Bismillahirrahmanirahim...

To many, even to those whose native tongue are Malay, RENTAKA is a foreign word. But RENTAKA played a very important part in the lives of many nations and communities from the Malay Archipelago to China and perhaps to the Okinawa islands in Japan in the era prior to the 20th century. There are many words that describe RENTAKA in local dialects such as Lentaka in the Philippines or ekor lontong in Indonesia. It was an integral part in local customs and played many important parts in local customs in South East Asia and so important that it was even customary to use it as a substitute to currency and even made a part of a bride's dowry!

To those who wondered what is RENTAKA and haven't goggled it yet, RENTAKA is a swivel gun of small caliber but bigger that a musket or rifle. Though is mainly found arming small vessels plying the seas around the Malay archipelago, it was also employed in land battles serving as light cannons and also arming fortresses in support of their bigger counterparts. It was not uncommon to find RENTAKAs guarding villages, protecting communities from roving bandits and well as attacks from neighbouring nations or even pirates. But the most notorious users of RENTAKA were pirates as well as slave traders. Light and easy to use, the swivel gun not only permits a vessel to be well armed yet light and fast, but it can be aimed quickly regardless the direction of the ship and can be used against opponent's boarding parties. It may lack the punch needed to sink ships but it was an excellent weapon for anti personnel purposes especially at close range.

Therefore this blog is aptly named as such because it embodies the spirit of the real RENTAKA. This blog covers news, analysis and articles related to defense and security matters which are related to ASEAN countries. Since ASEAN members are strategically positioned geopolitically, near the world's most important trade routes and major sea lanes chokepoints, they will play an important part in the world's security as well as commercial trade. Any flashpoint here will undoubtedly have a severe impact to global trade and world economy.