Ibrahim Yaakub (1911-1979) must have been inspired by geography in his chidlhood and in his years as a student at Tanjong Malim. At Kampong Kertau, Temerloh, he would have been enveloped by the riverine society in Pahang – configured by the mighty Sungai Pahang which flows from the Banjaran Titiwangsa in the middle of the Peninsular to Kuala Pahang joining what is now called the South China Sea from Temerloh and its vicinities, Ibrahim saw the Banjaran – the view from the eastern side of the Peninsular.

In 1929, he was a student in Tanjong Malim’s Sultan Idris Teachers’ Training College (SITC). Facing west from SITC grounds, one again sees the Banjaran, as if hugging us in its stretch from the south in Johor to the borders of Perak and Kelantan – the illusion in physical geography due to to the curvature of the earth.  The  other side of the Banjaran would be  Raub and Jerantut.

The geographical feature has inspired many in the nascent years of modern Malay nationalism. The Banjaran is also a cultural and an intellectual icon. “In the Shadows of the Banjaran” could perhaps be the title of a movie on modern Malay national consciousness. The name “Titiwangsa” can also mean titibangsa.

In Ibrahim Yaakub, we find the vision of Melayu Raya – the greater Malay nation.  Ibrahim, born to a family of Bugis descent, was a founder of the Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM/Young Malays Union) in 1938, together with some others, including another luminary from Matang, Perak, Mustapha Hussein. And of course in SITC, he was in the company of such figures as Harun Aminurrasyid who wrote Panglima Awang, publishing it  in 1958.  Since then, Panglima Awang, the protagonist, has become the symbol of the globalisation of the Malay narrative.

Ibrahim Yaakub’s Melihat Tanahair was first published in 1941. A reprint in Rumi was issued by Percetakan Timur in Kuantan in 1975. The reprint was initiated by Ishak Haji Muhammad, another Malay luminary from Temerloh. Ishak also traces his ancestry to Sulawesi.  In the slim 97-page book, the author’s name was spelt as ‘Ibrahim Haji Yaakub’. He was 31 years old when Melihat Tanahair first appeared.

One of the sections in Melihat Tanahair is titled “Kehidupan Umum Umat Melayu di Sememanjung”. Here Ibrahim relates his travels and observations on the life of the umat Melayu Semenanjung (the peninsular Malay Ummah) as a journalist with Utusan Melayu in Singapura. He spells out the route taken. He then recalls that the western Malay states of Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Perak were once the original area of the Malay Melaka government (Kerajaan Melayu Melaka).  The area included Lukut, Kesang, Jugra, Jeram, Kelang, Beruas and others.  He centres his discourse on the symbols of Malay power and authority.

He was reflecting from the century of the 1400. He gave the example of Tun Perak, where before appointed as Bendahara Seri Maharaja by the Sultan of Melaka, was the chieftain of Kelang. So also, a number of Malay warriors who were given the authority to administer the districts that were in the three Malay states now.

Ibrahim then gives the statistics on the size and population of the three Malay states. In all the states, the Chinese form the majority. He describes them as “orang asing masuk membongkar kekayaan Negeri Melayu yang dengan sengaja dimasukkan oleh modal Inggeris” – that the British capital deliberately brought in the foreign people to exploit the wealth of the Malay states. This is on page 58.  The Malay states only exist in name – “Negeri Melayu itu tinggal namanya sahaja.” 

He laments the accusation of the bangsa lain to his bangsa (bangsa saya – Melayu) that the Malays are lazy (Orang Melayu malas). Ibrahim’s narration of Malay history had the fall of Melaka as a point of departure in that after 1511, small states and polities of the peninsula, Sumatera and Borneo (Kalimantan) emerged as independent polities ruled by their own Rajas. But the Rajas were always at war, to the advantage of the Chinese and the British.

These resulted in the bangsa asing dominating the economy (iktisad). The bangsa Melayu were deprived from commercial and industrial involvement. On page 60, he writes that Malays only became farmers who owned small plots of land for rubber, coconuts, padi and orchards. The markets are controlled by the bangsa asing. The Malays were further marginalised by big businesses and foreign capital.

Here again, we find Ibrahim’s evocation of Melayu Raya in terms of describing the various ethnicities in the Malay states and the Orang Melayu jati (asal) or the original Malays in Perak, and the origins of the Malay Rajas, i.e. they originated from Indonesia (berasal tumpah darah Indonesia). He reminisces on the Malay kampongs along the Kelang and Perak rivers. Of the Sungai Perak, Ibrahim was sentimental:

…the population inhabiting both banks of the Perak River still enjoy life, consuming fruits from their orchard inherited from their parents…rafts can be seen along the beautiful kampongs such as Lambor Kanan, Lambor Kiri, Parit, Bota, Pulau Tiga and others are still places for the young to croon the keroncong on the night of the full moon. The waters that flow through the Perak River still attracts the sight of thousands along its banks who have settled there hundreds of years ago. They are the descendants of those who built the state of Perak as its own sovereignty inheriting the power of Melaka that was lost (page 62).

[Translation

…di Perak penduduk yang mendiami kiri kanan tebing Sungai Perak it masih bersuka-ria, memakan buah-buahan daripada dusun tanaman pesaka orang-orang tuanya dahulu…Perahu rakit yang teguh disepanjang kampong-kampungnya yang cantik seperti kampong Lambor Kanan, Lambor Kiri, Parit, Bota,, Pulau Tiga dan lain-lainnya masihg menjadi tempat pemuda-pemuda lelagukan lagu keroncong pada malam terang bulan.  Air yang mengalir Sungai Perak itu masih menarik pemandangan mata beribu-ribu penduduk tepi sungai itu yang telah berkampung halaman disitu semenjak berates-ratus tahun lamanya.  Merekalah keturunan orang-orang yang membina Negeri Perak menjadikan sebuah negeri yang bersendiri kemudian dari kuasa Melaka telah hilang]

His other book is Nusa dan Bangsa Melaju published in 1951.

Sungai Temerloh in Pahang