Siti Fatimah’s Lullaby is a poem believed to have originated from the Arabian land and began since the era of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). This poem is sung by nine angels for the Prophet’s children. The poem was continued by the Prophet’s daughter Saiyidatina Fatimah to put to sleep her sons Saidina Hassan and Saidina Hussin. The poem was then known as Siti Fatimah’s Lullaby. The poem contains lyrics that praise Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), relates about the time a baby is in the womb, the hardship faced by the mother in carrying the baby and giving birth, and continues with the mother loving and caring for the baby from a toddler till adulthood. This poem also contains words of advice to a child, especially not to forget both the parents’ deeds. The original lyrics were in Arabic. However, the poems sung in this country were translated to the Malay language and adapted to suit local conditions.

Sayong clay is a material for craft making of the traditional pottery in Malaysia. The pottery work crafted as a water vessel adapting the form of pumpkin/bottle gourd is called Labu Sayong. Further inspired by the nature, the decoration on Labu Sayong body used the flora and fauna as main motif. Such motifs that can be found as ornamentation on the labu sayong are designs based on local flowers (bunga tanjung, bunga pecah empat), spices (clove, star anise) and leaves (bamboo shoots). It is even believed that the drinking water stored in the labu sayong has certain health properties to cure common ailments like cough and fever. The beautiful workmanship present in each labu sayong can be attributed to the fine skill of the craftsmen as well as the high quality of clay used in the process. These days, the traditional pottery is crafted as a decoration and souvenir.

During its early appearance, this dance that’s full of courtesy and gentleness originated from the palace, performed during festivities at the palace and among the nobles only. In due course this dance was brought out of the palace and performed to the public. During dancing the dancers sway their bodies and move their hands as well as heads parallel to the beating of the hand-held drum, the ‘rebana’. They dance while sitting down on their knees without standing up. The musicians beat the ‘rebana’ while chanting or singing religious songs.

Silat is a combative art of self-defense and survival rooted from Malay archipelago. It was traced at the early of Langkasuka Kingdom (2nd century CE) till the reign of Melaka (Malaysia) Sultanate era (13th century). Silat has now evolved to become part of social culture and tradition with the appearance of a fine physical and spiritual training. There are many styles of Silat which inspired by the movements of human anatomy, nature and animal in which the name of the Silat would be known, for instance, Silat Harimau (Tiger) inspired by the movement of tiger been creatively forms the art of self-defence and attack by initiating a tiger in positioning one's hands, legs and body texture movement. The imitation in an aesthetic rhythmic motion which actually portray the art of the particular Silat. There a variety of Silat styles. In Malaysia alone, there are more than 150 known Silat styles such as "Seni Silat Gayang Lima" "Seni Silat Pukul Buah" "Silat Gayong", "Silat Bunga", "Silat Melayu", "Silat Cekak", "Silat Pulut' and so on. Silat is a martial arts that consists of bodily, spiritual, intellectual and aesthetic emotional movements. The learning of Silat fosters agility, skill, thoughtful, strategic, bold, confident, diligent, creative and courteous. The names of different types of Silat which identify each of its community is derived from the names of natural elements such as animal, plants or any existent found in the environment of Malay nature itself.

Malaysia 2018

Gamelan is the percussion orchestra of Indonesia. Gamelan is a set of traditional music instruments mostly made of hand-forged metal (bronze, brass, and iron). Gamelan consist of slab-type (wilahan) instruments: saron/sarun/pemade, demung/sarun ganal, gender/kiliningan, slenthem/selentem/jegogan, peking/sarun paking/kantilan, kecrek/keprak, and gong-type (pencon) instruments: gong, kempul, kenong, bonang, trompong, kethuk, and kempyang. Other instruments, e.g., zither and seruling (bamboo flute). Gamelan instruments are played by beating (gong, saron, demung, slenthem, kecer); plucking and strumming (siter, kecapi, rebab); tapping (kendang); and blowing (flute). The pitch and tuning of gamelan are slendro and/or pelog (pentatonic and/or heptatonic), each has its own frequency and interval pattern. Lower and higher pitched instrument pairs, together, they produce Indonesian Gamelan melodies, which resonate the sound of ombak (beats) or pelayangan (vibrato). Gamelan music has its own techniques and forms, i.e., one melody performed simultaneously by the different instruments (heterophony), the technique of interlocking multiple instruments to structure their rhythms (interlocking part), and the rhythmic and metric patterns of beat and punctuation (colotomic punctuation). Gamelan is used for human life-cycle rituals and ceremonies, mental-health therapy and other purposes, e.g., to refine character, develop life skills, increase study concentration, self-confidence and motivation. As entertainment, Gamelan is performed at music concerts, theatres, and other artistic expressions. Archaeological evidence of gamelan was found in the bas-reliefs of the 8th-century Borobudur temple. Gamelan is widely known in Indonesia and abroad.

Indonesia 2021

Ghazal Parti is a combined performance of music, songs, dance and comedy that obtained its influences from the Middle East. Its songs have elements of Arabian rhythm with lyrics in Arabic and Malay. The word ‘Parti’ means the ‘merriment of the ghazal performance’. This arts form expanded in the states of Penang Island, Kedah and Perak in Peninsular Malaysia. Ghazal Parti is often performed at wedding events in the village and at official ones in the city. In wedding events the performance starts from early evening to midnight and sometimes stretches to dawn. A performance in a wedding event is inside a reception hall that faces the newly-wed couple’s house so that the couple’s family members and guests can watch the show. There are eight to 12 musicians depending on the availability of musical instruments that are an accordion, two violins, an oud, a flute, bass guitar, drum, hand-held drum, bongo, tambourine, and maracas. The singers possess academic background in Arabic; some studied at private or public religious schools. The songs are Arabian in Arabic rhythms originating from Egypt. In the beginning the dancers were men in ladies’ clothing wearing scarf, batik sarong and baju kurung with thin make-up, as ladies were not allowed to become dancers. In the 1950s there appeared dancers among the transgender. Another component in Ghazal Parti is comedy that functions to fill in the break time of the musicians and singers. In a performance they rest twice to thrice and it is at this juncture the space is utilized by the comedians bringing themes of current issues.

Originally Dabus wasn’t a dance but a form of self-defence. Dabus’s concept is warriorism. Hence, the Dabus dance demands aptness, speed, heroism and happiness in dancing it. Dabus is one of the traditional dances in Perak that manages to withstand since more than 200 years ago. This art form combines the elements of music, songs, dance as well as bravery, and normally performed in festivities events. There are three dance movements in the Bagan Datoh Dabus that are Hayun Tajak, Helang Sewah and Susun Sireh. Helang Sewah and Hayun Tajak are performed by male dancers while Susun Tari by female dancers. These dance movements are accompanied by the beating of the dabus hand-held drum and religious songs. The uniqueness of these dances is that using a pair of sharp instrument named ‘anak dabus’ literally translated as ‘dabus child’. In this performance with ritual essence the dancers pierce the instruments into their arms until bleeding. Then a religious person functions to lessen the pain due to the piercing by performing incantation, washing and tapping on the injury with remedied water. The performance is usually presided over by a ‘Khalifah’. Dabus is defensive and heroic in nature and iInitially only presented by male dancers. This is in relation to the ancient social order that discouraged girls from going out at night that invites disapproval from the community. Since the sixties women began participating in the dance. Dabus was recognised as a National Heritage in 2012.

The word Rebana (or hand-held drum) originated from two Arabic words that are ‘Rab’ means ‘beating’ and ‘Na’ means ‘we’. Hence, rebana means ‘our beating’. The beating of the Perak Rebana is headed by a ‘beater’ followed by the ‘alternators’ and the ‘continuers’. Normally a group consists of 15 to 20 members. This music is often performed at ceremonies like wedding, circumcision, and ear piercing, as well as at welcoming guest-of-honour and procession. There are a number of types of beating and the most popular one is Sariful Annam and Kinchat. The melody is picked from the religious song of Berzanji and often sung in the Malay language according to the suitability of a ceremony or event. The uniqueness of this music can be seen during wedding ceremonies whereby two or more rebana groups from the host and the newly-wed sides ‘fight’ to beat the rebana until one side stops then only the ‘fighting’ ends.

The traditional dish of Rendang Tok is a main choice of the people of Perak. The main ingredient is beef while the side ingredients are red onion, garlic, galangal, ginger, lemon grass, chili paste, turmeric powder, turmeric leaf, coriander, aniseed, sweet aniseed, thick coconut milk, palm sugar, dried grated coconut, tamarind juice and salt to taste. Spices such as cinnamon, star aniseed, clove and cardamom are for frying in an adequate amount of cooking oil. The beef is marinated with the side ingredients and left overnight. It is then transferred to a wok, addt in water and cook till the meat is tender. Fry the spices then add in the marinated meat together with its mixture and let cooked.