Hello! I hope everyone is keeping well, staying safe and healthy. It’s been a funny time for myself, as I am sure it is for a lot of people too. While I am keeping well with my wife and kids, limited movement in our living space is something…not very normal for me.
One day, Apai Saloi went to trap birds. Not long after he set his trap, it caught many kinds of fowls, such as rhinoceros hornbills, helmeted hornbills and other kinds of big birds.
Since the beginning of the semi lockdown, being constricted at home, my mind automatically went into contemplation mode. What you are about to carry on reading below are just a few of the non triggering main points of my full contemplation.
A long time ago there lived Kangkaput. Kangkaput was a tame bird. It would perch on the outstretched rafter, on the outstretched beam and would even enter houses. It would call out, “Kangkaput! Kangkaput! Kangkaput!”, almost everyday.
I have been holding off writing anything about the global situation we are all currently facing. It just felt like whatever that needed to be said about the pandemic and how badly it is affecting anyone and everyone, had already been expressed. I imagine, like most people, it’s a mixed bag of emotions – fear, anxiety, sadness. And so many questions.
My breakfast pack consisted mainly of kanen Ee’ok, steamed rice packed in leaves (laun kanan), some siai (fire-dried roasted meat), belacan (shrimp paste), boiled tapioca leaves, water and black coffee packed in a small flask. Besides my foodstuff, I also packed my baeng (local made parang/hunting knife), some spare clothings, and our shotgun (dismantled into two pieces) .
One day, Ditut, an orphan child who lived with his mother in a farm hut, went to look for durians together, for it was the fruit season. So they made their way to the farm, and saw many durians had fallen on the ground and started eating as they collected the fruits. His mother only had three while he ate the most. But he was not satisfied yet.
This will go a long way in helping our work in building the right modules that will help create sustainable alternative income opportunities through cultural heritage, but which will also lead to the development and preservation of tradition, art & culture.
Song to the Earth is classical composer Dr Corrina Bonshek’s imagining of the voice of the earth. Inspired by cycles and patterns in nature, it speaks to the ecological challenges faced today. The Parap sung by Adrian and his elders brings a message of loss of ancestral indigenous knowledge.
Imagine this.
A place once rich with culturally diverse people, identified by the depth of languages. Unique traditions tied to lands, water, animals, plants. And the various transmissions of cultural heritage through mediums such as music, performances, visuals arts – all cease to exist. What will this place look like?