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Dance and music |
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Dance and music |
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The Bajau were known as the sea-gypsies whose used to live their entire life on Lipa-lipa boats. They were true nomads skilled in navigating the seas with no compass on their boats.
The Bajau only came to land to collect fire wood, to get
water, and to bury their dead. However, over the past few hundred years some
Bajau have settled on the main land along the west coast of Sabah. And while the
sea Bajau families tend to be small, the land Bajau have enlarged their families.
A Bajau house tends to be large and
spacious. They are still mainly fishermen, and often build their houses on
stilts into the sea or rivers, such as the Bajau of Kg Mengkabong. Having had
long contact with Chinese traders, but also with European merchants, the Bajau
have evolved particularly colourful costumes, with elaborate accessories.
A Bajau lady in her full ceremonial dress move extremely
graceful!
The Bajau have been Moslems for a long time, and through
intermarriage with the ruling Bruneis the settled Bajau have adopted many of
their cultural aspects in dance and music.
23 Jul 2007 By
Ooi Ying Nee original source :
http://www.theedgedaily.com Making the link between culture and CSR
In Semporna, southeast of Sabah, the sound of drums
and gongs usually heralds a Bajau
Laut wedding or healing ritual in progress. But
coupled with the clacking of traditional wooden castanets by schoolchildren
learning the tarirai dance, the sound is that of one woman's efforts to revive
the Bajau Laut people's
endangered arts, dance and culture.
About Semporna :
April 21, 2008 03:46:13 PM
Thanks to DiGi's "Amazing Malaysians" corporate social responsibility (CSR)
project, Judeth John Baptist is coordinating a programme to teach 80 Semporna
schoolchildren aged 11 to 16 the music, songs and dance of the
Bajau Laut, with the
help of Intan Sulga, a Bajau dancer passionate about
her art.
Baptist, the assistant curator of the Sabah Museum,
has been involved in documenting and encouraging development and preservation of
many aspects of Sabah's heritage for more than 20
years.
"Although my own [Kadazan] ethnic group's culture is threatened, it has been
heavily documented. The Bajau
Laut have not had the opportunity to showcase their
arts and craft to really understand why their culture is unique and needs to be
preserved," Baptist told Manager@Work in an interview at "The Culture Seeker of
Sabah" launch in Semporna in May.
The Bajau Laut are
traditionally a nomadic seafaring group. Like their land-settled cousins, the
Bajau Kubang and West Coast
Bajau who are settled mostly in Kota Belud, they are rapidly losing touch
with their traditions such as the tarirai, other dance forms — like the limbaian
and tabawan — and their unique craft and pottery.
As the protagonist of DiGi's "Culture Seeker of Sabah"
project, Baptist says she hopes to teach the children the basics of the art of
pottery and eventually promote Bajau pottery in the
market. In three months' time, the students will showcase their newfound
ability, which would hopefully get government and non-governmental organisations
interested in sustaining the preservation initiative.
Where Baptist lacks the resources or expertise, that's where DiGi comes in.
DiGi's head of human resource Adzhar Ibrahim said aside from the obvious
monetary sponsorship, as with all of DiGi's "Amazing Malaysians" projects, the
telco is using its influence to raise awareness of the Bajaus' threatened art
form among Malaysians, but especially among the Bajaus.
"We feel that probably, the most important aspect of [the initiative is] getting
the local community to want to keep their own arts, culture, and tradition
alive. It's probably very easy to go to an international school in KL and bring
in 20 to 30 kids to watch the dance — they would love it — but that wouldn't
have helped perpetuate the continuity of the culture. Only the local people will
have the ability to do so. What we're good at is raising the awareness and
bringing some excitement into it," Adzhar said in Semporna.
Adzhar said the company consciously made heritage preservation the hallmark of
its CSR. One-off philanthropy would not be as meaningful or sustainable, he
added.
"The obvious thing to do is give away a few gadgets and gizmos to the children,
sign a cheque and wipe our hands clean, but we went above and beyond that. We're
a progressive company that wants to take things forward and create a new future
for the company but, at the same time, remind everyone that there are some
valuable and useful heritage — whether it's built, natural, cultural or
environmental — that we should not forget," he said.
DiGi's "Amazing Malaysians" CSR project is into its third year. The telco has
supported 10 projects since the roll-out in 2005. Last year, DiGi supported
Romli Mahmud, dubbed "The Storyteller of Perlis", and environmentalist Bishan
Singh, who sought to increase awareness on the deterioration of Tasik Chini, one
of Malaysia's most beautiful natural heritage sites, as well as protecting the
livelihood of the Orang Asli who live around the lake. The same year, DiGi also
helped Laurence Loh, dubbed "The Heritage Architect of Kedah", restore and turn
a rubber smokehouse into a museum in Lunas, Kedah.
This year, DiGi will execute five projects. The Bajau
Laut project was the first and was followed by "The
Rhythm Master of Negri Sembilan" on June 9, "The Jungle-Wallah of Langkawi" from
June 15 to 16, "The Kristang Poet of Melaka" on July 7 and soon, "The Treasure
Keeper of Kuala Lumpur" on Nov 10. Adzhar said at the end of the year, after
DiGi has executed projects in all 13 states, the company will once again conduct
a major review to decide whether to continue with "Amazing Malaysians" or invest
in other CSR projects.
Tunku Alizakri Alias, DiGi's director of corporate affairs, would not reveal how
much it has spent on the project so far but he said the company spends an
average of "a few hundred thousand" ringgit on each "Amazing Malaysians"
programme. "We don't set aside a certain percentage of our revenue for CSR,
unlike some companies. We spend what is required," he said.
Adzhar said DiGi does not measure the return on investment where their
sponsorship is concerned, but writes off its investment as a debt paid to
society.
"Our business is doing well, so we want to make it a two-way traffic. This
[campaign] reflects what we feel we owe society and the environment and what we
can give back to society. We not only want to raise awareness but also encourage
our own employees to participate in preservation," he said.
At Semporna, the children were taken on a field trip to Pulau Omadal, where the
Bajau Laut first settled
centuries ago, and enjoyed buffet-style meals and an overnight stay at the local
hotel, where the programmes took place. Together with more than 25 DiGi
volunteers, they tried their hand at intricate mat-weaving techniques and helped
their elderly Bajau mentors mould globs of clay into
vessels.
Baptist said local officials were surprised at the corporate sponsorship, rare
in a small place like Semporna, but were quickly smitten by the generosity.
"All this time, no company really wanted to spend money on something like this.
[Some of the officials asked] 'Why are they doing this? We don't see a benefit
for DiGi.' But sooner or later, they will see that if this company understood
[our plight] and what we need for the future, then shouldn't we, as locals,
too?'" Baptist said.
Like the officials, the children were delighted when the Kota Kinabalu Cultural
Troupe and Intan's Bajau dance troupe took turns on
centre stage at the launch. After a riveting Sumazou performance, the emcee
cupped his right ear, looked at the children and asked, "What do you say to such
an amazing performance?"
As if on cue, the children — dressed in yellow DiGi T-shirts — exclaimed in
unison: "FU-YOH!" Return on investment? You bet.