstract historical record on him.
In traditional Malay and/or among the many ethnic groups within the Malay archipelago that include the natives of Borneo, in the absence of written language in the past, much of the events including information of personalities of the past were passed down through traditions and oral history from generation to generation.
However, verbal transmission of these events would go through verbal editing and get intertwined with folklore elements, he said.
Malaysian historian Professor Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim, he said, might contend that the so-called existence of Hang Tuah was placed in an era of history when the Sultanate of Malacca had political ties with China.
During which written language was already in existence and therefore the absence of any record in China on Hang Tuah cancelled out the historical reality of him.
However, the absence of these records does not necessary negate the existence of Hang Tuah, he said.
"The Hikayat Hang Tuah is a major textbook in the subject of Malay literature in the 70s and I agree with Mahathir that much of the contents of the book is fiction.
"However, what can be learnt from the book is about loyalty or blind loyalty as Mahathir had stated," he said.
Bumburing said Hang Tuah was banished by the Sultan after being found guilty of a crime that had not been substantially proven, at least.
However, instead of being executed, he said the learned Dato Bendahara or Prime Minister hid him in an unknown location, thus, risking the wrath of the Sultan of Malacca if he was caught.
"Subsequently, the unjust punishment meted out on Hang Tuah enraged Hang Jebat who then ran amok to demand justice.
"When confronted by the sultanate officials as to why he was disloyal to the Sultan, Hang Jebat said "Raja Adil Raja Disembah Raja Zalim Raja Di Tentang.
"What this means is that rulers have the right to rule but must rule justly," he said.
These words, he said, stood as revolutionary to the minds of the people in those days where nothing but total loyalty to the Sultan is expected of all the subjects.
As the story goes, he said the Dato Bendahara informed the Sultan that Hang Tuah is actually still around and he is the only person who could dispose Hang Jebat.
Hang Tuah was then ordered to confront Hang Jebat and to kill him, he said.
Out of blind loyalty, Hang Tuah obliged and subsequently killed his childhood friend using the feared kris called "Taming Sari", the only weapon that could kill Hang Jebat.
However, Bumburing said legally, the Dato Bendahara could also be charged with treason or disloyalty for disobeying the decree of the Sultan.
Probably under the circumstances, the Sultan ignored it or the writers and "editors" of the story of Hang Tuah made it look like no crime was committed by the Dato Bendahara, whatever the case may be.
"Students of Malay literature at that time were asked who among the two warriors is the true leader.
I sided with Hang Jebat in my answer as I believe that he is the real believer in true justice," he said.
Mahathir, he said, seems to be guided by Hang Jebat's philosophy when, during his premiership, he introduced changes in law to limit some aspect of the power and privileges of the rulers.
So, it seems that Hang Jebat is more progressive than those people who cannot accept constructive criticism in the name of loyalty, he said.
