Hang Tuah

Hang Tuah

I just came home from work and had to write this down before I forgot. With my older students, we've been exploring the theme of Budaya/tradisi Melayu (Malay culture/tradition) and today we read a bit about Hang Tuah. I can't believe how interested they were. It was hard for them reading everything in Malay and then answering my questions when they'd never even heard of Hang Tuah before. And still they were interested in discussing their opinions about the whole Tuah/Jebat/Sultan Mahmud tragedy. And then we discussed Hang Tuah's oath: "Tak Melayu hilang di dunia" and what he meant and what it meant to be Malay. I was really touched by how they claimed that they were Malay, despite having been born here and not really knowing the language or practising the culture daily. And yet many of us, born and raised by Malay parents, with Malay names and living in countries where the Malay culture and tradition is so very much alive and a part of everyday life, claim that our Malay sucks and how we can't speak Malay and that we're not REALLY Malay, we're mixed or whatever. Maybe Hang Tuah's wrong and Malay will hilang di dunia someday....