The 5 Malay warriors of Malaysia’s turbulent politics

2026-03-23 - 01:41

Over the past five years, Malaysian politics has been marred by a host of sackings and suspensions of so‐called party rebels. And those who have been given the boot are no ordinary folk. For the most part, they appear to have enough personality to succeed some of our Malay folklore heroes. In this piece, allow me to take certain creative liberties with well‐established lore, and re‐imagine it for present times. To me, there are five warriors in our beloved kingdom — Hang Pintar, Hang Popular, Hang Senyap, Hang Handsome and Hang Merajuk. They are, for better or worse, the modern day political equivalents of the legendary Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Kesturi, Hang Lekir and Hang Lekiu of the glorious Melaka sultanate. According to a book edited by the late Kassim Ahmad, the Melaka Five grew up as friends and trained under the same silat master. Of them all, Tuah was said to be the most loyal, skilled and cunning, able to even trick a princess from another kingdom into marrying his boss, the Raja. Hang Tuah’s popularity however triggered a jealous aristocrat into accusing the mighty warrior of sleeping with one of the Raja’s women. As a result, the Raja ordered his Bendahara — the equivalent of the prime minister at the time — to have him executed. The Bendahara, however, hid Tuah and lied to the Raja that he had been executed as ordered. When Hang Jebat got wind of the supposed execution, he went berserk and killed many soldiers and generals. When Jebat captured the castle, the Raja broke down in regret. It was then that the Bendahara brought Tuah out of hiding, and the Raja promptly forgave his best warrior. But there was a problem. Hang Jebat’s killing spree prompted Tuah to demand that his childhood friend surrender. Jebat refused, knowing it would lead to his own execution. That led to a fight which saw Tuah kill his beloved friend. For the Malay community, Hang Tuah represents bravery and unquestioned loyalty to the sovereign, while Hang Jebat taught us a lesson in standing up to tyranny and courage. But what are the “Hangs” in our political arena like? Hang Pintar As the party’s second-in-command, he was rumoured to have secretly collaborated with a member of a partner party — though some dispute this— and was endorsed as a future prime minister. But Hang Pintar was sacked, although the significant influence he had over his former party has led many to pledge their allegiance to him. For his part, Hang Pintar has forged a strategic alliance with two other parties and is set to form his own outfit. Once he does, he is expected to join the opposition coalition, setting the stage for a direct showdown with his chief rival. Hang Pintar stands to win big, maybe even claim the prime ministership, provided he can oust his main rival who doesn’t seem to enjoy the support of his entire party. Hang Popular This personality recently indicated that he would return to his former party after its president spoke of amnesty. Hang Popular has, following his ouster, re-invented himself and has become all the rage, which counts a lot in Malaysia’s realpolitik. He did not resort to personal attacks of his former president, choosing instead to bide his time while waiting for the door to be opened for his re-entry. Hang Senyap This particular general took an even more interesting approach. He went completely silent, leaving people to wonder whether he has been meditating or hatching his own scheme. But as they say, still waters run deep. Leaders of this kind may be easy to strike in the open, yet remain extremely dangerous, and poised to move without warning. Hang Handsome This particular general is the slickest of them all. He leads a rebellion without being on the front line. There is no bravado or grand declarations that so-and-so is his number one enemy. This particular general tends to get others to do his bidding and has likely forged secret alliances with other parties as a “Plan B”. Hang Merajuk The loudest and most boisterous of all the other warriors is the jilted one. He attacks his own party, his own president and burns bridges with every important political entity. He tries to sell himself as a political messiah — uncompromised and not tainted by dirty politics. This general is so sure of himself that he makes no alliances and draws up no strategies, instead adopting a scorched-earth approach, although this could be to his detriment. Will any of the other generals want to join forces with him? But who will win? Several questions remain. Who among the five generals are prime minister material? And who will suffer the same fate as Hang Jebat? If any of these generals want to usher in changes, are they capable of building alliances, or will they act alone? Do they have strategies which will give them a better chance of taking over Putrajaya and affecting change? The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.