Horses that danced!

Truthfully everyone… Malay culture and mystical are not my strength. I could not tell the different between Boyanese Keris from a Bugis Keris. The only thing I know about these ancient daggers is ‘always point the dagger skyward while passing it to another person or while you are examining it’ and ‘never lick the blade cause majority of these daggers are soaked with poison’. Special thanks to The Specialist, for these life saving advises.

For today, I want to step a head closer to a topic which is known by the Malays in Singapore. This subject is called Kuda Kepang. For most Malays, Kuda Kepang is just a few guys dancing to the beat of a traditional music, mocking themselves onto a 2 dimensional bamboo horse, chewing on glass and grass.

But as usual, I would like to know more. For instance, why is there such a thing as Kuda Kepang, where is it originated from, what’s the history of it. So for today, sit back and enjoy this article of a subject called Kuda Kepang.

Introductions of Kuda Kepang

The dance form that demonstrates the strong traditional influence still inherent in Malaysian culture. In Singapore, the traditional dance is not that common. We could only see such performance in certain Malay weddings or event presentations.

Well… what do you expect, Singapore is modernized and the only dance that the typical Malay youngsters called it traditional is by dancing towards RnB and Hip Hop songs. Especially the new dance moves called Shuffle. No offense, but as like Dark Sky would say, shuffling moves is like an earthworm wriggling under the hot blazing sun trying to find shade. In Malay… we called it “Cacing kerawit kena matahari”.

Kuda Kepang was first introduced in the early 20th century when Javanese immigrants came to Singapore and settled down here. They were the ones who brought this unique dance.

According to Langkawi Magazine ( official website ), it was said that Kuda Kepang was created by Wali Songo or Nine Saints, who were instrumental in spreading the religion of Islam in the Indonesian island of Java. The Kuda Kepang dance dramatizes tales of holy wars won for Islam.

Frankly speaking, I’ve encountered one too many individual who are into Kuda Kepang, and yet 500 out of a millions would deny the fact that the Nine Saints have something to do with this… and the rest, their replies was “I don’t know”.

Out of the millions, one member from a certain web portal by the nick Scotch Mate commented…

mayb u can approach some Old Timer .. tapi org Jawa lah ..
mayn they can give u some hindsights ..

Translations:
Maybe you can approach some older Javanese folks, they might give you some hindsights….

The keyword here is Javanese. Now, Scotch is not the only one whom mentioned the word Java… there are many others, including three of SGFreakyLinks crew.

When I starts doing the maths, everything adds up. I guess what Langkawi Magazine mentioned about Wali Songo is a fact. If you wondering what was the equation, here it is…

Kuda Kepang

+ well recognized in Java

+ The Javanese

+ Holy War in Java

= The Nine Saints

Scratch the horse and you’ll find Hindu?

Somewhat, it’s no longer a big mystery after Kearosyne said (during our coffee-shop conversation) that the Malay culture is steeped with influences from the surrounding region. But not all the influences were necessarily Islamic. Although when we were born to this world, there are Malays, this civilization is actually a very young civilization.

Malay can probably trace their ancestry to the myriad seafaring islander tribes in the region, from Indonesia, Philippines and Borneo, they are widely believed to be the first civilization to take root in Malaysia. It can be said, with the exception of the “Orang Asli” indigenous tribes, to be the original settlers to populate the Malay Peninsula.

If you are wondering where does the word Straits of Malaya came from, and now you know.

As history texts plays a part in this sensitive information, because of its relatively young age, the Malay civilization was unable to defend itself from the many invasions from the Indians. The Lembah Bujang remnants proved beyond doubt that the Malay ancestors were tributaries of the Indian kings. The Malay culture then had many similarities to the other Indonesian-Chinese kingdoms with strong Indian influences.

Without the Melaka sultanate embracing Islam, the Malays would have continued being Hindus. We would be having, perhaps the regions biggest Hindu temple in Shah Alam instead of the blue domes mosque.

But what does all these got to do with Kuda Kepang? Well… Kuda Kepang is a traditional dance by the Malay, but with the sensitive informations that was written earlier, what do you think the Holy War by the Nine Saints was about?

Anyway, just putting the fact across… during the Malay weddings, the brides and grooms normally has Inai (Henna) decorations on their hands and fingers, which are practiced by Hindus. A guide of superstition in placing a straw broom (broom made from the spine of the coconut leaves) at your home doorstep, to ward spirit from entering, was also back dated to be part of a Hindu believes.

Wali Songo and the Holy War

In Indonesian, particularly Javanese beliefs, Wali Songo (the nine saints) are very well known as 9 founding saints of Islam in Java, for preaching Islam and converted Hindus into Muslim.

The nine saints are Maulana Malik Ibrahim, Sunan Ampel, Sunan Giri, Sunan Bonang, Sunan Dradjat, Sunan Kalijaga, Sunan Kudus, Sunan Muria and Sunan Gunung Jati. If you are asking why is there Sunan is eight of the saints name… my guessing is that they are titles. Just like you and me, we uses Mr and Mrs, while they use Sunan.

There are claims that some of the Wali Songo having Arab descent, also with Chinese blood in them. It was not a surprise cause number of beliefs about the origin of Islam in Java was introduced by Arabs. Some of the sources claimed that the early rulers of the Demak Sultanate were Arab descendants.

The graves of Wali Sango along the north coast of Java are venerated and locations of Ziyarat (revered pilgrimage sites) for millions and millions of Javanese in Java. The graves are also known as Javanese pundhen.

More about the Kuda Kepangs

In their performance, each person sits on a two-dimensional ‘mock’ horse (traditionally made out of hide/pleated bamboo, then painted and decorated to resemble a horse), dance towards the beat of a percussion ensemble usually consisting of drums, gongs and angklungs. These mock horse are said to harbor spirits which have to be appeased in a pre-dance ceremony conducted by a bomoh. This particular dance is believed to have strong link to the spirit world.

The dance of Kuda Kepang are usually performed by nine to fifteen dancers and majority to be all men. Although, women dancers are not really a rare sights these days. There are still women performing these traditional dance moves but I’ve yet to see women doing the actual ritual dance of Kuda Kepang. And what makes it more rare is that if you see both genders performing this dance together, you might as well call yourself lucky.

The Kuda Kepang dance has now become a regular fixture for few occasions. In Singapore, it is performed in Malay weddings (if the family of the one whom are getting married allows it) and culture presentation shows. In Malaysia, it is part of a grand occasion such as presentation birthday towards the Sultan of Johor and some of the state government celebrations.

SGFreakyLinks on the scene

On December 02nd 2007, Kearosyne has received information that his buddies will be performing the Kuda Kepang presentation down at Bukit Batok. I was in the other hand, scratching my balls watching 300 on my DVD when he calls me on the mobile. Although mystical stuff is not my best interest, it is always good to experience something which I’ve yet to experience. And Kuda Kepang is one of them.

To be frank, it is almost 20 hours since I have a shut eye, but I was over-excited to see the performance. Somewhat, I’ve heard from The Specialist that eating glass and most acts are a rare sights in Singapore. Singapore are too conservative and controlled till most of these traditional stuff are not to be encouraged. It’s funny actually… drunkards are allowed to be loose on the streets and pissing everywhere, but religion culture are controlled.

Anyway, my will to follow Kearosyne is to experience and see if I’m lucky to view something rare, especially hot kuda kepang chick the part about they eat glass and getting their ‘candy-ass’ whipped… heehee.

Both Kearosyne and I arrive at the right time. Its was a few minutes after the final performance of the day about to start. Oh and by the way… how come I’ve said Bedok twice and suddenly Bukit Batok, its a side-effect from staying awake over 24 hours.

The entire presentation starts with the Woman Kuda Kepang dance.

What happened to the start-off of this dance? I’ve cropped the entire footage to the part where they actually dancing. The start-off took over 5 minutes and I kinda find it a bit too boring. Nothing much is going on. No dance steps or anything. All of them are like facing forward, two step front and two step back… and that’s about it.

It took around 30 minutes ( maybe more cause I wasn’t paying attention to the women dancing ) before the guy dancers came into the picture.

Pardon my nagging on the above footage folks. Again… that is the second symptom of me staying awake for over 24 hours. The first symptom was unable to focus what I am reading. Second was babbling nonsense and yet… I did not know what I’m talking about. It is, which is why I did not implant subtitles on top and bottom videos.

The opening ceremony for the male dancers does not take long before the real excitement starts. In the above footage, I’ve mentioned ‘eating a smoke’ (it was a lame term) and from my prospective point of view, inhaling the smoke somewhat allowing the spirit into their body and take control of their consciousness.

While watching excitedly from a distance, a strong smell of incense seems to be covering the air. My heart starts pounding faster for no reason. Sort of like I’m afraid of something… but I was more of confused than being afraid.

Kearosyne whispered to me, “You smell that?”.

I nodded and reply, “Don’t care about the smell. I am more concern about my heart pounding.”
“Why is it from a slow rock beat suddenly it changes to a techno beat?” I asked.

“There are always something that are left unseen to public.” he replied.

I was like… dude… quit talking in riddles will ya! I’ve not sleep for 24 hours and my brain can’t cope with guessing game right now. Heehee….

Anyway, back to our story.

How the male dancers perform, such as galloping and being whipped, is almost similar to a horse and how it is being tamed. Even the footage below of a boy drinking water from a bucket give me a slight vision of a horses being feed in the cowboy movies.

Only difference, the bucket is not hung onto the boy’s head.

Climax of the performance!

Yup… this is the part where our purpose of being here is all about.

From licking the hot burning charcoal to…

…eating fine glass and…

…chewing the grass.

Apart from the things they put into their mouth, I couldn’t understand one thing.

What’s up with the chairs?!

The entire performance took over 2 hours before the curtain calls. And again… chairs are involved. I definitely have no idea what is going on right now but my guessing is that the only way one is going to exorcist one self is to somersault onto a chair.

The logic to some of the stunts…

I’m sure you would ask yourself why they do this, why they do that and…. huh… no? you didn’t say that? Oh… okay… never-mind then. I’m still going to tell you for basic reference. Besides, it free.

Why did they behave like horses?
…I have no idea. From my point of view after watching videos of Kuda Kepang performed in Indonesia, the performers are actually warriors riding a horse. But what we’ve just saw in the earlier videos are performers as a horse.

Then I suddenly realized something… “what happened if the dance is called Keldai Kepang? Would these performers who are dancing as horses be a Keldai instead?”

….what the hell is Keldai? It’s Donkey for Malay.

What is the whipping for?
Two possibilities in which one, is to tame the horses, while another is a instruments used as a weapons during the war.Let me explained it more detailed. During olden wars, sword and spears are two of the main weapons used in battles. The soldiers are most commonly equipped with spears, while the generals/warriors are with a sword. Each civilizations has their own unique weapons to play with… and based from the war take place in Java, the Muslims are probably the ones riding the horses with daggers as their weapon  while the Hindus, on top of an elephant with whips, bows and arrows.

Drinking off a bucket?
…that’s is an alternative way of how to feed horses with water.
I’m not sure about donkeys though.

The grass eating?
Horses eat hay (dried grass) while Wild Horses in the wild eats grass…… wait a minute, is that one of the many possibilities why in the above footage, they are acting like wild horses?

Come to think of it, what happened if this Keldai Kepang really does exist?
I guess they would just sit there eating grass, because donkeys are stupid.

Aerobic Somersault?
Try watching some medieval war movies like “300″, then focus on the horses in that movie. See what happen to the horses if the enemies attacked the rides instead of the riders. The horses will either fall sideways or somersault.On a different account, they somersault to get the spirit out of the body… self exorcism. Although, the ones in Indonesia does not do somersault.

Why?
Cause they are performing as warriors on a horse…. not a lunatic stallion, or donkeys… if the donkey dancing existed.

The eating of burn coal and glass?
These are actually additional stunts ( ‘Permainan‘ ) that have been implanted into the original dance of Kuda Kepang. For my case, I called em’ EXTRAS.

Why? Kuda Kepang suppose to dramatize a certain, epic battle.
Which part within a battle or preparation during the war, does the horses in need to be feed with hot molting coal or glass?

If you say it happens during the battle, both the warrior and the horse are fighting for their lives, instead of thinking for food.
…and if you say it is during preparations before the war, then I would reply -
“WHAT THE FCUK?! UNCIVILIZED BASTARDS! THAT IS ANIMAL CRUELTY!”

Final disappointing words…

Here’s a documentary video I’ve found on youtube with is very informative.

As based on the above video, I am kind of disappointed after I saw what went down in Bukit Batok. Somewhat, their act does not shows any resemblances to a war or battle, in which they are suppose to dramatize about. As far as I sees those videos in Singapore, they just a bunch of lunatic horses running here and there.

This is DeathScythe… signing out with a spike.