Flying, Rome, Rentap: One Malaysian Professor’s Expanding Universe

IIUM Arabic language lecturer Professor Solehah Yaacob claimed Iban warrior Rentap was Malay and descended from Hang Tuah — the latest in a string of controversial historical assertions that have drawn ridicule, parliamentary debate, and calls for academic accountability.

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When Professor Solehah Yaacob, an Arabic language lecturer at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), claimed that Iban warrior Rentap was Malay and a descendant of the legendary Malaccan figure Hang Tuah, Sarawak pushed back hard.

“Such claims are not only factually wrong but also show a blatant disregard for the heritage and identity of the Iban people,” said Peter John Jaban, founder of Sarawak for Sarawakians.

He also questioned why an Arabic linguistics specialist was making claims about Borneo’s indigenous history.

The backlash was fierce — but it was not the first time Solehah had started a national controversy.

In a mosque lecture delivered in December 2022, later uploaded to YouTube in October 2025, she claimed ancient Romans learned shipbuilding from the Malays.

Professor Emeritus Wan Ramli Wan Daud, a historian of Malay technology at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), said there was no archaeological or historical evidence to support the claim.

One Claim Too Many

Facing nationwide mockery, Solehah did not walk it back.

She described herself as the victim of a “media lynching” and invoked academic tradition around respecting differing opinions.

Separately, in a September 2025 podcast, she claimed ancient Malays could “fly” — and had passed this ability to Chinese martial artists.

The controversy deepened in November 2025 when an independent scholar called for the retraction of a 2018 academic paper published in Universiti Malaya’s Jurnal Al-Tamaddun that cited The Onion — an American satirical website — as evidence that ancient Greek civilisation was “entirely fabricated.”

The paper had passed peer review, and UM launched a formal investigation.

The shipbuilding claim reached Parliament in November 2025, where a DAP lawmaker called it “baseless manipulation of history” and a UMNO MP warned that historical claims must be backed by rigorous evidence.

Even the neighbours were laughing: Indonesia, which shares much of the same Malay heritage, did not miss the irony — and did not stay quiet about it.

@indonesiagreat Membalas @wwe.kane5 hebat sangat IQ tinggi, boleh terbang🤪 #melayumalaysia #melayuterbang #pesawatterbang ♬ suara asli – Indonesia Great

Sarawak Draws The Line

IIUM had already tried to contain the damage before Rentap entered the picture — expressing regret, but insisting her remarks were made in a “personal capacity.”

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir urged academics to stay within their expertise. Neither response stopped what came next.

Rentap, born Libau Anak Ningkan, is remembered across Sarawak as the Iban warrior who resisted the Brooke Raj in the mid-19th century — a living symbol of indigenous defiance, not a figure open to reinterpretation from outside the community.

Sarawakians fiercely protect their historical figures and heritage, Peter John said.