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