While my family and I were on our way to Tanjung Kling in search for a fisherman village, we got lost a little, and ended up in a Muslim cemetery, deep in a very secluded village.

And much to our surprise… the ancient Malaccan warrior, Hang Tuah is believed to be buried there as well. We were actually lost in one of Malacca historical attraction that not many bothered to visit… Hang Tuah Mosoleum. (Makam Hang Tuah).

Hang Tuah is a legendary warrior who lived during the reign of Sultan Mansur Shah of the Sultanate of Malacca in the 15th century. He was the greatest of Sultan’s admirals(locally known as laksamana), and was known to be an unbeatable fighter. Hang Tuah is held in the highest regard, even in present-day Malaysian Malay culture, and is arguably the most well-known and illustrious warrior figure in Malaysian history and literature.

Hang Tuah became the Sultan’s constant aide, accompanying the King on official visits to foreign countries. On one such visit to Majapahit, Taming Sari, a famous Majapahit warrior, challenged Hang Tuah to a duel. After a brutal fight, Hang Tuah emerged as winner and the ruler of Majapahit bestowed upon him Taming Sari’s keris(snake-like Malay dagger) . The Taming Sari keris was named after its original owner, and was purported to be magical, empowering its owner with invincibility. It is said to be the source of Hang Tuah’s alleged supernatural abilities.

Hang Tuah also acted as the Sultan’s ambassador, traveling on his Sultan’s behalf to allied countries.

Another story concerning Hang Tuah’s legendary loyalty to the Sultan is found in the Hikayat Hang Tuah, and involves his visit to Inderaputra or Pahang during one such voyage.

The Sultan sent Hang Tuah to Pahang with the task of persuading the princess Tun Teja, who was already engaged, to become the Sultan’s companion. Tun Teja fell under the impression that Hang Tuah had come to persuade her to marry him, not the Sultan, and agreed to elope with him to Melaka. It was only during the voyage home that Hang Tuah revealed his deception to Tun Teja.

The Hikayat Hang Tuah and Sejarah Melayu each carry different accounts of this incident, however. The Hikayat records that it was Hang Tuah who persuaded Tun Teja to elope with him, thus deceiving her. Sejarah Melayu, however, claims that it was another warrior, Hang Nadim, who deceived Tun Teja.

The most famous story in which Hang Tuah is involved is his fight with his closest childhood companion, Hang Jebat. Hang Tuah’s deep loyalty to and popularity with the Sultan led to rumours being circulated that Hang Tuah was having an illicit affair with one of the Sultan’s stewardess dayang and the Sultan sentenced Hang Tuah to death without trial for the alleged offense. The death sentence was never carried out, however, because Hang Tuah’s executioner, the Bendahara, went against the Sultan’s orders and hid Hang Tuah in a remote region of Melaka.

Believing that Hang Tuah was dead, murdered unjustly by the Sultan he served, Hang Jebat avenged his friend’s death. Hang Jebat’s revenge allegedly became a palace killing spree or furious rebellion against the Sultan (sources differ as to what actually occurred). It remains consistent, however, that Hang Jebat wreaked havoc onto the royal court, and the Sultan was unable to stop him, as none of the Sultan’s warriors dared to challenge the more ferocious and vengeful Hang Jebat.

The Bendahara then informed the Sultan that the only man able to stop Hang Jebat, Hang Tuah, was still alive. The Bendahara recalled Hang Tuah from his hiding place and the warrior was given full amnesty by the Sultan and instructed to kill Hang Jebat. After seven grueling days of fighting, Hang Tuah was able to kill Hang Jebat.

It is notable that the two main sources of Hang Tuah’s life differ yet again on the details of his life. According the Hikayat Hang Tuah, it was Hang Jebat who avenged his friend’s death, only to be killed by the same friend, but according to Sejarah Melayu, it was Hang Kasturi who killed Hang Jebat( this is doubtful, however)

Hang Tuah mausoleum is situated in Tanjung Kling area which is just a less than 15 minutes drive from Persiaran Eye on Malaysia Beach.

The entrance to Hang Tuah Mausoleum.

It is believed that Hang Tuah was buried here.

And that…beyond the gate is where his tomb was erected. We didn’t go inside of the Mausoleum though… for many reasons:

1. I wasn’t actually decent… I mean, I was wearing shorts and spaghetti straps along with my Fedora hat, and that would be rather disrespectful to the dead who were buried there.

2. Initially, I really wanted to go in, despite of not being so decent, cuz Meow Meow is with us, I have nothing to be afraid of, cuz cats can actually see things. If there’s something weird, Meow Meow would be able to vocally warn me by meow-ing and I could make an escape. But my husband was making so much noise… saying that Hang Tuah is the real traitor, and not a warrior cuz he killed his own friend just because the Sultan ordered him to do so and as soon as he said that, I started to get goosebumps…especially when my husband said that Hang Tuah does not deserve the respect that everyone seems to be giving him,.

3. Something weird happened after my husband said disrespectful things about Hang Tuah. I actually saw a middle age man in his late 30s, standing in front of the Hang Tuah Mausoleum’s entrance. He was wearing a whole set of white ancient Malay costume…with a keris with wooden sheath attached to the left side of his Baju Melayu waist band. Oh, God, that was really creepy, cuz I only caught a short glimpse of that man, and when I looked again, there was nobody there!!!! Could it be the spirit who guards the Mausoleum? Or was that hang Tuah’s spirit himself? Eeeee!!! I did not mention what I felt and saw to my husband until we’re actually out of Malacca…*sigh*  I’ve always been sensitive towards these sort of things… I could see things, but for once… I feel threatened by those ‘spirits’.I could feel that the man that I ‘saw’ was ‘fierce’ and is not the forgiving kind!

Cleffairy: Please remember that when you go to Hang Tuah Mausoleum, or any other cemetery area for that matter… please mind what you do and what you say. You’ll never know weird thing such as this could happen!