The Tortoise traditional dance was inspired by the community’s observation of tortoises that live in rivers, lakes or pools. It started from an event whereby a fisherman unexpectedly hooked a tortoise. The community made the event as a joke, there then sparked a tortoise dance movement. This dance was in its splendour era during the 1950s to the 1960s. This dance was spotted at the earliest originated and rooted at Sarang Tiong Village, Endau, Kuala Rompin, Pahang, inspired and developed by expert individuals in the martial arts of silat, and created as entertainment. A dancer’s body movement and facial expression are according to a tortoise’s behaviour. The dance movement and dancers’ facial mimics are adapted so as to add to the humourous entertainment element that can attract the audience with comedy actions as well as entertaining. There are three versions of this dance according to its location. At Sarang Tiong Village it was inspired from an event whereby a wife who had a penchant to eat tortoise but her husband could not catch one. Then the wife dreamt an old man gave her the tip to catch a tortoise and that was to use banana bait as this is the tortoise’s favourite food. After the incident tortoise became a hot topic at the village. To celebrate the success there then sparked an idea to realise a dance form from a tortoise’s movement that can attract the public with a humorous and tickling performance. The Tortoise Dance at Pulau Rumput Village, Pekan, Pahang was brought in by Mr Iderus bin Ginuh from Alai Village in Rompin to Pekan in !964. At Jambu Village, Pekan this dance is based on the experience of a fisherman named Pak Ngah Hitam in Endau, Kuala Rompin who was amazed at a tortoise’s behaviour when trying to eat his bait. He then imitated the tortoise’s actions and stylised a dance resembling that of a tortoise movement with no link to the silat matial arts movement.

The Joget Gamelan is a court dance that exudes grace, dignity and beauty. The Gamelan Dance is a name given to a number of dances that are accompanied by the Gamelan musical instrument. This dance that is performed by women only was first introduced in Pahang during the reign of the first Sultan Ahmad Muadzam Shah, crowned on 6th August, 1882 and reigned until 8th May, 1914, and was introduced to the Terengganu Court in the 1920s by the late HRH Tengku Ampuan Mariam, a princess from Pahang who later became the consort of HRH Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah, the Sultan of Terengganu from 1914 to 1942. The Joget Gamelan as it is called, comes with a nine-piece ensemble. The musical instruments are various types of gongs, barrel drums, as well as xylophone and metallophone equipments. Among the many popular dances at that time were the Timang Burung, Ayak – Ayak, Togok, Geliung, Kunang – Kunang Mabuk, and Lambang Sari. Gamelan has now lifted its veil to audiences and listeners beyond the royal circle, thus allowing the beauty and splendor of this precious heritage to be enjoyed and explored by generations to come.

The Joget Gamelan is a court dance that exudes grace, dignity and beauty. The Gamelan Dance is a name given to a number of dances that are accompanied by the Gamelan musical instrument. This dance that is performed by women only was first introduced in Pahang during the reign of the first Sultan Ahmad Muadzam Shah, crowned on 6th August, 1882 and reigned until 8th May, 1914, and was introduced to the Terengganu Court in the 1920s by the late HRH Tengku Ampuan Mariam, a princess from Pahang who later became the consort of HRH Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah, the Sultan of Terengganu from 1914 to 1942. The Joget Gamelan as it is called, comes with a nine-piece ensemble. The musical instruments are various types of gongs, barrel drums, as well as xylophone and metallophone equipments. Among the many popular dances at that time were the Timang Burung, Ayak – Ayak, Togok, Geliung, Kunang – Kunang Mabuk, and Lambang Sari. Gamelan has now lifted its veil to audiences and listeners beyond the royal circle, thus allowing the beauty and splendor of this precious heritage to be enjoyed and explored by generations to come.

The Joget Gamelan is a court dance that exudes grace, dignity and beauty. The Gamelan Dance is a name given to a number of dances that are accompanied by the Gamelan musical instrument. This dance that is performed by women only was first introduced in Pahang during the reign of the first Sultan Ahmad Muadzam Shah, crowned on 6th August, 1882 and reigned until 8th May, 1914, and was introduced to the Terengganu Court in the 1920s by the late HRH Tengku Ampuan Mariam, a princess from Pahang who later became the consort of HRH Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah, the Sultan of Terengganu from 1914 to 1942. The Joget Gamelan as it is called, comes with a nine-piece ensemble. The musical instruments are various types of gongs, barrel drums, as well as xylophone and metallophone equipments. Among the many popular dances at that time were the Timang Burung, Ayak – Ayak, Togok, Geliung, Kunang – Kunang Mabuk, and Lambang Sari. Gamelan has now lifted its veil to audiences and listeners beyond the royal circle, thus allowing the beauty and splendor of this precious heritage to be enjoyed and explored by generations to come.

The 2016 Sub-Regional Meeting for Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding in Southeast Asia: Enhancing Viablity in Intangible Cultural Heritage Community, jointly organized by ICHCAP and George Town World Heritage Incorporated, was held on 18 and 19 September 2017 in George Town, Penang Malaysia.\n\nThis report is composed of twenty presentation papers delivered at the meeting by national representatives, NGOs, UNESCO Office in Bangkok, and facilitators of UNESCO Capacity Building Workshop. In addition, the outcome document of the meeting is also affixed to put it on record the adopted recommendations of the participants in moving forward together.

ICH Courier is the quarterly magazine on ICH in the Asia-Pacific region issued by ICHCAP since 2009. Every issue has its own theme under the title of the Windows to ICH, and the theme of the Vol 11 is 'ICH AND WEAVING WITH BARK AND PLANTS'.

ICH Courier is the quarterly magazine on ICH in the Asia-Pacific region issued by ICHCAP since 2009. Every issue has its own theme under the title of the Windows to ICH, and the theme of the Vol 14 is 'ICH AND TRADITIONAL HERBAL MEDICINE'.

Based on the ICHCAP Field Survey on Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in some South-East Asian countries (2009-2012), this summary provides a brief overview on the ICH situation in Cambodia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos, and Myanmar . The summary focuses mainly on ICH safeguarding systems, safeguarding policies, and ICH inventories as well as on pending issues and the urgent safeguarding needs of these countries. Moreover, information on the main entities in charge of ICH safeguarding and opinions of each country on the issue of community involvement are provided. To give a quick overview these countries’ participation in ICH safeguarding at the international level, some additional information related to UNESCO is specified as well. Apart from the main topic, information on the situation of intellectual property related to ICH safeguarding in each country is included. This survey report offers a large sample of the diverse ICH situations in South-East Asian countries. Each country has a different background on the issue of intangible heritage. For instance, Indonesia is the only country participating in the field survey that has a programme in the Register of Best Practices. Viet Nam developed ICH-related definitions in its Law on Cultural Heritage; whereas the Philippines has a strong legislative background and solid network of public structures protecting cultural heritage. Cambodia recognises the link between cultural heritage and development of national economy and runs relevant activities on promoting traditional culture while maximizing its economic benefits to the country. For Laos, training local artists rather than researchers in ICH safeguarding, including IPR, is deemed to be essential, as the artists are the important resources that master their arts. Among the South-East Asian participants, Thailand and Myanmar are the newest to approach ICH safeguarding. Although all countries are concerned about the threats ICH faces, most countries participating in the survey haven’t defined ICH and haven’t established national ICH lists. Meanwhile, drawing up an inventory of traditional cultural expressions in different forms—register, cultural map, or database—is a common activity in these countries. Moreover, each country expresses a high degree of motivation and encouragement for safeguarding ICH, sharing experiences, and promoting international cooperation.\n\n- Ratified the ICH Convention in 2013; conducted survey in 2016.\n- As of March 2018, has 1 ICH element on the RL and no accredited NGOs.