Malay music: A culture in a coma<\/p>\n
Ade F. Paloh, Contributor\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
An old verse from a classic Malay song by the legendary Said
\nEffendy goes Mengapa kau termenung\/oh adik berhati bingung, which
\nmeans \"why do you ponder, O my sister with puzzled heart\".<\/p>\n
A great virtuoso of Malay music and literature, if he was
\nalive today, Said might also ponder on the fate of Malay culture
\nin this \"hyper-modern\" Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The majority of Indonesians, who are also considered to be of
\nMalay origin, come from low- and middle-income backgrounds and
\ngenerally engage in hard labor. The only consolation they have in
\neveryday life is to listen to a type of music with Malay
\ninfluences called dangdut.<\/p>\n
Dangdut, which derives its name from the sound of pounding
\npercussion, is a music that originally hails from India, brought
\nto Indonesia over the centuries by traders from that sub-
\ncontinent.<\/p>\n
Over the years, the original musical form blended with the
\nindigenous folksongs at the root of Malay music. Today, this
\ncross-culture blend is the backbone of the majority of Indonesian
\npop culture.<\/p>\n
Ironically, Malay music, with its similar rhythm, is also
\nmistakenly considered dangdut.<\/p>\n
Malay music has its advantages and disadvantages for the
\nIndonesian taste. It has wonderful lyrics written in poetic verse
\ncalled pantun -- an ancient story-telling custom for folklore and
\nsagas of the olden days -- and which is sung in a flowing,
\nmelodious rap-like manner.<\/p>\n
Malay music is usually played with a five-piece set consisting
\nof a guitar, a contra-bass, a violin, a conga drum and the
\ninstrument that sets this type of music apart from dangdut -- an
\naccordion. Sometimes performers ritually dress in the traditional
\nMalay costume, teluk belanga, a beautiful ensemble of silky
\ntunics and pantaloons of various colors, fastened around the
\nwaist with an embroidered gold-lace fabric called songket.<\/p>\n
An observer might stop and enjoy the mere sight of the
\nperformers, particularly the singer, swaying gently to the rhythm
\nof the music, as if swaying in a gentle breeze.<\/p>\n
Distinctively indigenous to the northern region of Sumatra,
\nspecifically the cultures of Riau, the Minang, the Bengkulu, the
\nMelayu Deli of Medan, the Acehnese and some parts of Borneo,
\nMalay music is embraced as a proud part of their national
\nidentity, and is held close to their hearts.<\/p>\n
This is not the case in Java, the \"barometer\" of Indonesian
\nculture.<\/p>\n
The Javanese, with their own unique mystical culture,
\ngenerally opt for more vivacious, sensual and arousing types of
\nentertainment, in accordance to their own traditions of seductive
\ndances, and so prefer the more mainstream dangdut.<\/p>\n
The advent of music videos and numerous television shows,
\nparading spandex-wearing dangdut \"divas\" wiggling their enormous
\nbacksides and thrusting their hips at the audience while they
\nsing, has helped to cement this type of music as more
\nentertaining -- if not arousing -- and is keeping up with modern
\nculture more than its dying counterpart, with its more
\nconventional \"Islamic connontations\" and traditional costume-
\nwearing \"old-timers\".<\/p>\n
It is no wonder, then, that the media might no longer be
\ninclined to endorse a decrepit art form that no one watches, and
\nwould rather welcome and embrace, inevitably, a more self-
\nindulging, contemporary art form in their programs. Subsequently,
\nlocal TV stations in Sumatra -- which air Malay music programs
\ntwice a week -- have followed suit, injecting a high dose of eye-
\npopping, mouth-dribbling musical extravagances in their shows.<\/p>\n
Occasionally, singers the likes of Iyeth Bustami, a native of
\nMedan, North Sumatra, and Siti Nurhaliza, a diva from the
\nneighboring country of Malaysia, would come along and re-
\nintroduce popular Malay hit songs that resuscitate it back from
\nobscurity to contemporary bosoms.<\/p>\n
Hits like Laksmana Raja di Laot, sang by Iyeth, has for some
\ntime restored audiences to sing along in acquiescence without so
\nmuch care for the appealing sensuality of the performer.<\/p>\n
In Malaysia, the land of the legendary artist P. Ramlee and
\nwhich is also known to be the only nation to uphold the sacred
\nMalay culture, has also produced its own progeny in the shape of
\nToo Phat, a hip-hop group. Too Phat, in 2002, came out with Anak
\nAyam, a traditional Malay folksong arranged digitally with a
\nflute-like instrument in the chorus.<\/p>\n
Anak Ayam was such a big hit, it prompted U.S. hip-hop artist
\nWarren G to produce a song with the Malaysian group.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, in Indonesia, Malay hit songs tend not to hold
\nreign at the top of the charts for too long for its lack of
\nvisual enticement, and singers like Iyeth and Siti thus tend to
\nwork with more mainstream materials in order to survive in the
\nindustry.<\/p>\n
People still sing along with the tunes, but this has become a
\nnovelty -- and many make a joke of themselves as being a retro-
\ngeek.<\/p>\n
In the golden days of the tranquility of the 1940s and 1950s,
\nMalay music never had it so good.<\/p>\n
With such extraordinary armies of talented virtuosos such as
\nP. Ramlee, Said Effendy, Sam Saimun and Asnah Tahar, and with
\nsuch unforgettable evergreen hits such as Fatwa Pujangga, Bunga
\nSeroja and Diambang Sore, composed and produced in the style of
\nbig bands, Malay music became an export culture, placing Malay
\nnations on the map of musical brilliance.<\/p>\n
But over the years, it has lost its golden charm and appeal,
\nbecause in the age of modernization, what you see is what you get
\n-- not so much so in what you hear. The older generation still
\nlingers in its glory, and nostalgia-retro geek members of the
\nyounger generation still search within the core of that culture
\nfor the tranquility it provides.<\/p>\n
And sporadically, this culture would slip out of its coma once
\nin a while and peek outside its window -- only to doze off again.<\/p>\n
So it remains in its slumber, awaiting someone, somewhere, to
\nrevive and restore it.<\/p>\n
The writer is a vocalist and guitarist of the acclaimed indie
\nband Sore. Of Acehnese origin, Ade is a long-time lover of
\ntraditional Malay music.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/malay-music-a-culture-in-a-coma-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}