Traditional musical instrument 'kledek' nearly extinct

Traditional musical instrument 'kledek' nearly extinct

By Margareta and Edi Petebang

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan (JP): A traditional song was heard
drifting sweetly through the village. It was nice, but it could
have been more beautiful if it had been sung to the accompaniment
of kledek, a typical wind instrument in the Kebahan ethnic group.

A blend of a trumpet and a flute, the kledek is now at the
brink of extinction. It is made of a kind of dried squash, the
labu kledek, and is about the size of an adult person's fist. The
instument is structured with bamboo and adhesives from insect
secretions.

The kledek sounds sweet in the hands of an expert. The music
brings us back to the Dayak world of 50 years ago when the forest
was safe and its preservation guarded.

The kledek has a its own legend of origin. There was once a
man named Bujang Unyuk living in Laun, Mount Muncak, on the river
Kayan Hulu. This man had an inferiority complex because he
suffered from leprosy and had difficulty making friends. To chase
his loneliness he made a musical instrument. He fashioned labu
kledek with bamboo.

According to legend, the sweet sounds of the kledek played by
Bujang Unyuk mornings and evenings reached the ears of a Malay
princess, the daughter of a king in Sintang. The princess tried
to find out where the sounds came from, saying she wanted to
marry the musician if he was a man, and to make the musician a
member of the family if she was a woman. With two guards she cut
through the forests of the Kayan river and, arriving at Laun, she
found Bujang Unyuk and his kledek.

When the princess saw the young leper, she did not give up.
She sought treatment for his illness, and married him once he was
cured.

The descendants of Bujang Unyuk are the Dayak people of
Kebahan, Linggai, Undau, Tayap and Sasak who live along the Kayan
river.

The kledek is part of the rich culture of the Dayak of West
Kalimantan. Its appearance represents the closeness of the
culture with nature and the forest. All of the kledek's ornaments
originate in nature.

Now the kledek is nearly extinct -- there is no forest anymore
and the younger generation simply does not care about the kledek.
At present in Kayan Hulu subdistrict only a small number of
people of the older generation can make and play the kledek. One
of them is Bujang Nua, 49, a father of eight living in Lintang
Tambuk village on the Kayan river. At eight he started learning
to play the instrument from his father.

Things are different now. The younger generation is more
interested in musical instruments that they associate with
modernity.

"The kledek is old-fashioned, this one is modern," some young
people say holding aloft a guitar.

"My children and grandchildren do not want to learn to play
the kledek," Nua said sadly. He wants them to learn to play the
kledek while he is still alive.

His commitment to this traditional art enabled him to travel
to Jakarta to take part in a regional dance program held at the
theme park, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. Back home he often
participates in festivals in the regencies of Sintang and
Pontianak.

"Without a cent, I could travel to Jakarta crossing the sea
just with my kledek," Nua repeatedly said to the young men in the
neighborhood in order to motivate them to learn playing the
traditional instrument.

Nua is also concerned about the increasing devastation of the
forests in Kayan Hulu. Big industry has brought the destruction
of the forests. And the raw materials for the kledek come from
the forests.

"It is not possible to use other materials for a kledek. It
would not have its characteristics," Nua said.

Now in his old age, Nua can no longer work as before. He
depends on the sale of kledek to earn a living apart from the
proceeds of a small warung (shop). A kledek costs in average Rp
50,000.

The vain persuasions addressed to the younger generation to
study and play the kledek have not left Nua without hope. Another
tactic he is considering is to include the kledek as a local-
content subject taught in elementary schools. "In order that this
unique art does not become extinct," he said while caressing his
favorite instrument.