COMMENT | A rewarding retelling of Jebat

COMMENT | The tale of Hang Jebat’s dissent against the Malacca Sultanate has often been reduced to a cautionary tale about the consequences of defying the second line of our country’s national pledge: Loyalty to king and country.

But what good is loyalty if it merely serves the corrupt, or as Jebat would say, “yang zalim” (cruel)?

Hero, traitor, brother, lover - emblematic in this legend of crossing keris-es, silat, tyranny, and tears - are interwoven into Jebat by The Actors Studio, a retelling of the Malay classic ‘Hikayat Hang Tuah’ (Tales of Hang Tuah), now from Hang Jebat’s perspective.

Written by U-En Ng, directed by Joe Hasham, and executive produced by Faridah Merican, Jebat which recently premiered at the KLPAC, brings this classic hikayat (tale) to the masses for the first time in English set, not during the Malacca Sultanate, but in a war-torn post-apocalyptic Malaysia.

While Jebat delivered...