Sejarah Kemerdekaan Tanah Melayu

KEWUJUDAN HANG TUAH

PROF. KOO KAY KIM KATA ORG. MELAYU KENA TIPU - "HANG TUAH TAK WUJUD!!"

SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 2012  GELOMBANG RAKYAT  

Seorang pakar arkeologi hari ini menyelar kenyataan fakta daripada Prof Tan Sri Khoo Kay Kim yang menafikan kewujudan Hang Tuah dengan berpandangan ianya sekadar mitos cerita dongeng semata2.

"Saya percaya tokoh ini wujud. Nama Hang memang sudah wujud di alam Melayu. Panggilan Hang ada di Padang Lawas Sumatera, Indonesia.

"Tetapi nama yang empat orang lagi itu (Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekir dan Hang Lekiu) mungkin boleh dikaji lagi," kata Yang Dipertua Ikatan Ahli Arkeologi Malaysia, Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Nik Hassan Shuhaimi Nik Abdul Rahman sambil mempertahankan kewujudan Pahlawan Melayu terdahulu itu berdasarkan bukti arkeologi.

  

Beliau berkata meskipun tiada kajian khusus dijalankan, namun kajian arkeologi membuktikan terdapat beberapa penemuan daripada tinggalan seramik atau tembikar yang menunjukkan kesan pada abad ke-15.

"Kajian khusus tidak ada, tetapi kalau makam, ia ada walaupun nama tidak tertulis padanya," katanya kepada pemberita di ibunegara Jumaat.

Beliau diminta mengulas mengenai pendapat ahli sejarah Prof Tan Sri Khoo Kay Kim bahawa Hang Tuah tidak wujud dan lebih merupakan tokoh mistik.

Beliau berkata tiada bukti dan rekod tentang kewujudan Hang Tuah begitu juga dengan Puteri Hang Li Po dari China yang dikatakan telah berkahwin dengan Sultan Melaka di abad ke-15.

Perak Man

Penemuan Perak Man oleh ahli arkeologi di Lenggong, Perak telah membuktikan bahawa wujud zaman Paleolitik di Malaysia. Manusia Perak (Perak Man) adalah rangka manusia yang tertua pernah dijumpai di Malaysia. Perak Man dijumpai di dalam Gua Gunung Runtuh di Bukit Kepala Gajah, Lenggong, Perak, Malaysia. Ia dijumpai pada tahun 1991 hasil penyelidikan yang dijalankan oleh Malaysian Archaeological Research Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia dengan Kerjasama Jabatan Muzium Malaysia. Melalui teknik penyelidikan Radiokarbon pada tulang tersebut, rangka ini berusia antara 10,000 hingga 11,000 tahun yang lalu. Jumpaan manusia Perak iaitu rangka manusia zaman Paleolitik yang dikebumikan ini telah ditemui dengan kedudukan kaki terlipat. 

Mengikut kajian Dato' Dr Zuraina, ketua penyelidik USM yang menemui rangka tersebut, ia ditemui di Gua Gunung Runtuh, dengan dikelilingi tulang-temulang bangkai haiwan seperti khinzir, pelanduk dan kura-kura. Rangka ini juga dikebumikan dengan kakinya dirapatkan ke dada. Ini menunjukkan Perak Man dikebumikan mengikut ritual khusus masyarakat Paleolitik.

Lebih menarik lagi, Perak Man mengalami kecacatan kekal Brachymesophalangia Type A2 iaitu tangannya tidak sama panjang. Tulang belakangnya juga bengkok tetapi arkeologis percaya Perak Man adalah seorang yang sangat dihormati oleh masyarakatnya ketika itu.Ini kerana di kawasan perkuburannya, terdapat lebih daripada 3,000 kulit siput. Ssetengah daripada siput itu sudah tiada lagi pada zaman ini.

Kita sedia maklum bahawa kulit siput pada zaman dahulu, adalah sesuatu yang sangat berharga. (Itulah juga asal mengapa orang Perak menyebut nilai mata wang sebagai (kupang)

Masyarakat Paleolitik pada zaman itu menggunakan batu yang kasar sebagai alat memotong daging, senjata dan seumpamanya. Terdapat beberapa artifak seperti batu yang tajam di sisinya, dipamerkan di Muzium Lenggong, Perak.

Selain itu, kulit siput dan tembikar lama juga membuktikan masyarakat Paleolitik sudah mula membina tamadun mereka pada waktu itu.

Kedudukan rangka Perak Man semasa penemuannya.

Rangka Perak Man telah pun dipindahkan dari Gua Gunung Runtuh ke Muzium Arkeologi Lenggong dan diletakkan dalam kedudukan asalnya sebagaimana ia ditemui.

Perak Man adalah lelaki yang tergolong dalam kelompok manusia Australomelanesoid. Menjalani kehidupan bersama beberapa kelompok manusia prasejarah lebih kurang 10 000 tahun yang lalu dengan menjadikan gua sebagai tempat berteduh. Aktiviti utama Perak Man ialah memburu, memungut bahan-bahan yang boleh diperolehi daripada hutan dan sungai untuk menjalani kehidupannya.

Ilustrasi kehidupan manusia zaman pra sejarah..

Perak Man telah meninggal dunia sewaktu berumur antara 40-45 tahun. Ia telah dikebumikan dengan upacara atau adat tradisi kaumnya dengan posisi foetal, iaitu kedua kakinya berlipat ke arah dada. Ia juga dikebumikan bersama dengan beberapa peralatan yang diperbuat daripada batu dan beribu-ribu siput sungai. Ketinggiannya dianggarkan dalam 154cm-160cm. Perak Man adalah rangka tulang manusia hampir penuh yang ditemui di Asia Tenggara dan merupakan tulang prasejarah yang mempunyai kecacatan genetik yang dikenali sebagai Brchymesophalangia.

My Kad Perak Man.. Salah satu bahan pameran di Muzium Arekologi Lenggong..

Bagi sesiapa yang berminat untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut sejarah penemuan rangka manusia prasejarah ini bolehlah berkunjung ke Muzium Arkeologi Lenggong yang terletak di Daerah Lenggong, Perak, Malaysia.

TIGA LAGI TAPAK ARKEOLOGI USM DIPILIH TAPAK WARISAN KEBANGSAAN

PULAU PINANG, 11 MEI 2012: Tiga lagi tapak penyelidikan arkeologi hasil kajian Pusat Penyelidikan Arkeologi Global (PPAG), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) tersenarai sebagai Warisan Kebangsaan di bawah kategori Warisan Ketara – Warisan Arkeologi.

Prof. Dato’ Omar Osman, Naib Canselor USM berkata, pihak Universiti menyambut baik pemilihan ini yang juga adalah pengiktirafan negara terhadap penyelidikan arkeologi yang dijalankan oleh penyelidik-penyelidik USM.

Tiga tapak penyelidikan ini ialah tapak arkeologi Sungai Batu di Sungai Petani, Kedah, Bukit Bunuh di Lenggong, Perak dan Gua Batu Tambun yang juga di Perak.

“Pihak Universiti amat berbangga dengan pengiktirafan ini dan perisytiharan ini pastinya akan memacu kita untuk melakukan penyelidikan yang lebih mendalam dan meluas bukan sahaja di tapak-tapak berkenaan, malah juga di seluruh negara yang pastinya penting bagi pengekalan warisan tempatan dan sejarah dunia.

“Saya juga percaya, pengiktirafan ini menjadi bukti bahawa penyelidik tempatan mampu melakukan kajian-kajian yang berimpak tinggi dan pada masa yang sama membongkar pelbagai maklumat baru berhubung ketamadunan lampau,” kata beliau dalam satu sidang media khas hari ni.

Kesemua tapak-tapak hasil kajian USM ini diumumkan oleh Menteri Penerangan, Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan, Dato’ Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim semalam di majlis Perisytiharan Warisan Kebangsaan 2012 di Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad, Kuala Lumpur pada 10 Mei 2012.

Prof. Mokhtar Saidin, Pengarah PPAG USM dalam sidang media yang sama berkata sejak tahun 2007 sehingga kini, sebanyak 8 data penyelidikan disenaraikan sebagai Warisan Ketara – Warisan Arkeologi dan kesemuanya adalah berdasarkan kepada hasil kajian penyelidik-penyelidik PPAG USM.

“Ini bermula dengan Perak Man pada tahun 2007  dan pada 2009 pula melibatkan tapak Bukit Jawa, Kota Tampan, Gua Gunung Runtuh, serta Alat Batu dalam Suevit – Bukit Bunuh yang kesemuanya di Lenggong, Perak.

“Kini tiga lagi tapak tersenarai dan menyambut baik perisytiharan tersebut yang dibuat oleh pihak Kerajaan menerusi Jabatan Warisan Negara, Kementerian Penerangan, Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan,” kata beliau.

Tambah beliau lagi, tapak arkeologi Sungai Batu adalah penting kerana ia merupakan tapak tamadun terawal Asia tenggara yang pernah direkodkan manakala tapak Bukit Bunuh pula mendedahkan bukti-bukti manusia awal sekitar 1.83 juta tahun dahulu.

Tapak Gua Tambun pula menurut beliau adalah satu-satunya tapak dengan bukti lukisan hematit berusia sekitar 5,000 tahun dahulu yang ditemui wujud di Semenanjung Malaysia. Ia menceritakan tentang kehidupan dan kemajuan penduduk awal serta pelbagai maklumat lain yang akan memberikan gambaran jelas tentang aspek sosiobudaya masyarakat terdahulu.

“Penyenaraian ini adalah pengiktirafan juga kepada penyelidikan arkelogi di PPAG USM sejak 25 tahun lalu dan akan membolehkan usaha-usaha pemuliharaan dan pemeliharaan tapak-tapak berkenaan di buat dengan lebih baik,” tegas beliau.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE OF THE LENGGONG VALLEY

INSCRIBED AS A WORLD HERITAGE SITE

The lush Lenggong Valley on the Malay Peninsula contains artefactual evidence in the open air and cave sites spanning all the periods of hominid history outside Africa. A meteorite  strike 1.83 million BP preserved Paleolithic tools at Bukit Bunuh, and a catastrophic Toba volcanic eruption 70,000 BP caused abandonment of a workshop site containing multiple of a workshop site containing multiple tool types in Kota Tampan. Other workshop sites date from 200,000 – 100,000 BP at Bukit Jawa 40,000 BP at Bukit and 1000 BP at Gua Harimau. Perak Man (10,000 BP) was found in Gua Gunung Cave site. Perak man is Southeast Asia’s oldest most complete skeleton. It is identified asAustralomelanesoid, a hominid type occupying the western part of Indonesia archipelago and continental SEA at the end of the Pleistocene and early Holocene. The series of caves and open air sites along the Perak River in the Lenggong Valley is an exceptional testimony to occupation of the area particularly during the Palaeolithic era, but during the Neolithic and Bronze age periods from 1.83 million years ago to 1700 years ago. These sites represent one of the longest records of early man in a single locality in the world.

Tapak Warisan Dunia.

WORLD HERITAGE SITE

1. Taman Negara Mulu, Sarawak (2 December 2000)

Important both for its high biodiversity and for its karst features, Gunung Mulu National Park, on the island of Borneo in the State of Sarawak, is the most studied tropical karst area in the world. The 52,864-ha park contains seventeen vegetation zones, exhibiting some 3,500 species of vascular plants. Its palm species are exceptionally rich, with 109 species in twenty genera noted. The park is dominated by Gunung Mulu, a 2,377 m-high sandstone pinnacle. At least 295 km of explored caves provide a spectacular sight and are home to millions of cave swiftlets and bats. The Sarawak Chamber, 600 m by 415 m and 80 m high, is the largest known cave chamber in the world.

2. Taman Negara Kinabalu, Sabah (2 December 2000)

Kinabalu Park, in the State of Sabah on the northern end of the island of Borneo, is dominated by Mount Kinabalu (4,095 m), the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea. It has a very wide range of habitats, from rich tropical lowland and hill rainforest to tropical mountain forest, sub-alpine forest and scrub on the higher elevations. It has been designated as a Centre of Plant Diversity for Southeast Asia and is exceptionally rich in species with examples of flora from the Himalayas, China, Australia, Malaysia, as well as pan-tropical flora.

3. Melaka & Georgetown (7 July 2008)

Melaka and George Town, historic cities of the Straits of Malacca (Malaysia) have developed over 500 years of trading and cultural exchanges between East and West in the Straits of Malacca. The influences of Asia and Europe have endowed the towns with a specific multicultural heritage that is both tangible and intangible. With its government buildings, churches, squares and fortifications, Melaka demonstrates the early stages of this history originating in the 15th-century Malay sultanate and the Portuguese and Dutch periods beginning in the early 16th century. Featuring residential and commercial buildings, George Town represents the British era from the end of the 18th century. The two towns constitute a unique architectural and cultural townscape without parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia.

MEMORY OF THE WORLD INTERNATIONAL REGISTER

 1) Surat-surat Sultan Abdul Hamid (Letters of the Sultan Abd Hamid Kedah) (1882-1943)

 Pengiktirafan diberikan pada 2001.

The records are unique in that they constitute the only available evidence of the Malay Sultanate prior to the advent of western-style colonialism. The records have a universal appeal in that they portray the precarious life of a State in transition, straddling between two powers in a world that is fast changing. Originating as they do from the Palace, the highest seat of administration in the state of Kedah in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the records reflect the unified authority wielded by the Palace in all matters relating to Kedah state administration. The Palace may thus be said to have total influence on all aspects of the life of the people. The influence of the Palace, however is waning, as it is no longer able to control the destiny of the State on account of the need to submit itself to foreign powers far superior in might. The records are therefore useful to research from a number of perspectives, including social change, economics, politics, foreign relations, education, religion and customs. However, the Palace is not able to control the destiny of its own people.

2) Sejarah Melayu ( The Malay Annals)

Pengiktirafan diberikan pada 4 September 2001

The Sejarah Melayu or the Malay Annals are unique in that they constitute the only available account of the history of the Malay Sultanate in the fifteenth and early sixteenth century. They are in the nature of what may be termed as historical literature conveying a historical narration on the origins, evolution and demise of a great Malay maritime empire, with its unique system of government, administration and politics.

 The Annals have universal appeal as they relate to a major transformation in the lives of the people of the Malay Archipelago from a Hindu-Malay matrix to an Islamic – Malay culture. Being an entrepot port, Melaka made rapid progress on account of its cosmopolitan population comprising merchants from India, China, Arabia, Portugal and various other nations of the world. They contributed to the social, economic and political evolution of the Malay Kingdom.

 The Annals are therefore a vital source of information for scholars in various fields including sociology, anthropology, economics, politics, international relations, linguistics and literature.

3) Hikayat Hang Tuah

Pengiktirafan diberikan pada 20 October 2001

Hikayat Hang Tuah is regarded as a Malay literary classic and a traditional Malay epic. This folk tale has been proudly recounted to generations of Malays. It is recognised as a national literary classic which is well-known not only amongst the Malays but also to the people in the Malay Archipelago. Much studies have been made on this manuscript by local and foreign researchers.

 Hang Tuah is characterised as most illustrious Malay hero in Malacca and represented absolute loyalty to the ruler as the ultimate champion of Malay loyalty, chivalry and obedience to tradition. Hikayat Hang Tuah symbolises the greatness of Malacca at that time whilst projecting the bravery of the Malays.

The National Library of Malaysia has in its possession two manuscripts of Hikayat Hang Tuah, with identification number MSS 1658 and MSS 1713. The manuscripts are written on old European paper about 200 years ago. Colophon statement is distinctly absent, as is usual in the tradition of Malay manuscripts writing. To this day the author of the hikayat remains unknown. The manuscripts are being preserved in an acid-free box and kept in strong room which is designed according to the accepted standards of preservation requirements.

4) Batu Bersurat Terengganu (Inscribed stone of Terengganu)

Pengiktirafan diberikan pada 31 Julai 2009.

The Batu Bersurat, Terengganu or Inscribed Stone of Terengganu constitutes the earliest evidence of Jawi writing (writing based on Arabic alphabets) in the Malaya Muslim world of Southeast Asia. The Stone is a testimony to the spread of Islam offering an insight to the life of the people of the era as well as depicting the growing Islamic culture subsumed under a set of religious laws.

MASTERPIECES OF ORAL AND INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF HUMANITY

Mak Yong Theatre

This ancient theatre form created by Malaysia’s Malay communities combines acting, vocal and instrumental music, gestures and elaborate costumes. Specific to the villages of Kelantan in northwest Malaysia, where the tradition originated, Mak Yong is performed mainly as entertainment or for ritual purposes related to healing practices. Experts believe that Mak Yong appeared well before the Islamization of the country. It was performed as a royal theatre under the direct patronage of the Kelantan Sultanate until the 1920s. Hence, the tradition was perpetuated in a rural context without forsaking the numerous refinements acquired at court, such as sophisticated costume design. A typical Mak Yong performance opens with an offering followed by dances, acting and music as well as improvised monologues and dialogues. A single story can be presented over several consecutive nights in a series of three-hour performances. In the traditional village setting, the performances are held on a temporary open stage built of wood and palm leaves. The audience sits on three sides of the stage, the fourth side being reserved for the orchestra consisting of a three-stringed spiked fiddle (rebab), a pair of doubleheaded barrel drums (gendang) and hanging knobbed gongs (tetawak). Most roles are performed by women, and the stories are based on ancient Malay folk tales peopled with royal characters, divinities and clowns. Mak Yong is also associated with rituals in which shamans attempt to heal through song, trance-dance and spirit possession. Mak Yong, which requires long years of training, has been preserved until the present largely through oral transmission. In today’s society, few young people are willing to commit to such rigorous apprenticeships. As a result, this important tradition is undergoing steady decline, as attested by reduced dramatic and musical repertories and a shortage of seasoned performers.