Celebrating Raya village style

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Bermukun is a uniquely Sarawakian art that should be preserved.

HARI Raya … 60 years ago … in  the Malay village of Stunggang Melayu in Lundu. The great day was an occasion that young men and women from the village, as well as the boys from Stunggang Dayak, looked forward to every year.

Why?

On the evening of the celebration, there would be gendang parties or bergendang at several houses on both sides of the Kayan river. These parties, organised by certain families at the end of the fasting month, were good clean fun – about the only entertainment we had before the days of radio and TV or rock concerts. Such parties were open to all and sundry; coffee and biscuits were served.

Compare that with the firecrackers and fireworks displays that we witnessed during the recent Raya celebration in Kuching.

Visiting relatives and friends on the day of Raya is a tradition. Although Stungang Dayak has been a Christian village where the Anglican Church first started in the 1850s, both communities have been living side by side harmoniously. Muslim relatives visited Christian relatives and friends during Christmas, and the Christians did likewise when Raya came.

The Malay boys also went to the Mission School before and after the Japanese War (1941-1945). The school produced several teachers who attended Batu Lintang Teachers Training Centre, and a number of high ranking officers in the Sarawak constabulary. Prominent among them were Edward Brandah and his brother Andrew Jika Landau.

But enough name-dropping. Let’s go back to Hari Raya fun. Bergendang-bermukun entertainment, unique to the Sarawak Malays, has been adopted also by several Dayak communities mainly the Sebuyau groups in Samarahan, Kuching and Sebuyau areas. One Balau community in Banting has also adopted this entertainment. A few years ago, I was at one of the longhouses where we betanda (danced) until the wee hours of the morning to their own version of tunes called ‘Sayonara’ and ‘La La La Penganan Jala’.

Nowadays bergendang-bermukun appear to be the preserve of the middle-aged women and men, while the youngsters no longer participate. As the Iban say: “Tupai sama tupai bemain pucuk munti; tuai sama tuai betetundi sama diri.”

Modern Malaysians only know of joget, or poco-poco and the western dances, but to the old folk in the villages, bergendang-bermukun was about the only form of entertainment. I’d like to see it at the Rainforest Music Festival at Santubong. Radio Malaysia Sarawak has been promoting the Gendang Melayu Lama calling the programme ‘Menjual Pantun’. But bermukun involves physical dancing and saying pantun while dancing.

At one regatta in Sri Aman, bermukun was being promoted. I was told that there was a lack of active participation by young people. I hope that when the present middle-aged enthusiasts are no longer with us, the art will not be interred with them.

When the Malays of Stunggang Melayu ran out of drummers (tukang seh) they would call on the Dayak girls to perform. Several women in our village were good at the bergendang and the men at bermukun in the Sarawak Malay language. Half the fun of these parties was of course an opportunity to ogle (bergerek) the girls.

Bergendang and bermukun

Bergendang was normally held on a Saturday night (Malam Minggu). It’s simple to organise. No need for wide publicity – word of mouth would be sufficient to draw the crowd. First you must have a seh, always a girl preferably single. She sat behind a tabir (curtain) and only her face could be seen. Sometimes there would be two sehs, each supplementing the other with the drumming, and thinking of a pantun while the other was busy drumming.

The dancers (penopeng) were always males – two at a time. Soon after the besauk (position change), they must leave the arena and give a chance to the others to move in. Dancers were invariably unmarried men or widowers.

A dancer hoping to attract admiration would frequently look at his wrist watch, not at the time, but to show off. This sort of fellow had an expensive watch, a torch light stuck in trouser pockets, and a tin of Capstan 555 cigarettes.

A man with an old belola (violin) would be prepared to fiddle away until the wee hours of the morning if he was amply supplied with cigarettes and cups of black coffee.

Pantun

Dancing is only half the fun of this entertainment. The other half is the pantun, lyrical or teasing poems tossed between the drummers and the dancers. I’ve always admired a fellow who could to this well – dancing and thinking up replies to the barbed compliments of the drummers at the same time is an achievement!

Pantun is a quatrain – in four lines. The first two lines must rhyme with the last two lines. Often both have no logical connection with the other.

That’s not the point. Most pantun are about love. This one serves to introduce each other:

 

Api apa di tanjung batu?

Api Pak Zainal ngecat perahu Anak sapa berbaju biru?

Muka kenal nama tak tahu.

 

What’s that light on the rocky promontory?

That’s Zainal painting his boat.

Who’s that wearing the blue shirt?

Familiar face but name unknown.

 

The response should be:

Api Pak Zainal ngecat perahu

Perahu dicat untuk belayar

Kalau adinda ingin tau

Nama saya Abu Bakar. 

 

A pantun can also be turned into a criticism or even slander. In one instance, a critical pantun led to a civil case. The drummers considered the behaviour or manners of one dancer to be uncouth, so they sang:

 

Pulau Burong tanah nya rata.

Tempat orang bertanam padi,

Budak Sadong memang chelaka,

Patut di buang luar negri.   

 

The land on Pulau Burong is flat

It’s the place where people plant padi

The fellow from Sadong is rude

He should be chased out of the country!

 

This budak Sadong, incensed, stomped off to the district office the next morning to lodge a complaint. The magistrate, however, fined him $10 instead, advising him not to go dancing again if he was not game enough to stand a bit of teasing from the girls.

Frankly, I like that way of handling irrelevant and time-wasting police reports!

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