The Origins of "Hang Tuah" Part 1

  A lot of Malaysians though "Hang Tuah" is a Malay. But, from the report from Mohd. Yunus Ibrahim from the history department from UKM, he said all of them comes from a Chinese descendant. He did a research about the ancient Malay names, but none of them started their names with "Hang" in front of their names. It just like from the Chinese name, which is started with Hang, Tan, Maa and Lee. It also cannot be a nickname for them from the King.
  From the history book W.G. Shellabear, from the page 123-131, tells about “Tun Pepatih Putih (senders of Sultan Mansur Shah). He were sent to China and bring back 500 women (including Hang Li Po). So, he relate that case to this case now. He make a hypothesis, the name “Hang Tuah” is actually called “Hang Too Ah”, same as the others.

• Hang Jebat (Hang Jee Fatt)
• Hang Lekir (Hang Lee Ker)
• Hang Lekiu ( Hang Lee Kiew)
• Hang Kasturi - This name is usually called and used by Malay. Got 3 assumptions through the hypothesis.

1. Hang Kasturi is a Malay and close to 4 of them, or other Chinese group.
2. His name is Kasturi, so 4 of them give him a nickname “Hang”.
3. He is a Chinese, but his name cannot be pronounced by the citizen. So, he changed his name to “Hang Kasturi”, since “Kasturi” is a Malay name.

Reference :  http://www.freewebs.com/suaraanum/0305b02.htm