THE epic film about warrior Mat Kilau has set the record for the highest-grossing opening day for a local film.
While the film enjoyed positive reviews, it is also reinvigorating a sense of Malayness among Malay moviegoers.
Social media was awash with images of people watching the film wearing traditional Malay attire.
All of a sudden, people are talking about the long-forgotten hero and his exploits against the colonial power.
And, interestingly, a manu- script on supernatural practices purportedly by Mat Kilau is on sale on the Internet.
Nonetheless, beneath the euphoria surrounding the film, there is a tragic story of how the hero and his people were defamed in the colonial narrative.
Historically, Mat Kilau was of Rawa, a group of people originally from west Sumatra famous for being involved in the Pahang Civil War (1857 to 1863).
Their involvement turned the tide of the war for Bendahara Wan Ahmad, who became Sultan Ahmad I after winning the devastating prolonged conflict.
The Rawas' military prowess enhanced their nama (prestige) among the nobility in the peninsula.
During the first half of Sultan Ahmad's reign, the Rawas played an important role in a series of wars, like the Klang War (1867to 1874) and the Raub-Bernam War in the early 1870s.
Unfortunately, when the Pahang rebellion broke out in 1891, along with its notable commanders like Mat Kilau, Tok Gajah, and Datuk Bahaman, the Rawas either fled the state or shed their identity to escape persecution and retribution.
I do not intend to argue about the valour of neither Mat Kilau nor the Rawas.
Instead, I will elucidate how the colonial power framed the narrative to diminish the image of colonised natives.
Throughout the history of Southeast Asia, colonial powers were known for framing the colonised natives with negative attributes, such as saying they were an indolent and uncivilised people.
This was done as a psychological counter-narrative to the existing benevolent or heroic images of certain personalities and groups.
In the case of the Rawas, colonial administrators depicted the people as unruly, warmongering, brutish and vengeful.
In addition, for instance, Hugh Clifford in his book Malayan Monochromes (1913) wrote that "the Rawas and the Mendhelings were bitten by a maggot of folly that infected their intellects".
Clifford went even further when he wrote "the same Rawas were very evil and arrogant folk, fearing neither God nor devil".
I am convinced that he wrote this statement with malicious intention to smear the image of the Rawas as devout Muslims and pioneers in spreading Sufi teachings in Pahang.
Bear in mind that this colonial narrative was constructed to make the public shy away from a certain group or people.
The same method was applied to put down the rebellions by Mat Kilau, Tok Gajah and Datuk Bahaman, by framing them as treason against the Sultan of Pahang.
Treason is equated to disgrace in Malay political culture. The truth was that they were fighting colonial oppression and injustices.
Nonetheless, works by Southeast Asian scholars, like Jose Rizal and Syed Hussein Alatas, debunked the myths that the coloniser used to smear natives.
The supposed negative attributes of the natives, such as indolence, unruliness and evil, were a scheme by colonial powers to perpetuate imperialism fuelled by the capitalist system.
Thus, we must set the record straight by being critical of the colonial narrative.
Amid the political turmoil plaguing our country, people are longing for a hero.
A character that they could remember and dream about to lead the country through a testing time.
Hence, that is why a film on Mat Kilau is getting a warm reception from the people.
The writer is a doctoral candidate at the Institute of Ethnic Studies