The George Town Festival 2012, under the directorship of Joe Sidek, opened on June 15, under a “starry starry night” with a spectacular performance of “Silat: Our Heritage for the World” at the Fort Cornwallis open theatre in George Town. Attended by TYT Tun Datuk Seri Utama (Dr) Hj Rahman bin Hj Abbas, Governor of Penang; YAB Tuan Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang; state and international dignitaries and invited guests, it was an innovative rendition of the famous Malay legend of Hang Tuah, using multi-modality staging of silat – Malay martial arts choreography – with a circular moving wayang kulit or shadow play-screen as the prologue.
Lighting artworks and soundscapes evoked different emotions of fear, anger, triumph and remorse. The story unfolded with the dalang narrating Tuah’s voyage to Majapahit and his victorious duel with a Majapahit warrior, Tamingsari. Tuah defeats him and wins Tamingsari’s kris which has come to symbolise the immortality of Malay Statehood, honour and valour. However Tuah becomes a victim of fitnah (rumours with malicious intent) of having an affair with one of the Sultan’s favourite dayang (courtesan) and is sentenced to death without trial.
