THE MEMOIRS OF MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN - Malaysia Today

38 Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain
Malays already know how to, or wished to, mock the British colonialists;
did they already harbour the seeds of anti-colonialism?
In another year, the group wore white shirts with red pants. To
Malays, red and white are the colours of courage and truth. We believe
in berani kerana benar or ‘in truth we find courage’. Were these boria
performers early Malay nationalists striving for Malaya’s independence?
Could this be the reason the British banned boria in Penang on the pretext
that boria activities were linked to gangsterism?
House owners visited by the boria groups normally donated between
one and two dollars each. During World War I, one dollar could buy a
gantang (the Malay gallon, equal to six kati of rice) and two kati (about
one and one-third pounds) of flour. I was told the donation would be used
to purchase a cow that would be slaughtered for a festival to celebrate
Safar (the second month of the Muslim calendar) Day. This festival spot
by the Larut River was near the grave of Malay warrior Datuk Sagor.
Although invited, I did not attend any of the riverbank celebrations.
Each time I asked for permission, my aunt Mak Endak Mariam forbade
me, advising, “Do not go, they are the orang kebun” (plantation workers).
I was much older before I realised that Matang residents considered
Malays working in British estates as beneath them, and not quite up to
the mark of the original Matang Malay community.
Another performance we looked forward to was the intriguing
makyong dance-drama, performed by about sixteen performers. Makyong
involves a combination of romantic drama, dance, operatic singing and
broad comedy, and was always performed by a cast of young attractive
women with a few men.
Once a year, the Mat Ali Makyong Group came from Kedah to
perform in a makeshift hut near the present office of the Matang headman.
There were usually eight male performers: one musician banging a
pair of deep-rimmed hanging gongs (tawak tawak), two on the doubleleaded
barrel-drums (gendang), one on a type of drum with parchment
stretched on one side only (rebana), one on the spike fiddle (rebab), one
violinist and two clowns. The female performers, consisting of one in the
role of the princess and several dancers, were all very young, and the
main attraction.
The story enacted was often based on the ever-popular Sri Rama
shadow play. The two clowns, wearing funny red masks, spoke in a very
popular Kedah (state in north-western Malaya) accent and performed little
tricks like eating a whole banana in one gulp through a slit in the mask.
This brought thunderous applause and laughter from audiences perpetually
thirsting after entertainment.