How myths can be necessary and also dangerous

How myths can be necessary and also dangerous - by Farish A. Noor (TMI)

— Farish A. Noor The Malaysian Insider Feb 12, 2012 FEB 12 — Over the last two days I have been interviewed three times by three different media publications over the question of where I stand on the latest silly debate in Malaysia, namely the question of whether Hang Tuah existed or not, and whether it ought to be taught in schools. This is, I have to confess, one of the smaller histories of Malaysia that has been in the footnotes of my mind for ages, and I recall how I was once asked by an elderly gentleman during a forum discussion in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 if it was true that Hang Tuah was of Chinese origin. Let me state what little I know of the matter, and make my stand relatively clearer: Firstly, I don’t know or care if Hang Tuah was Chinese, Malay, Japanese, Eskimo or Serbo-Croat. He could have been a mix of all of the above with a Martian wife and a Venusian mother...

Full article: http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2012/02/12/how-myths-can-be-n...

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