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/