▁While ▁this ▁genre ▁is ▁nearly ▁unknown ▁in ▁Malays ia , ▁sil at ▁does ▁sometimes ▁feature ▁in ▁Mal ay ▁nov els ▁and ▁anth ologies ▁set ▁during ▁the ▁Mal ac ca ▁Sultan ate ▁era . ▁Out side ▁Asia , ▁sil at ▁was ▁referenced ▁in ▁Tom ▁Cl ancy ' s ▁Net ▁Force ▁by ▁Steve ▁Perry , ▁although ▁the ▁books ▁give ▁a ▁fict ional ized ▁port ray al ▁of ▁the ▁art . ▁ ▁Comics ▁The ▁earliest ▁instance ▁of ▁sil at ▁in ▁graph ic ▁nov els ▁are ▁found ▁in ▁Indones ian ▁com ics ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 9 6 0 s ▁which ▁typically ▁featured ▁hero es ▁that ▁were ▁expert ▁mart ial ▁artists . ▁The ▁titles ▁Si ▁But a ▁D ari ▁Gu a ▁H ant u , ▁J aka ▁S emb ung , ▁Pan ji ▁T eng kor ak ▁and ▁W alet ▁Mer ah ▁all ▁gave ▁rise ▁to ▁popular ▁films ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 7 0 s ▁and ▁ 8 0 s . ▁Indones ian ▁action ▁star ▁Barry ▁Prima ▁made ▁a ▁name ▁for ▁himself ▁port ray ing ▁the ▁character ▁of ▁J aka ▁S emb ung ▁on screen . ▁Sil at ▁is ▁featured ▁in ▁Malays ian ▁com ics ▁as ▁well ▁but ▁none ▁have ▁become ▁well - known , ▁due ▁partly ▁to ▁the ▁historical ▁genre ▁not ▁being ▁popular ▁among ▁Malays ians . ▁Out side ▁S out heast ▁Asia , ▁sil at ▁was ▁also ▁featured ▁in ▁the ▁Japanese ▁m anga ▁Ken ichi : ▁The ▁M ight iest ▁Dis ci ple . ▁ ▁Radio ▁The ▁most ▁well - known ▁Indones ian ▁radio