The other day, I was listening to one of Sepultura's singles.( W%^&#$G?! Joche..you?) I know.... this heavy metal group is definitely not one for my ear or heart for that matter, but this album is not too bad....because it has elements of tribal music in there that I like.
Maybe it's the tribe in me, you know how the saying goes ~ you can take the girl out of the kampung but not the kampung out of the girl. Educated I may be( ahem!), far as I may be away from all things familiar ~ I will always belong to those violent tribes of "headhunting, spirit appeasing people of Borneo". (It's cool what!)
Anyway, so there I was listening to the native Indians 'hahaa-ing and hoho-ing' with the guitar riffs and drum beats of the band in one of the tracks and it made me think of the bobohizan chants. How awesome would it be to incorporate this "mystical albeit somewhat eerie" sound into contemporary music?
I know, I know..ATAMA has already done it, and he's hasnt done done a bad job either - but really, can you expect the majority of people to take hiphop that seriously? er...No...
Honestly, I'm thinking a more serious genre of music - one with a wider reach.
( yessslaiik it.. mencari nahas budak ni..)
That said though, I have to credit the likes of local musicians like him (ATAMA) and Kan'id ( of Sarawak) who have taken our ancient, folk music and breathed new life into it. Yes, some may see it as a sign of disrespect as these traditional sounds/tunes have deep/esoteric meaning attached to them and isn't just a play of words that one can simply 'hiphop-tise' as it were. But in another perspective, by incorporating these ancient tunes into contemporary music as they have done, it serves to remind others - us natives really, of the threat of extinction to our language, and thus culture.
As a child, my mother told me that I must conquer English foremost and I spent many a times watching Sesame Street as a kid to achieve this. She wasn't necessarily wrong, but the mistake lies in the fact that no one impressed upon me or my siblings the importance of mastering our mother tongue as well. I believe Kadazan is one of those endangered languages of the world. And when you think that the preservation of a lot culture (and this is true to the Kadazans of Borneo as we do not have our own writing system) depend heavily on the existence of our mother tongue - it is most sad to think that if we do not actively promote the preservation and continued use of our language, one day the Kadazans of Borneo will be akin to the the Yetis of Himalaya - a myth.
"The 2003 Convention recognizes the vital role of language in the expression and transmission of living heritage. All intangible cultural heritage domains – from knowledge about the universe to rituals, performing arts to handicrafts – depend on language for their day-to-day practice and inter-generational transmission. In the domain of oral traditions and expressions, language is not only a vehicle of intangible heritage, it is their very essence. " ~ UNESCO
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