Rentap, Mat Salleh among heroes immortalised in documentary series
KUALA LUMPUR: Novelist and television drama director Raiha Bahaudin has always been fascinated by Malaysia’s history, particularly the pre-independence era that saw the rise of men of great courage and wisdom who dared to oppose the British administration.
Sometime in 2015, she decided to embark on a pet project – producing a docuseries on this nation’s homegrown heroes of the 19th and 20th centuries who laid the groundwork for the nation’s liberation from colonial rule.
She knew it was not going to be a walk in the park. Just listening to her instincts and paying no heed to the travails of making such a series, she and her crew from her own production house, Kelembai Studios Sdn Bhd, went on to produce the pilot episode that zeroed in on Ishak Haji Muhammad or Pak Sako (19091991), a celebrated Malay writer in whom raged the nationalistic spirit.
Raiha, 40, used this video to convince the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission that her documentary project was worthy of being financed under its Creative Industry Development Fund.
She succeeded in securing almost a million ringgit from the fund, following which she and her crew travelled all over the country in search of information related to the 13 nationalists she selected for her 13-episode docuseries titled, “Dokumentari Wira” (Heroes Documentary).
Oral testimonies offered by surviving family members and information provided by local history researchers helped Raiha to immortalise the contributions of some of this nation’s freedom fighters in her docuseries.
Besides Pak Sako, the other heroes portrayed are Dato Maharajalela Pandak Lam, Tok Janggut, Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong, Mat Kilau, Dato Bahaman, Dato’ Dol Said, Dato’ Bentara Luar Johor Salleh Perang, Leftenan Adnan Saidi, Kanang Anak Langkau, Rosli Dhoby, Rentap and Datu Paduka Mat Salleh.
Each episode is 45 minutes long and it delves into the origins of the nationalists featured, his sociopolitical history and the chronology of his struggle for independence, as related by historians and family members interviewed by the crew. The series also depicts re-enactments of crucial events.
The docuseries, work on which started early last year, took about a year to complete. Currently, it is being evaluated by a governmentowned television channel.
The teaser for the Pak Sako and Leftenan Adnan episodes can be viewed via these links: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zXjuYv-ohB0 and https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=DzAH7lpc42o.
Filming the docuseries was not an easy ride for Raiha and her team. There was an instance when she had trouble securing reference materials related to a certain nationalist as his family members were “sulky and didn’t want to cooperate with us”.
“Only after I started working on the documentary concerned did I realise that I had said something to the family that aroused their anger.
“In my written list of questions that I forwarded to them, I mentioned the word ‘pemberontakan’ (rebellion). One of the family members accused me of supporting the British colonial masters and proceeded to reject the questions I had submitted,” she told Bernama, here recently, at the launch of “Dokumentari Wira”.
After talking to historians, it finally dawned on Raiha that the British had used the word “memberontak” or rebel in their records as a ruse to cast the nationalists’ anti-imperialist movement in a negative light.
She was told that “kebangkitan’’ or rising would have been a more appropriate word to use.
“If we were to read the accounts written by the British, it would be obvious to us that they had the habit of manipulating certain words.
“For instance, if they intended to launch a mission to attack nationalists like Rentap or Dol Said, they would refer to it as an expedition, but if the locals fought back, the British labelled it as a rebellion,” she pointed out.
Television presenter Fazleena Hishammudin, who was involved in the filming of the docuseries, said she gained invaluable experience during the shoot.
The most challenging part was when they were recording the episode featuring Sarawak’s IbanDayak warrior named Rentap (1800-1863) who rose against British colonial rule under James Brooke.
“It was so tiring climbing to the top of Bukit Sadok (in Betong district) to visit his (Rentap’s) grave for filming purposes,” said Fazleena, 36.
“It was supposed to be a hill but the truth is, the hills in Borneo are as high as the mountains here (in the peninsula).
“We first had to drive through a forest for an hour in our four-wheel drive vehicle before continuing our journey up Bukit Sadok on foot. As we were lugging our cameras and other equipment up the hill, it took us almost an hour to reach the peak.”
Rentap, who was also known as “Raja Bukit”, had built a fort at Tabat at the foot of Bukit Sadok to protect his people against the British.
Reminded of Rentap’s famous battle cry, ”Agi Idup Agi Ngelaban” (“I will fight as long as I live”), Fazleena realised the fearless warrior’s spirit still lived in the hearts of the local people there.
While the 13 nationalists featured in Raiha’s docuseries were all courageous and shared a deep love for their homeland, each of them was unique and had an interesting story behind them.
In the course of doing research on her subjects, what impressed Raiha the most was the ability of some of these freedom fighters to use their mental prowess, rather than their traditional martial arts skills or weapons, to confront the “white men”.
Citing Datuk Bentara Luar Johor Muhammad Salleh Perang (1836-1915, an aristocrat from Johor) and Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong (1868-1928, a famous Muslim scholar from Terengganu) as examples, Raiha said both were intellectuals who served the people. – Bernama