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.