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es of silence 1994 a metaphysical whodunnit kee thuan chye whose professional resumé includes editor actor playwright and political columnist and we must certainly mention cecil rajendra lawyer and soccer enthusiast better known for his polemical poems which have never been published or promoted in malaysia cecil rajendra soccer fan polemical poet going back to a slightly earlier era in malaysia s cultural history there was lee joo for academic turned playwright turned painter who subsequently emigrated to australia he was certainly an inspired pioneer and might have lingered on had he been given the recognition he deserved another academic turned writer and filmmaker patrick yeoh was gravely disenchanted by the lukewarm reception he received from the malay dominated local film industry in the early 1980s even though his maiden cinematic venture kami which starred the late sudirman in his first film rôle proved far more interesting than the banal and formulaic films of that period and of course we have lloyd fernando and krishen jit two academics who threw themselves heartily into the new malaysian cultural nationalism of the 1970s only to be rebuffed as outsiders by territorial ethnocentricity lloyd fernando playwright professor of english lit however krishen proved an indomitable force abetted by the artistic ambitions of post modern dancer choreographer marion d cruz whom he later married tirelessly plodding on to carve a dramaturgic niche for himself as the venerable and celebrated doyen of malaysian theater krishen and marion assembled three other colleagues and founded the five arts centre in 1983 and though their artistic output has tended to be ingrown and incestuous their sheer stamina and perseverance have been impressive five arts centre s greatest contribution to cultural ferment has been its inspirational effect on and affectionate nurturing of youthful talents many of whom cut their artistic teeth by getting drawn into five arts centre s countless productions over the decades sounding malaysian on stage bangsawan revival of sinbad s adventures when i moved to kuala lumpur in 1970 the local english language theater scene was still dominated by amateur groups like the liberal arts society and the selangor philharmonic society which had been around since the british colonial era these were also the last days of malay bangsawan a popular theatrical style akin to vaudeville but i confess to only the skimpiest knowledge of this subcultural zone although a deeper scrutiny is bound to unearth a colorful and intriguing history this post colonial cultural hangover was experienced largely by the urban middle and upper middle class membership of the amateur dramatic groups who clung to old habits by staging and restaging well worn theatrical and musical hits from the west end theater doyen krishen jit 1939 2005 those were the days when indian chinese and eurasian actors and actresses endeavored to speak bbc english on stage playing mostly english or european rôles kl theater was dominated by the likes of bosco d cruz k k nair leslie dawson mano maniam faridah merican and krishen jit bosco and k k were already giants in the fringe malayalam theater fraternity and both were comfortable commuting between english language theater and the vernacular the early 1970s also witnessed the advent of culture heroes like the brilliant cartoonist lat dato mohd nor khalid whose work refreshingly and coherently depicted the emerging malaysian ethos breaking through previous ethnocentric barriers more than any other cultural icon lat succeeded in articulating a truly syncretic malaysian perspective and his influence can be seen in the rise of a new genre of satire with a distinctly malaysian flavor and a spicy cross section of malaysian accents and even some political bite in the mid 1980s thor kah hoong lat s colleague in the new straits times staged an engaging sitcom series caught in the middle in which a handful of promising young actor comedians were featured among them jit murad and jo kukathas who a few years later inaugurated the infamous instant café theatre company thor kah hoong actor director writer retired food reviewer bookseller thor s caught in the middle series would have been a smash hit on local tv but he was bogged down by various political constraints pertaining to tv programming the ruling party has always tolerated a modicum of political satire so long as its audience is confined to the major urban areas which have traditionally voted for the opposition however tv reaches into almost every household in the rural heartland the ruling party s main voter base thus as has also been the case with the instant café theatre what might have been an immensely successful tv sitcom series à la monty python s flying circus not the nine o clock news or yes minister was deliberately confined to sporadic stage productions catering to a comfortable and complacent urban elite to achieve this degree of control over public performances malaysian law has armed itself with a plethora of antiquated legislation left over from the communist insurgency era 1948 1960 all tv stations are government owned and closely monitored by the home ministry or operated by those with close friends in high office every play staged must have its script vetted by city hall s censorship board and the police special branch any public assembly of more than five adults used to be arbitrarily classified by the police as illegal and forcefully dispersed until april 25th 2014 when an appeals court ruled that such a restriction was unconstitutional and of course the recently abolished internal security act which allowed the government to detain anybody on mere suspicion without trial for an indefinite period taking over where the isa left off the sedition act 1948 another colonial relic is now wielded as an ultimate weapon against any and all species of political dissent zahim albakri consummate actor director nevertheless from the mid 1980s onwards dramaturgs began experimenting with local plays about local folks speaking english with manglish accents today we have consummate actors like huzir sulaiman jo kukathas jit murad and zahim albakri portraying a kaleidoscopic chorus of characters employing a colorful spectrum of local and foreign accents finally malaysian theater has come of age having outgrown the usual incubation period of cultural cringe the establishment of the actors studio academy in 1989 by veteran actress faridah merican and lebanese australian actor director joe hasham has been an important factor stimulating the development of professional stagecraft in malaysia faridah and joe not only share a passion for theater they are both also major players in the advertising business and are thus in a powerful position to promote their art with sufficient marketing savvy to make an impact on the public consciousness their positive links with the corporate sector and officialdom enable them to move mountains where others can hardly move molehills as demonstrated by their most outstanding achievement to date the inauguration of klpac kuala lumpur performing arts centre which houses several theaters and auditoriums as well as a performing arts academy thereby serving as a national hub for ongoing cultural ferment facing the music minah angong celebrated ceremonial singer of the indigenous temuan tribe it may be said that all culture is derivative to a lesser or greater extent but when one considers the musical front in malaysia scarcely any originality is audible even traditional malay court music is a legacy of hindu buddhist influences the sri vijaya and majapahit kingdoms extended from sri lanka to most of malaya and indonesia between the 7th and 16th centuries indigenous music is an integral element of healing rituals and consists for the most part of chanting accompanied by pitched bamboos it goes beyond original to aboriginal in its basic organicity content to generate repetitive trance inducing aural mandalas that often go on and on aboriginal tribes traditionally do not perform for outsiders although in recent days some groups have adapted to the concept of public performances to my knowledge only akar umbi an ethnic fusion group based in ulu selangor has released an album for commercial distribution and even so the market for such music is negligible michael veerapen jazz piano virtuoso composer in terms of pure technique however malaysia has produced an impressive number of excellent musicians who can hold their own anywhere in the world i know of a few classical soloists who would be welcome in most orchestras and when it comes to jazz we can boast the likes of michael veerapen an ace pianist whose chief inspiration has been bill evans paul ponnadurai whom i dubbed p p king was hailed as one of the world s top blues guitarists malaysia s very own b b king he could do things with the guitar you wouldn t imagine possible but his scintillating career was abruptly terminated when he died at age 51 in july 2012 sunetra fernando is an ethnomusicologist specializing in gamelan music her rhythm in bronze ensemble has set new standards of performance for contemporary gamelan over the years it has evolved into an astoundingly versatile and inventive gamelan ensemble willing and able to explore exciting new musical and performance frontiers with the departure to the uk of sunetra fernando rhythm in bronze has in recent years been democratically led by various veteran members of the ensemble like jillian ooi shahanum shah susan sarah john and lorna henderson omar ably supported by jazz guitarist isyam swardy daud and percussionist extraordinaire kamrulbahri hussin we now have well known names in avant garde composition saidah rastam gave up law to devote her energies to exploring a different musical aesthetic her work quirky evocative sophisticated has been showcased in major theatrical productions film soundtracks musical revues malaysian philharmonic orchestra performances contemporary dance even a full scale operatic extravaganza m the opera staged at istana budaya palace of culture kluang born chong kee yong in toronto curating a concert of new music from malaysia may 2011 unbeknownst to the public at large there has also been a miraculous flowering of hardcore talent in contemporary symphonic music as personified by extremely serious academic composers like teh tze siew tazul tajuddin and chong kee yong the latter born to a farming family and raised in a southern town called kluang after graduating in music from the malaysian institute of arts kee yong continued at the xian conservatory in china and subsequently at the royal conservatory of music in brussels belgium he has since acquired an impressive catalog of commissions from renowned orchestras around the world and won a string of awards for his unique compositional approach yii kah hoe is another outstanding name among symphonic avant garde composers in malaysia an accomplished traditional chinese flute player kah hoe has won a string of local and international composition awards and is a dedicated researcher of ethnic music from around the world apart from being a conscientious music educator and festival coordinator indeed there are many more contemporary malaysian composers blossoming quietly with minimal visibility but with astonishing focus and passion ready for international if not local recognition hands percussion spectacular theatrics precision drumming among the new generation of music makers you ll find grunge garage rock techno hip hop ethno fusion and metal groups alongside electronica and techno ambience freaks who perform with laptops these fringe performers haven t been around long enough for me to remember all their names but some exciting work has emerged from bernard goh and deborah tee who did the original score for the actors studio production of rashomon bernard goh subsequently formed a highly disciplined widely acclaimed touring company called hands percussion which has really gone places weijun loh dancer choreographer composer goh lee kwang often collaborates with chinese avant garde dancer lee swee keong churning out trance inducing tape loops and arty soundscapes and weijun loh a dynamic young dancer choreographer composer audio engineer returned from australia a few years ago bursting with ideas and energy the irrepressible jerome kugan jerome kugan is another dynamic young presence writer critic electronic composer visual artist and songwriter whose evocative debut album songs for a shadow set stunning new standards for the burgeoning indie music scene malaysian musicians for the most part tend to gravitate towards either pop or the indie underground which has a surprisingly large following among the urban youth jazz musicians who have ventured into ethnic fusion include lewis pragasam whose group asiabeat was perhaps the first to combine exotic percussion and oriental instruments like the shakuhachi with western jazz modalities unfortunately our radio stations are not interested in pushing the musical envelope and prefer to play it safe by airing only commercial mainstream sounds lewis pragasam master percussionist initiator of asiabeat a pioneer world music group featuring john kaizan neptune on shakuhachi breaking into the world music circuit isn t a simple task either especially with absolutely no support from malaysia s notoriously ethnocentric cultural agencies local record companies are predominantly interested in making money by distributing international recording artists especially those topping the pop charts in short a great deal has been happening on the malaysian musical front but not many have been exposed to it unless they re hip to the wknd a vibrant music portal founded by fikri fadzil showcasing up and coming musicians especially local and regional acts and there are indeed some truly gifted singer songwriters in our midst such as azmyl yunor who engagingly represents what some might call the neo existentialist generation y ethos take for instance the recent emergence into global prominence of a world music fusion band called akasha whose members come from a broad spectrum of ethnicities and cultures its musical soul is essentially carnatic with kumar karthigesu on sitar vick ramakrishnan on tabla and sivabalan s shanmuga sundram on mridangam they all honed their superb musical prowess at the temple of fine arts performing classical indian music with a contemporary feel the silky funk of jazzy latino blues is provided by australian born guitar ace jamie wilson with the help of seasoned keyboardist eric li and bassist greg henderson following its sensational debut on the international stage at the 2008 rainforest world music festival in sarawak akasha released a couple of cds and swiftly evolved into class act greatly sought after around the world my own experiment with attempting to introduce novel sounds into the local music scene has mad...
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