The moral of Malin Kundang is don't forget your Mom

The moral of Malin Kundang is don't forget your Mom

Debra H. Yatim, Contributor, Jakarta

The city is in for a treat this Friday (Dec. 19) and Saturday
(Dec.20), with a home-grown musical conveying a local story in a
contemporary format.

Malin Kundang is an Indonesian folk story well-known across
the archipelago. It is the tale of Malin, the son of a poor
fisherman's widow, who, disenchanted with village life, leaves
home to seek fame and fortune. Upon obtaining both, Malin
pretends not to know his own mom, who promptly turns him into a
stone.

"A deserving end for offspring who forget their filial duty,"
says Tjut Nyak Deviana Daudsjah, the driving force behind the
production.

Made into a three-act musical -- with a cast of 42 actors,
dancers and singers -- by the Institut Musik Daya (The Daya Music
Institute), of which Deviana is founder and director, the
production Malin Kundang is designed to showcase the
achievements of "serious" music and arts education.

This has been one of several dreams realized by Deviana since
her return to Indonesia just over three years ago, after a 26-
year hiatus in Europe.

After completing her studies in piano, composition and jazz
vocals in Freiburg, Germany, Deviana gained wide and significant
experience: Her quartet performed at international jazz
festivals; she wrote for musical dramas, cut several CDs, played
live gigs and ran a school of music in Basel, Switzerland. She is
also an accomplished coach and educator.

Returning to her home terrain in 2000, Deviana established the
Daya Bina Budaya Foundation and Institut Musik Daya (with Nick
Mamahit, the legendary Indonesian jazz pianist, and Farida
Kadarusno, in her efforts toward securing Indonesian music a
place on the international music map.

Along with other activities, the foundation organizes the
annual Indonesia Open Jazz Festival, a serious festival aimed at
reminding the general public that: at the heart of all good art
are people who took the time out to study.
"Natural talent is fine and good," says Deviana, "but to really
put that talent to maximum use, one has to know where their art
came from. Who, if anyone, has done it first. And whether one's
viewpoint has solid references."

During her first six months back home, Deviana managed to rile
several established musicians, simply by her presence as a
professor of music who made sure those under her wing really
learned how to read music, before doing anything else.

"How can you spread your wings in this field if you're
illiterate?" she would say. "How can you play other people's
music if you don't know what they've written? And, finally, how
can you make your own music if you don't know how to put it
down?" A rallying cry that did not endear her to the teeming mass
of local musicians who learn to play music by listening to tapes
bought at the local music store.

Deviana returned from Europe ready to do three things:
establish a solid coterie of musicians through a serious training
institute, perform good jazz regularly, and produce a musical.

It would seem that in less than three years with the Institut
Musik Daya, she has managed to achieve all three, and is ready to
begin all the other things she has on the back-burner.

What is unique about Malin Kundang is the fact that the whole
production is conducted by her students. "Me? I'm only the
writer. Oh yes, and I get to sing," says Deviana.

As Tita Handayani -- the show's music director, and probably
at present Indonesia's only female drummer actually studying the
instrument -- "This is a crazy project, and I'm only in my second
year. But wow! What a challenge to live up to Mbak (sister)
Deviana's expectations of me!"

Titi is modest enough to brush over the fact that she performs
regularly in Jakarta, gradually building up a repertoire while
continuing her studies, alongside Doni Sundjoyo, the show's
director, another star student and bassist.

A preview performance at the home of the Minister Counsellor
of the German Embassy and Gabriele Sausen on Monday had audiences
raving. The performances on Friday and Saturday promise to be
"surprising, at the very least" says Indra Perkasa, the show's
creative director.

Although the folk tale has been staged at least five times in
the last 30-odd years, this is the first time Malin Kundang will
be presented with mainstream jazz, big band, house music, R&B,
hip-hop, and pop elements.

The moral of Malin Kundang may be tough, "What good ever came
out of anyone pretending not to know their own mother?" asks
Deviana.

And In her performance, she is careful to credit her own dear
mother Frederika Daudsjah-Ticoalu, as being her greatest source
of inspiration.

Malin Kundang is being staged on Dec. 19 and Dec. 20 at Gedung
Kesenian Jakarta in Central Jakarta. Tickets are available at Bel
Canto (telp. 8316808). For further information, contact
dayagroup@cbn.net.id or www.geocities.com/malin_kundang2003/