GXEX1413 INTRODUCTION TO MALAYSIA

Introduction to MalaysiaZapin Dance Culture in Malaysia

Lecturer:

Dr. Ngeow Yeok Meng

Name Matric NoFadial Jamaludin JEB120708

Chanikarn Angkabkaew TEE 1310702Zhu Linglin JEB 120710

Wang Ya Jun SEI 120703Caiyun Zhou SES 100752

Universiti MalayaKuala Lumpur

2013/2014

1.0 Introduction

“It is always not enough to build road and bridges. A new generation

has to be inspired to make contribution. They will be the soul

of development, 21st century”

Tun Dr Mahathir Md

This is the famous quote from the then retired Prime Minister of Malaysia in

conjunction with Malaysia’s 50th Malaysia Day. A documentary entittled

‘Malaysia: Through The Decades’ reflects 50 years of Malaysia’s

developments and achievements since 1963.

This documentary depicts the tremendous change in Malaysia having

undergone massive transformation from a postcard image of coconut palms to

the world’s tallest buildings, from a time when most families only had a bicycle

to owning one, if not two, three or four cars, the documentary showcases

Malaysia the way it really is - dynamic, lively and multi-layered.

The vast and tremendous change in social stucture and economy has

impacted Malaysia. New initiatives have also brought along with them new

challenges. Malaysia is never like what it used to be. Young Malaysians plays

a crucial, possibly decisive, role in chartering Malaysia’s future in this multi-

ethnic country.

2.0 Objectives

The objectives of this research are as follows :

a. To showcase the different dance cultures in Malaysia

b. To focus on Zapin Dance

3.0 Malaysia, Facts and Figures

Malaysia’s uniqueness lies in its traditional head of state system of Yang di-

Pertuan Agong. Currently the 14th Yang di-Pertuan Agong was crowned as

the Agong on 13 December 2011. Almu'tasimu Billahi Muhibbuddin Tuanku

Al-Haj Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah was

chosen by a committee comprising of 9 sultans from the various Malaysian

states. The current prime minister is Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun

Haji Abdul Razak. He is currently the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia since

2009. Malaysia is currently enjoying much progress and prosperity under his

governance.

As of August 2013, the population of Malaysia stands at 29,336

800(Population and Demography Statistics Division, Department of Statistics

Malaysia). Its population consist of the following, 50% Malays, 24% Chinese

11% Indians 11% and the rest others. Dominantly the Malays makes up the

majority of the Malaysian population.

The 14 stripes of equal width in Malaysian flag depicts the equal status

in the federation of the 13 member states and the federal government. The

flag of Malaysia is also known as ‘Jalur Gemilang’ which translates to ‘Stripes

of Glory. The star with its 14 points represent the unity between these

entities. The crescent is an Islamic symbol, the country's official religion; the

blue canton symbolizes the unity of the Malaysian people. Yellow of the star

and crescent is the royal colour of the Malay rulers.

4.0 Dance Cultures in Malaysia

Malaysia's multi-cultural and multi-racial heritage is most prominently

exhibited in its diverse music and dance forms. The dances of the indigenous

Malay, Orang Asli and different ethnic peoples of Sabah and Sarawak are

truly exotic and enchanting. As the Chinese, Indians and Portuguese settled

in Malaysia, the traditional dances of their homelands became a part of

Malaysia's culture and heritage.

The ethnic Chinese is known for their Dance of Spring. In ancient

China, spring was welcome relief from the cold winter. It was also a time for

romance and celebrating. Performed by females, this dance depicts the happy

mood that prevails in villages.

Bharata Natyam is a classical Indian dance. The Bharata Natyam is a

solo female performance. A variety of standing positions, movement of legs

and feet and hand gestures are executed to the beat of the tabla and other

traditional instruments.

Sumazau is the national dance of the Kadazan-Dusun community in

Sabah, Borneo, the Sumazau is performed by two rows of men and women

dressed in traditional costumes. They depict the flight of birds to the rhythm of

six gongs.

As for the Malays, there are a variety of dances that is incorporated

into the Malay traditional dance. Joget is s popular dance at social funtions,

Joget is danced by couples. The music and steps are similar to the cha-cha

but the man and woman never touch and move around in a circle. Tarian lilin

incorporate female dancers holding two saucers which contain a lighted

candle each. They sway and move their arms gracefully without extinguishing

the flames.

However the more prominent and popular dance in Malaysia is without

doubt the Zapin Dance. The Zapin Dance in Malaysia is gaining its popularity

with its frequent Zapin competition held. The most prominent group that is

heavily involved with the Zapin movement in Malaysia is Persatuan Penggiat

Zapin Negeri Johor.

4.1 The Zapin Dance

The influence of the Zapin dance on Malay culture and arts started alongside

the spread of the Islamic religion, beginning in the early 15th Century. The

Zapin dance and music were brought and introduced by the Arab traders and

missionaries from Southern Yemen particularly from the Hadramaut region.

From its original form of Arabic Zapin (Zapin Arab), the dance assimilated

itself into the Malay culture and thus gave birth to a localised version known

as Zapin Melayu.

Originally, Zapin performances were popular among the royalty. It is

believed that every palace had its own Zapin troupe which performed at

various palace functions and every rehearsal was done under the watchful

eye of the Sultan. At first only males were allowed to perform; nowadays,

female dancers are included. It was also performed exclusively for religious

ceremonies but through the years it has become a form of traditional

entertainment, hence the participation of female dancers is allowed.

The dancers usually perform in pairs and are accompanied by a

traditional music ensemble which normally consists of the gambus, accordion,

rebab, marwas (bongos), rebana (drum) and dok.

There are no hard and fast rules as to the number of dancers that

perform. However because of the very interactive nature of this dance, it is

usually performed in pairs. The dancers can then tease each other,

challenging and enjoying each others company.

Zapin was inspired by the flow of the tide and the lives of fishermen,

the dance has many unexpected movements like a rotation of the body from

the waist followed by a sudden sharp and held movement of the arms and

shoulders. It is said that these movements are derived from the feeling of

being tossed around in a fishing boat and having to catch yourself before you

are thrown overboard.

There are numerous forms of Zapin dances and it varies from state to

state. One of the most popular forms and certainly more evolved and intricate

is the Zapin Tenglu from the town of Mersing.

5.0 Our Reflections

On embarking on our journey to produce the video and involved with working

together, the group experienced some exiciting moments that we would like to

share it in this paper. The various reflections are recorded in the the next few

section.

5.1 My Reflection, Fadial Jamaludin

When I was first tasked to embark on this exciting journey, it struck me that

this is going to be a a walk in the park considering that Malaysia is no stranger

to me being situated just next to Singapore. This is due to the fact that I have

always frequented Johor Bahru on a number of occasions. One humungous

challenge that I foresee is to work with four other members that comes from

different backgrounds and nationalities. There will surely be some clash of

ideas, debates will take place and conflict would be unavoidable.

However, keeping the end product in mind, which is the video, I knew I

had to go against all odds to achieve our goal. We have to come together and

work together. I soon called all members and we had our first round of

discussion. After some brainstorming, we came out with two subject matter in

hand.

1. To potray the engagement process of a Malay couple

2. To potray on Malay Zapin Dance

After much deliberation and healthy engagements, we came up with a

decision. I should say I was rather surprised, the meeting was a breeze. I was

elected as the head (maybe of the age factor) of the group. My first task was

to set task for everyone to get involved.

Caiyun and Earn was to do some findings on the Zapin Dance. I was to

do the video editing, Lingling was to compile all filming and Finn to coordinate

with his friend a Chinese Zapin dancer. Everyone was on task and I should

say that the progress of the video was very encouraging. Being the eldest in

the group I had to be flexible and mellow down my seniority. For instance in

requesting help and assisstance, I had to understand their strength before I

could assisgn them their duties and I had to have constant contact with all the

members to get updates on their progress.

One challenge we faced as a team is the issue of time to meet. We

could not find a suitable time when we can meet as a group as we were all

from different faculties. We had to resort to meeting at 8pm in the evenings. I

understand that after a long day in class it was quite tiring to meet in the

evening. With that, I kept the meeting short to only an hour and I managed to

get all the administrations ready before we meet.

One virture that surface during this encounter is without doubt the

value of being tolerant to one another and working as a team. In trying to get

things done and to get everyone positively doing their parts, I had to try to be

a team player and render assisstance where needed. The quote “There is no

‘I’ in TEAMWORK” can be applied in here. Teamwork when applied can be of

a huge benefit. It makes the task more manageble and it can be completed

much faster. Not only that, teamwork reduces work pressure on every worker.

If I was to be given a similar task, I don’t mind doing it all over again as

the experience is enriching and meaningful to me. I doubt if I can ever have

the opportunity to work in an international setup again.

5.2 My Reflection, Zhu Ling Lin

Firstly let me say my big thank you to this module, ‘Introduction to Malaysia’.

Through this course, I came to learn more about Malaysia, its people and it’s

rich culture. From it too, I came to know how important teamwork is.

Firstly, I would like to talk about Malaysian’s culture. Malaysia has

three races mainly are Malays, Chinese and Indians. Malaysia is rich in

culture. The food, the people, the dance and so on. Malaysia’s multi-cultural

and multi-racial heritage is most prominently exhibited in its diverse music and

dance forms. The dances of the indigenous Malay. Orang Asli and different

ethnic peoples of Sabah and Sarawak are exotic and enchanting.

Our group gave focus on one of Malaysian’s dance which called Zapin.

Islamic influence on Malaysian traditional dance is perhaps most evident in

Zapin, a popular dance in the state of Johor. Introduced by Muslim

missionaries from the Middle East, the original dance was performed to

Islamic devotional chanting to spread knowledge about the history of the

Islamic civilization. In order to understand more, we went to DBKL to see the

Malay dance show. It was a really nice show. Through this show we came to

know more about Malay dance at the meantime, we saw the charm of Malay

dance.

Apart from this, I came to know the importance of group work. Our

group made up of 5 students came from different faculties and different

countries. Firstly is our group leader Mr. Fadial, he is a very gentle and

responsible man. He has a strong ability of organization and leadership. Then

we have Finn. He is a talented person who can really dance. I can see that

when we had our dance practice seseeion. Next is Miss. Earn. She is a hard

worker and is always on time student. Lastly is Caiyun. No matter how busy is

she, she never misses our group meetings. Thanks to everybody. Thanks for

your help and understanding. Through this group assignment, we learned to

tolerance, understanding and unity.

Lastly I would like to record my thanks to our lecturer Dr. Meng and my

group members.

5.3 Mr Reflection, Wang Yajun

I felt very lucky and happy to have a chance to learn about Malaysia and its

culture deeply. Since I love break dancing, I came up with the idea that we

gave our focus on Malay dance in our project. And fortunately, all the group

members agreed with me.

Then we started to make our plan. Mr Fadial gave us a new idea for

our final report, which is an easy forum to lead all the students enjoy the

Malay culture. In order to complete this, we must learn basic information

about Malaysia and Malay dance by ourselves.

The most exciting parts for me were enjoying the Malay dance show in

DBKL and learning Zapin dance. The show ‘Inspitari’ was an awesome show.

Most of the famous dancers were from different states in Malaysia. They

made some innovation in Zapin dance. They leader of the show shared much

idea and information about Zapin with us. I felt that Zapin dance is a very

peaceful dance, reflecting the real life in Malay culture. Some of the

movements in Zapin dance show what people did in their daily lives. When I

was learning the basic steps, I found it also difficult, while looked easy.

Some time I found team work can be time-consuming. But it can be

very easy and efficient with motivated group members. Luckily we got a wise

group leader, Mr Fadial. He knew how to control as a teacher in secondary

school. For me, I think a group member should have the ability to come up

with his or her own idea, be motivated to finish the task and be punctual. We

interacted with each other well, and I also think our work was a huge success.

Thanks to all the group members.

In my opinion, Malaysia is a very slow moving country. Maybe because

of the hot weather, people do not want to move fast. The public transportation

is also not very convenient. But I found people here are very friendly and can

enjoy their own lives very much. For example, normal people here will not

think too much about whether the car is new or old. They think it is just a

transportation, while Chinese people will feel ashamed if their cars are old or

not from famous brand.

Malaysia is also a beautiful country for travel. There are so many clean

and wonderful islands, like Redang, Tioman and Lankawi. The beaches are

very comfortable. I like to touch the nature world on islands. I think I will go to

Redang island again.

Malaysia is country with variety of culture. People from different races

and nations live here harmoniously. Zapin dance is a big star in Malay culture.

We can feel the life in Malaysia from the movements and music. When I

dance Zapin, I feel that life is so cosy and peaceful.

5.4 Mr Reflection, Earn Chanikarn Angkabkaew

I think this course is very interesting for me as an international student. I know

a lot more about Malaysia in terms of history, culture, and the people itself.

Malaysia is a country full of variety ethnics and religions. The history of it

makes me understand more that why Malaysian people act in certain ways to

certain people. Malaysian’s culture is colorful not only the Malays but the

Chinese and Indians as well.

Zapin Dance is what we focus on for the group project. It is said that

the Zapin movements are derived from the feeling of being tossed around in a

fishing boat and having to catch yourself before you are thrown overboard.

The most popular form of Zapin dance is from the town of Mersing. We get to

learn the basic steps from one of our Chinese friends taking Malay dance in

UM. Although it’s the basic ones, I found it a bit hard. It was fun to get to know

more about Malaysia through Malay traditional dance.

Teamwork is said to be one of the soft skills you need to have. It was a

pleasure to have the opportunity to work with different people from different

countries. I learned to listen, give ideas, and how to carry out certain problems

that had occurred. I’ve learned that as a team, we can make it.

Fadial, he is our group leader. He’s the heart and soul of our group. Cai

Yun has always been kind and gave support to the group. Linglin, without her,

we wouldn’t have beautiful pictures and Finn he’s been very helpful and

generous. Everyone has proved that they have put effort on the project and

I’m proud of that.

Finally, thanks to Dr. Meng for being such a nice lecturer and

understands us as well as giving us advice.

5.5 My Reflection, Caiyun Zhou

It was a quite new experience of me when doing the project together since

it’s the first time learning about Malaysia. I find that Malaysia’s culture is

indeed very mysterious for me as a foreigner. Many colourful buildings, its

diverse choice of food, traditional clothes and traditional dances, all these

attracts me to know more about this charming land. I am fascinated that even

with so many ethnic group like Malays , Chinese, Indians and so on the

people here can live harmoniously.

In the course of doing the project together, I feel that the term

teamwork plays an important role. Gradually we learned how to get along with

each other and contributes to the work as a team. Not only that we began to

understand each others’ strength and weaknesses.

During the process we focused on one kind of dance called Zapin

Dance, it is a Malay traditional dance from State of Johor. The movement in

the dance expresses the life of Malay society. Many of the movement were

adapted from the way people move in the forest and on the sampan.

I would also like to thank my group for being who they are and for

being accomodating. I think this has been an enriching and valuable

experience that I will always cherish. I would also like to record my thanks to

our lecturer, Dr Meng for bringing Malaysia ‘alive’ to me. Her cheerfulness and

her insights on Malaysia really opens up new information to me.

6.0 Conclusion

Zapin dance has a big potential to take Malaysia to the world stage. Having

an association that takes care of its movement and its development is a big

boost. Looking at Zapin not only at its cultural entity but it can also be looked

as entity to sell Malaysia thru tourism.

Zapin dance is just not about dancing. It promotes social interaction,

builds ones’ confidence, has its health benefits and many more. Looking at all

this benefits that it entices, Zapin can move Malaysia towards a positive

index.