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.

Awang Batil is a story-teller only found in the state of Perlis. Originally he was known with the name ‘Awang Belanga’ because he used the ‘belanga’ or cooking pot as his music accompaniment. As cooking pot is covered with charcoal, it was then replaced with ‘batil’ that is copper water container. Thus the story-teller is called ‘Awang Batil’. The storyteller also plays other instruments such as the violin, serunai, rebana and gendang terinai. In yesteryears, Awang Batil travelled village to village and from house to house, especially houses that held wedding feasts, to tell his stories. Awang Batil inherits lots of folk stories. A story is in series and with continuities that drags to many evenings. Comedy elements are inserted in his story-telling while beating the copper water container with his fingers. The most commonly told stories of the Awang Batil are Raja Dewa Lok, Raja Bersiung, Raja Berdarah Putih, Anak Lang Pak Belang, Jabat Jabit, Abu Nawas, Cerita Angan-Angan and Awang Ada Duit Semua Jadi. At certain Acts Awang Batil wears a mask to relate the character of a ‘Hulubalang’ (Soldier) and the ‘Wak Nujum’ (Fortune Teller). Both are used when suitable characters appear in the stories to attract the audiences’ attention. The mask is made of wood and usually painted red and white. At a house that holds wedding feast Awang Batil performs in a small hut with a height of three to four meters. The audiences sit encircling the hut listening to his stories with laughter.

The earliest mention of the pattala (pa'tala:) is in the Bago Kalyani Sima lithic inscription of A.D. 1479 enumerating the presents exchanged with the king of present day Sri Lanka. It was mentioned by Court official Twinthin Mingyi in 1798 as one of the six instruments of the anyein (non- dramatic dance and comedy) ensemble. F.A Neilly, author of a book on Thailand, wrote " The Thai xylophone is derived from the Myanmar xylophone which the Myanmar play exceedingly well". Thai Research Society Vol 69 Part 1-2 of January- July 1951 carried long article by USA Kent University School of Music Terry E Miller and Music Department of Shrinaken University researcher Jaran Chaichonperut. War between the two countries made cultural exchange of musical instruments. There is evidence to show that the xylophone was extant earlier in Myanmar than in Thailand.\nEarlier, softwood was used for the mallets. Now they are made of teak, padauk, cutch, yindai or pyinkado. The mallets are eight inches long with a soft knob of cotton, felt or velvet at the tip. The resonance box is usually made of teak and decorated with pieces of glass of various colors and gilt. Earlier the box constituted one body. Now it is made collapsible for easier transportation. Thought the slats are generally bamboo, there can also be brass or iron. The Myanmar pattala is tuned to the diatonic scale. However, Myanmar chau' pau' and hni pau' instead of being equivalent to international E and B notes are a semitone each Lower. The Myanmar pattala covers one octave below middle C and two octaves above thereby encompassing altogether three octaves. The Myanmar pattala is composed of the slats, the resonance box and the mallets. The beginner is trained to first play left and right strikers alternately in the "maun nin:" method of play. Then the student is trained to strike the mallets simultaneously using the "zoun" method. Traditionally, the player tearns to keep to the timing beats by playing the short music piece beginning "htan taya tei: shin" . They the player is taught the combined "htan", the combined "dun", the combined "djan" and the detached "djan".

The earliest mention of the pattala (pa'tala:) is in the Bago Kalyani Sima lithic inscription of A.D. 1479 enumerating the presents exchanged with the king of present day Sri Lanka. It was mentioned by Court official Twinthin Mingyi in 1798 as one of the six instruments of the anyein (non- dramatic dance and comedy) ensemble. F.A Neilly, author of a book on Thailand, wrote " The Thai xylophone is derived from the Myanmar xylophone which the Myanmar play exceedingly well". Thai Research Society Vol 69 Part 1-2 of January- July 1951 carried long article by USA Kent University School of Music Terry E Miller and Music Department of Shrinaken University researcher Jaran Chaichonperut. War between the two countries made cultural exchange of musical instruments. There is evidence to show that the xylophone was extant earlier in Myanmar than in Thailand.\nEarlier, softwood was used for the mallets. Now they are made of teak, padauk, cutch, yindai or pyinkado. The mallets are eight inches long with a soft knob of cotton, felt or velvet at the tip. The resonance box is usually made of teak and decorated with pieces of glass of various colors and gilt. Earlier the box constituted one body. Now it is made collapsible for easier transportation. Thought the slats are generally bamboo, there can also be brass or iron. The Myanmar pattala is tuned to the diatonic scale. However, Myanmar chau' pau' and hni pau' instead of being equivalent to international E and B notes are a semitone each Lower. The Myanmar pattala covers one octave below middle C and two octaves above thereby encompassing altogether three octaves. The Myanmar pattala is composed of the slats, the resonance box and the mallets. The beginner is trained to first play left and right strikers alternately in the "maun nin:" method of play. Then the student is trained to strike the mallets simultaneously using the "zoun" method. Traditionally, the player tearns to keep to the timing beats by playing the short music piece beginning "htan taya tei: shin" . They the player is taught the combined "htan", the combined "dun", the combined "djan" and the detached "djan".

The traditional musical instruments of Myanmar were prominent throughout the nation’s history. The instruments were developed as early as the Pyu Era, Bagan Era and many were dominant features of music during the Innwa Era and Konbaung Era.\n\nWhile some of these instruments have been preserved and are used today, others have been lost to history.\nIn an attempt to preserve the traditional musical instruments of Myanmar, the Ministry of Culture displayed traditional instruments and distributed the books about the instruments during an exhibition in 1955. This research shows thirty-three kinds of instruments. Moreover, in a 2003 celebration of traditional instruments, the Ministry of Culture exhibited over two hundred traditional instruments at the national museum.\nWhile the instruments on display were representative of many regions and states, many instruments were not included.\nBecause of this lack of full representativeness, additional research through field studies is required. This project proposal addresses this need.\n\nTo create a preliminary basis towards developing a national ICH inventory of craftsmanship and performing arts of traditional musical instruments in Myanmar. To safeguard ICH related to the craftsmanship and performing arts of traditional musical instruments and to promote cultural diversity among multi- ethnic groups in Myanmar. To raise awareness of the Myanmar public on the importance of ICH. To expand networking and information sharing between Myanmar and Korea.

Based on the ICHCAP Field Survey on Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in some East and Central Asian countries from 2009 to 2012, this summary provides a brief overview on the ICH situation in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan . 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. This survey report offers a large sample of the diverse ICH situations in East Asian and Central Asian countries. Although each country has a different background on issue of intangible heritage, depending on its cultural, economic, and socio-political situation, the countries participating in the survey share a commonality: They are post-communist countries that were once under the Soviet system. Moreover, they share a traditional culture shaped by nomadic pastoralism that offers a variety of cultural similarities. For instance, they keep an ancient and rich tradition of epic singing, and they are highly concerned about this oral heritage as it is on the brink of disappearance. In this sense, they have much to exchange and share in regards to safeguarding ICH. The countries participating in the survey are concerned with the threats against their ICH, but most of these nations are in the early process of defining ICH and establishing independent national ICH lists. At the same time, each country expresses a high degree of motivation and encouragement for safeguarding ICH, sharing experiences, and participating in international cooperation programmes. Apart from the main subject, a brief glimpse is taken on the situation of intellectual property in ICH safeguarding in each country. Compared to the Southwest Asian countries that participated in the field survey, the East Asian and Central Asian countries provided little information on intellectual property issues, so it is recommended that ICHCAP undertake the Field Survey on Intellectual Property Issues in the Process of ICH Information Building and Information Sharing in some countries to see their status on this subject.\n\n- Ratified the ICH Convention in 2010; survey conducted in 2010 and updated in 2014.\n- As of March 2018, has 3 ICH elements on the RL and no accredited NGOs.

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. \n\nFor 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 2006; conducted survey in 2009.\n- As of March 2018, has 3 ICH elements on the RL, 1 element on the USL, and no accredited NGOs.