August 21, 2019

Little research has been done on pre-colonial Singapore’s Malay warriors – the Orang-orang Diraja and Pendekar – who were central to the military and political activities of the region’s pre-colonial rulers. To change that, Dr Mohammed Effendy Abdul Hamid (NUS Department of Southeast Asian Studies) is leading a two-year National Heritage Board (NHB) heritage research grant project to reveal the rich history and culture of these warriors, and expand perspectives on the Malay community’s place in Singapore’s history.

The skills and contributions of these warriors were largely forgotten following the advent of British political and economic dominance in Singapore and Malaya throughout the early 19th century. To trace back their stories, the NHB project attempts to find descendants of warriors from Sulawesi, Sumatra, Java, and the Bawean islands who moved to Singapore in the first half of the 20th century. Another possible avenue are the cultural performances in modern Singapore today, which may reflect elements of the Orang-orang Diraja’s and Pendekar’s expertise as they sought to repurpose their skills during colonial rule.

Dr Effendy has been interviewing gurus and their students from various Malay martial arts schools in Singapore, operating on the belief that the warriors were likely to have passed on traditional routines and combative moves to their children and students. An example is Mr Faisal Nordin, who runs a Bugis Silat school. Mr Faisal recalls training under his great-great-grandfather Daeng Abdullah, who had served Sultan Ali of Johor and Singapore (who reigned from 1835 to 1855) as a warrior. Both men come from a line of Bugis men, an ethnic group from South Sulawesi.

Moving forward, the NHB intends to set up a website dedicated to the history of the Orang-orang Diraja and Pendekar, and document their ancient techniques in video format. Its deputy chief executive of policy and community, Mr Alvin Tan, added that the NHB hopes to incorporate the research findings on silat into its Intangible Cultural Heritage inventory.

Read the full article here.