Thank you Sabri. I did'nt know Adlan personally but really enjoyed his postings.
Its amazing how he could respond to queries with such wealth of information and
in such short turn around.

Verily we are from Allah and unto Him our return.

Salim



To: Sejarah-Melayu@...: pan@...: Thu, 6 Mar 2008
17:12:02 -0500Subject: Re: [Sejarah Melayu] Al-Fatihah to Allahyarham Adlan
Benan Omar




Sabri, thank you for posting that wonderful story. I am very sad to hearof Adlan
Benan Omar's untimely passing. My condolences to his loved ones.May his memory
be a blessing for us all. Michael----- Original Message -----From: "Sabri
Zain"To: Sejarah-Melayu@...: [Sejarah Melayu] Al-Fatihah to
Allahyarham Adlan Benan OmarDate: Wed, 05 Mar 2008 01:09:48 -0000It was with the
greatest sadness that I learned that our friend AdlanBenan Omar passed away at
the Sunway Specialist Centre on Thursday,24 January 2008. He was only 35.Those
of you who have been on this list from the beginning willremember Ben's almost
encyclopaedic knowledge of Malay history andhis many insightful contributions to
our discussions and debateshere. If you have not read Ben's postings here on the
Sejarah Melayulist, I would encourage you to read our archives
athttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sejarah-Melayu/messagesYou will then realize how
much of a great loss his passing is and howdeeply missed he will be.There can
perhaps be no fitting tribute to this remarkable young man,and no better way to
remmeber him, than to reproduce this short storyby Ben, which not only
highlights the passion that he had for Malayhistory, but also shows a bright,
intelligent mind that was a breathof fresh air and a shining light in
contemporary Malay culture.I shall remember Ben with great fondness.Al-Fatihah.
Amin.----------------------------------------------------------The Day Hang Tuah
Walked Through My Doorby Adlan Benan Omar (1973-2008)Everyone knows who Hang
Tuah is. Everyone knows that he was a greatwarrior, that he was loyal to his
king, that he fought and defeatedHang Jebat in a gruelling duel. But I knew more
about Hang Tuah thananyone else. No... I didn't read more than anyone else (how
much morecould a twelve-year-old have read anyway?). I knew more about HangTuah
because he came to live with us a few months ago.Yes, you heard me right. Hang
Tuah did come to live with me and myfamily. Abah took him home one day. He had
found the old man walkingaround the local playground one evening, while he was
out jogging. Itwas getting dark and the old man had no place to go, so we took
himin. Mak was not too happy about that, she thought the old man lookedcrooked.
He was dirty and he didn't wear shoes. Mak said that peoplemight think our
family has gone weird. Abah justlaughed. "Kasihan ...dia orang tua," he said.My
friends didn't believe me at first. They thought I was dreaming,or making things
up, or just plain lying.Azraai said that the old man was an alien from Mars and
not HangTuah. Eqhwan laughed at me and said that either I or the old man mustbe
mad. Anuar said that if Hang Tuah was still alive I wouldn't beable to
understand what he said because he spoke classic Malay likein the hikayats.
Hilmi (our local school's smart alec) tried toexplain to me that the Melaka
Empire was no more and that Hang Tuahwas just a legend. He said that if Hang
Tuah was still alive he wouldbe at least five and a half centuries old and the
latest edition ofthe Guinness Book of World Records stated that the oldest man
in theworld lived only to 120 years. Only Farid sympathised with me... andthat
was because he had an imaginary friend whom he always took alongto play marbles
with us.I really didn't care what they said. I knew that old man was HangTuah. I
know because I asked him myself.The morning after we took the old man in, Mak
asked me to wake him upfor breakfast. I went to the spare room and found that he
was alreadyawake. He was sitting on the edge of the bed with a blue batik
bundleon his lap."Jemput makan, Tok," I said, politely."Terima kasih," he said.I
was curious, so I asked, "Apa dalam buntil tu Tok?""Barang Tok... barang orang
miskin," he replied.Then he opened it up slowly. I saw him fiddle for something,
then hetook out a long keris with an ivory sheath. It was at least a footlong
and studded with jewels."Ini keris Taming Sari," said the old man.I snickered,
"He! He! He!". I thought the old man was joking.Everyone knew that Taming Sari
belonged to Hang Tuah and that it musthave disappeared with its master.The old
man looked up at me. His eyes stared into mine. I felt alittle queasy at that.
His expression changed, he began to lookangry. Suddenly his eyes drooped and he
looked more hurt than angry."Kenapa cucu gelak?" he asked."Tak ada kenapa," I
answered, a little frightened."Tok tahu, cucu ingat Tok bergurau." I kept
quiet.He began again, "Inilah keris Taming Sari yang sebenar. Ini keris
Toksendiri.""Kalau begitu Tok ni tentulah...""Hang Tuah," he interjected, "nama
Tok ialah Hang Tuah.""Tapi Hang Tuah sudah mati."He laughed, "Tidak, Tok belum
mati. Tapi Tok sudah tua...""Berapa umur Tok?" I questioned."540 tabun."Mak
didn't really like Tok Tuah. But she didn't say anything when hejust stayed on
and on in the house. She didn't say a word when Abahand I took him to Hankyu
Jaya to get some new clothes. She just keptquiet when Tok Tuah joined us to
watch TV in the living room afterdinner. I told her (and Abah) that the old man
said that his name wasHang Tuah. She wrinkled her face (and Abah just
laughed).It was a Wednesday night and RTM had a slot then called "Teater
P.Ramlee". It so happened that they were showing Phani Majumdar's "HangTuah". P.
Ramlee, so young and thin, acted as the hero and the lateHaji Mahadi was Sultan
Mansor Shah.When Jebat got killed, Tok Tuah pipped in, "Tidak langsung
macamtu..."Abah stared at Tok Tuah. Mak stared at Tok Tuah. I too, stared at
TokTuah."Aku sudah tua masa tu, Jebat muda lagi. Jebat kuat. Dia sepak akuhingga
aku tertiarap, kemudian aku berguling. Aku himpit dia. Akukata sama dia 'baik
sajalah kau mengalah'. Apa gunanya kita duabersaudara bergaduh?"Mak started to
look worried again."Jebat tak mati."Abah looked surprised. He said, "Habis tu,
apa jadi pada dia?"Tok Tuah said, "Aku tak mahu Sultan bunuh dia. Aku tahu
Sultan zalim.Jadi, aku sorokkan dia di Ulu Melaka. Macam Tun Perak sorokkan
akumasa aku difitnahkan. Lepas Melaka kalah dengan Portugis, Jebat ikutaku
merantau."I said, "Bila Jebat mati?"Tok Tuah laughed, "Jebat belum mati. Baru
tahun lepas aku jumpa dia.Dia meniaga di Kedah.""Meniaga?" I said."Ya, Jebat
duduk di Kulim. Dia meniaga kereta. Apa tu? Kereta'second-hand' kata orang.
Proton, Honda dan Nissan. Laku jualannya. Banyakorang beli."One day, I took Tok
Tuah on a walk around KL. He got bored justsitting in our small bungalow in
Bukit Bandar Raya. So after school,we took the mini-bus to Central Market. Tok
Tuah really enjoyed thewalk. "Banyaknya orang..." he wondered. We ate at
McDonald's. Hedidn't like the cheeseburger (well, he didn't like the cheese,
thoughhe loved the burger itself). After lunch, we went to Muzium Negara.I
showed him the frieze of a young Hang Tuah which was sculpted by anEnglishwoman
in the 1950s. It showed a handsome Hang Tuah in 'BajuMelayu' and 'samping'. He
was holding Taming Sari in his hand."Siapa tu," Tok Tuah asked."Itu Tok-lah.
ltulah orang putih gambarkan sebagai Hang Tuah. Hensem,kan?"Tok Tuah chuckled,
"Apa tulisan atas tu?""Ta' Melayu Hilang di-Dunia. Eh, takkan Tok tak ingat? Itu
kan Tokyang cakap dulu?"He kept quiet. Slowly he mumbled, "Ta' Melayu Hilang
di-Dunia? Takingat pun."Suddenly, he started, "Oh! Bukannya Ta' Melayu Hilang
di-Dunia. Silaptu. Tok tak pernah cakap macam tu...""Habis tu?" I asked."Masa tu
Tok tengah pergi masjid untuk sembahyang Maghrib. Isteri Tokikut sekali. Dia
tengah ambil air sembahyang di tepi perigi, kemudiankakinya tergelincir. Dia
terjatuh masuk. Orang ramal pun menjerit-jerit sebab perigi itu dalam. Apa lagi,
Tok pun terjunlah untukselamatkan dia. Isteri Tok bukan sebarang orang, namanya
Tun Sa'odah,anak Bendahara Tun Perak.""Kemudian?" I urged."Bila Tok bawak dia
naik, Temenggung Tun Mutahir ketawa. Katanya, Toksayang betul pada isteri Tok.
Tok pun jawab, "Mestilah... Ta'Isteriku Hilang di-Telaga. Jadi, mungkin orang
silap dengar...!"Tok Tuah stayed with our family for more than six months. He
stayedat home in the first few weeks but he felt guilty not doing anythingto
contribute. So, one morning, he followed Abah to work. Abah wasmanager of a
factory in Sungai Buluh which made video tapes and CDs.They needed a new 'jaga'
or watchman. Tok Tuah got the job. Abahsaid, "Who better to guard us than the
great Malay admiral HangTuah?"The workers got along well with him. Amin, Abah's
driver, said thatTok Tuah told them lots of funny jokes about Sultan Mansor of
Melakaand his fifteen wives. Tok Tuah also got to know Rajalinggam, thesweeper,
who he said reminded him of Mani Purindan, the father ofBendahara Tun Ali. Like
Rajalinggam, Mani Purindan too came fromTamil Nadu and cooked delicious dhal
curry.One morning, my teacher at school said, "Tomorrow I want you all tobring a
model of an old artefact. Then I want you all to explain itsimportance in front
of the whole history class."Hilmi (always the teacher's pet) spent days working
on a matchstickmodel of the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station. Azraai decided to
build aspaceship instead. Eqhwan bought Anuar's origami keris for fifteendollars
and brought that to school. Farid asked his imaginary friendto draw a picture of
Mel Gibson as Sir William Wallace. I? Well, Ijust brought Tok Tuah along.My
teacher was flabbergasted. She said, "Why have you broughtthis 'jaga' along?"I
smiled, "He's not just a 'jaga'. He's the great warrior Hang Tuah!"My teacher
said, "I'll call your father and tell him you're playingjokes in class.""Please,
Cikgu. Just listen to what he has to say," I insisted.Tok Tuah stood in front of
the class. He coughed. My teacher sighed.I smiled. My friends sneered.
"Assalamualaikum," he said. "Wa'alaikumSalam," we answered.Tok Tuah began his
speech. He started out by saying that the Melakawe read about in the history
books was very different from the realMelaka. He explained how the Sultan used
to let anyone come to thepalace with any complaints at all, and he would settle
it there andthen. He told us that he and his four friends used to go on tours
toPahang and Terengganu and Ujung Tanah, even to Siam, on greatgalliards with
five big sails. He described to us that Melaka had120,000 citizens, each of whom
had land and houses of their own andthat no beggars were allowed to go even a
day without food andshelter. He mimicked Sultan Mansor's snarl, and Tun Perak's
twitchinghandlebar moustaches and Jebat's swaggering walk. Finally, he told
ushow Melaka got corrupted by its wealth and warned us not to do thesame
now.That day, Tok Tuah got a standing ovation. Even Teacher clapped. I? Igot an
'A' for History.Tok Tuah died seven weeks after that. He was 542 years old. It
wasduring the Puasa month and he took the LRT from Sungai Buluh. Hewanted to
stop and buy some sweetmeats (he absolutely loved 'paukaya'). When he arrived at
Chow Kit station, he collapsed on theplatform with a massive stroke.They rushed
him in an ambulance to Kuala Lumpur General Hospital buthe was already gone. He
didn't feel a thing.We buried him at Ampang Cemetery, right across from the
grave of TanSri P. Ramlee, who played him in that film. I visit the
gravesometimes just to tell him that I'm now a lecturer in Malay Historyat
Leyden University.I still remember the day he walked through my door. It's as if
it wasjust yesterday. Ah, well...By the way, did I tell you I met King Henry
VIII whilst I wasstudying in Cambridge? He worked as a night porter at my
college. Butthat, as they say, is a different story.-- Want an e-mail address
like mine?Get a free e-mail account today at www.mail.com![Non-text portions of
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