Global Impact on the Survival of Wayang Kulit ... - Siew Lian Lim

is visible by the audience. Stories and characters are from the Hindu myths, The Ramayana and
The Mahabharata, emphasized primarily in Indonesia, or from current issues and daily life in the
local region using clown puppets improvised and created by the puppeteer. Variations are
primarily in terms of styling of the classical puppets, with the features in Java being more
abstract elongated necks and distorted limbs. The size of the traditional percussion orchestra
(gamelan in Indonesia and Malaysia) is larger in Indonesia.
In terms of adapting to contemporary society and the effects of globalization, Indonesia is
most successful, with primary areas for Wayang Kulit being in the art center of Indonesia,
Yogyakarta, Java, (YogYes) and in the major tourist destination of Bali (Bali Galang). The
adaptability of Wayang Kulit in Java and Bali has enabled it to survive by embracing aspects of
the invading American culture, and such is also the case in Thailand (Lim). But Malaysian
Wayang Kulit is more vulnerable. Its roots are in the relatively isolated and rural state of
Kelantan, whose government has been controlled by the conservative Pan-Malaysian Islamic
Party (PAS), which banned Wayang Kulit in 1990 (Azlee, Yousoff). During an interview in
2010, Larry Reed, a leading producer of Shadow Theater in the U.S who was trained in Bali,
declared Wayang Kulit shadow puppetry “endangered” in Malaysia (Reed). Likewise, in 2008,
as he was preparing to retire, noted Malaysian scholar Dr.Ghulam-Sarwar Yousof told American
Beth Osnes, who had studied Malaysian Wayang Kulit with him and Hanzah Awang Hamar 17
years earlier, "It’s over,” referring to traditional Malaysian performing arts, including Wayang
Kulit (Osnes).
This research is the result of a field study conducted in Malaysia during May and June,
2011, on the current status of shadow puppetry in Malaysia, to determine whether it is indeed
“endangered” or “over.” It was found that Wayang Kulit is not "over" and although it faces
challenges, it is not "endangered." The study included a survey of Malaysian print media for
references to Wayang Kulit and other forms of shadow puppetry, but the cornerstone consisted
of interviews with four dalang, shadow puppeteers, who are still performing, one based in Kedah
and three in Kelantan. The interviews focused on their background and training, their styles of
crafting and performance, their perception of the threats to Malaysian Wayang Kulit, particularly
modern forms of entertainment spread by globalization, their recommendations for preserving
and promoting this art form, and their prognosis for Malaysian Wayang Kulit's future. From
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