Songket is a traditional Malaysian handwoven fabric. It is woven on two-pedal floor looms by the Malay women In Malay Peninsula (West Malaysia) and in Sarawak (East Malaysia). The term Songket is derived from the technique employed to make it: inserting gold or silver thread in between the weft and warp threads. Songket is woven using the Malay weaving loom called 'kek'. Songket is woven as the supplementary weft method, a decorative weaving technique in which extra threads "float" across a colourful woven ground to create ornamental effect. The delicate piece of Songket is the result of many months of skilled handloom weaving by expert craftsmen who learn the art from their ancestors. The identity is traced by its design patterns that use geometry and elements of nature such as flowers, birds and insects. The motifs of tampuk manggis (mangosteen calyx), tampuk kesemak (persimmon), bunga pecah lapan (eight-petal flower), bunga bintang (star-patterned flower), pucuk rebung (bamboo shoots) and awan larat (trailing clouds) are among the most frequently used. These traditional patterns continue to be used, especially in aspects of separation and placing the various parts of the cloth such as the centerfield, main panel and end borders. Unlike the old days, Songket is only worn by royalty and their families. But todays, it is mostly worn as traditional Malay ceremonial costumes during royal installations, wedding, birth, Malay festive occasions and formal state functions.

Malaysia 2021

The Sewang or also called Jenulang Dance is one of the traditional dances of the Orang Asli (Indigeneous) community of the Semai and Temiar ethnics in the state of Pahang. This dance combines the elements of dance, music and songs with 18 dancers or more of both sexes, according to the suitability of the stage area. The dance functions as entertainment, ‘opening up of love’, for marriage, appeasing the spirit of paddy and for healing. This dance is led by an elderly man called Tok Halak, who is also the main singer. The dancers repeat every line their leader sings and move in circle while stomping their feet on the floor. They are accompanied by a traditional musical instrument called ‘Buluh Cetong’ made of bamboo that is stomped on a hard wood. There are four dance formations depending on the dance function. Firstly, the dancers are dancing in one line. Secondly, the dancers are dancing in a circle while moving clockwise or anti-clockwise. Thirdly, the dance is performed in couples of both sexes that sometimes holding hands. Fourthly, in groups. For the purpose of happiness, Sewang is danced after paddy harvesting, or receiving the return of a sibling that works far away or the arrival of a new year, at wedding ceremonies and the like that has elements of bliss. For circumcision ceremony the dance is called ‘Ajok’. For healing purposes the dance is performed in the evening. Outsiders are not allowed to ascend the house where the dance is perfomed until the dance is over.

The Kelundang Dance is a welcome dance to visitors to the Orang Asli (Indigenous) of Jakun ethnicity’s settlement in Gumum, Tasik Chini, Pahang. This dance obtained its name from the dance props that is the kelundang tree trunk, cut and hung at two feet high, and knocked to produce a sound as accompanying music. This dance that is from the basic movement of the Sewang Dance is performed by at least 15 people including the dancers, musicians and singers. The floor pattern is simple that is an elongated circle. During a performance the singer sings in the Jakun language containing quatrains celebrating visitors and relating the beauty of Tasik Chini.

The Kelundang Dance is a welcome dance to visitors to the Orang Asli (Indigenous) of Jakun ethnicity’s settlement in Gumum, Tasik Chini, Pahang. This dance obtained its name from the dance props that is the kelundang tree trunk, cut and hung at two feet high, and knocked to produce a sound as accompanying music. This dance that is from the basic movement of the Sewang Dance is performed by at least 15 people including the dancers, musicians and singers. The floor pattern is simple that is an elongated circle. During a performance the singer sings in the Jakun language containing quatrains celebrating visitors and relating the beauty of Tasik Chini.