Ex-police constable is 19th Datuk Undang Naning
ALOR GAJAH:
In a colourful ceremony, the first in 55 years, a former police
constable from Tampin was installed as the 19th Datuk Undang Naning. Some
1,300 Adat Perpateh practitioners gathered in Taboh,Naning, here
yesterday to witness the installation of Orang Kaya Seri Raja Merah
Datuk Abdul Latif Hashim.Hesucceeds the longest reigning Adat Perpateh Naning leader, Datuk Mohd Shah Mohd Said, who started his term in 1951.
Shah was said to be one of the most controversial Datuk Undang Naning.
He
took the Malacca government to court in 1993 to claim administrative
and revenue control over the 25 sub-districts in Naning. After a
six-month legal battle, the Datuk Penghulu Undang Naning as an
institution ceased to exist in the Malacca Constitution, but it is still
practised as a custom. Shah died in 2004 and Abdul Latif was appointed his successor in June last year. According
to the Adat Perpateh Naning, the Datuk Undang Naning nominee should be a
male descendent of the previous Datuk Undang Naning from Suku
Semelenggang Taboh. He should be married to a woman of the same descent.The
ceremony started at 8am yesterday. Abdul Latif and his wife were
carried by eight men into the Dol Said mosque area in a bright yellow
palanquin, accompanied by traditional drums and Naning district
customary board members.
The
first ritual in the Majlis Makan Beradat was the bathing ceremony at a
well next to the mosque. After he had dressed in the customary costume,
he was carried into the mosque to pray with his customary board members.The
climax of the ceremony came when he received his customary headgear
from Datuk Shahbandar Abdul Ghani Hamid to the sound of three cannon
shots.Another
seven cannon shots were heard when the new Datuk Undang Naning received
a the keris that has been handed down through 19 generations from the
Menteri Penghulu Abdul Rahim Abdul Jalil.
The
ceremonies ended with a swearing in ceremony. He then visited the
mausoleums of his predecessors accompanied by his men - Datuk Tiang
Balai, Isi Balai, Pembesar Waris and Ibu Suku Taboh and Ibu Suku
Semelenggang.Present
at the ceremony were Assemblyman (Taboh Naning) Datuk Nawi Ahmad and
Cultural, Arts and State Heritage Director Sermaini Pien.
