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RWMF a melting pot of cultures, music knowledge BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sabah - New 2 Borneo

RWMF a melting pot of cultures, music knowledge

Posted: 21 Jun 2014 12:09 PM PDT

KUCHING: The Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) is not only about night performances, it is also about workshops where different cultures and music knowledge are shared with festival-goers.

The second day of RWMF had nine workshops running concurrently at three locations at Sarawak Cultural Village: Dewan Lagenda, Iban Longhouse and Malay House.

In 'So the Rivers Continue to Flow', local musicians Peter Sawal from Bisaya Gong Orchestra, Matthew Ngau Jau from Lan E' Tuyang, Roy Kulleh from Nading Rhapsody and Narawi Rashid from Gema Seribu talked about preserving their music heritage.

All the local performers are doing their best in preserving their music heritage through teaching the young ones. Festivals-goers also had a taste of Tanzanian dancing with a workshop led by a group called Jagwa Music.

The 'Ruka Na Jagwa' workshop was an interactive dance workshop led by Deborah Dickson Chambo, Mzee Rashidi Mbaraka and Kazimoto Jackson Aluta of Jagwa Music from Tanzania.

The workshops also gave a chance for RWMF performers to come together from different countries to join together and perform a series of short performances and demonstrations.

An example was Beat Boxes, which was a workshop on percussion instruments. In this workshop, percussionists from Blackbeard's Tea Party (England), Son Yambu (Cuba), Jagwa Music (Tanzania), Yayasan Warisan Johor and Gema Seribu (Malaysia), Ryuz (Japan) and Kharinthalakootham (India) jammed together with their percussion instruments.

Seven bands came together for the 'Different Strokes for Different Folks' to brief the attendees the many styles and techniques of playing bowed string instruments.

Among the instruments demonstrated during this workshop were the fiddle and violin from the Western culture, 'rebab' from the Malay culture, 'gaohu' and 'erhu' from the Chinese culture.

Other workshops were Foot Stomp, a workshop on interactive demonstration and lesson on clogging, The Voice (a workshop on Beautiful Vocals), Knock on Wood (an exploration on the Txalaparta of the Basque region), 'Awok Awok' (an interactive workshop in the body movements of the Malaysian Dikir Barat and Chehera Chitra), face painting rituals and tribal handicraft making of Kerala.

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One for all, all for one

Posted: 21 Jun 2014 12:05 PM PDT

by Johnson K Saai, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on June 22, 2014, Sunday

PRS, SUPP, SPDP declare pact to defend their state BN seats allocation from Teras, to convey stand to top Barisan leadership that they won't budge

KUCHING:  Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) and Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) yesterday pledged to team up in defending their seats allocation in the state Barisan Nasional (BN) from being taken over by Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras) through elected representatives who resigned from their respective parties.

PRS president Tan Sri James Masing, at a news conference at his residence here yesterday said the three parties had agreed not to budge in holding to all 36, PRS (nine), SPDP (eight) and SUPP (19), allocated to them under the State BN power sharing agreement.

He said their common stand on Teras and seats allocation would be conveyed to the top BN leadership in the next BN Supreme Council meeting.

The press conference which was attended by SPDP supreme council members led by its acting president Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing and SUPP central working committee (CWC) headed by the president Tan Sri Peter Chin, was held during a Ngiling Tikai ceremony to mark the end of Gawai celebration.

"This is the first time that we leaders of the three parties get together since they (former SPDP and SUPP assemblymen) joined Teras (Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak) and we have all agreed to help each other when facing any kind of threat.

"What we are doing is defending Barisan Nasional (BN) because we are in full support of the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) and Chief Minister (Tan Sri Datuk Amar Adenan Satem)," he disclosed.

Masing added that Teras elected representatives who won their seats under SUPP or SPDP should have the moral to resign when they left the parties.

"They never stood as Teras candidates. In the last state election they were nominated either by SPDP or SUPP to represent BN."

He said if they were to contest in the next state election they should stand under the Teras banner and must not mislead voters into thinking they were contesting under BN.

"Those in Teras who contested in the last state election were nominated either by SPDP or SUPP and now they want to take the seats, definitely we don't want to let that happen to any of our BN component members.

"The State BN comprises four component parties, PBB, SUPP, SPDP and PRS. So if you try to touch anyone of them certainly we will all go after you. This is the BN spirit that we should have," he said.

When asked if Teras was backed by some BN leaders, Masing said he never believed that top BN leaders were behind the new party.

"Unless and until I have the concrete evidence we will never believe that. To us they are just rumours and I don't entertain rumours," he stressed.

Earlier, Chin and Tiong were given the honour to perform miring (Iban rituals) to mark the closing of Gawai.

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Chin unperturbed by judicial review against party’s legality

Posted: 21 Jun 2014 12:03 PM PDT

KUCHING: Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) president Tan Sri Peter Chin is confident the judicial review filed by a group of former leaders to challenge the decision of Registrar of Societies (ROS) – not to de-register the party on April 30 – will not affect the status of the party.

Chin said he was sure the Attorney General backed by a strong team of lawyers was capable of defending the ROS.

"Well, this is a suit filed by them against the ROS so it must defend themselves to say their decision was right. I am sure the ROS being a government agency will be defended by the AG.

"And I am sure the AG has a strong team of lawyers who are capable of defending the ROS decision," he told the media at a Ngiling Tikai (closing of Gawai) hosted by Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Tan Sri Dr James Masing at his residence yesterday.

As such, he said the party would proceed with its Triennial Delegates Conference on Aug 23 and 24 at the party headquarters at Jalan Ong Kee Hui here.

He said SUPP had invited Prime Minister and BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to officiate at the TDC.

Chin questioned the motive of those who filed the judicial review saying that they had bad intention towards the party.

"These guys are former SUPP leaders. Some of them were sacked, but some of them still remain with SUPP. We all love the party, why do you want to do this? The party has been going through a very bad stage for two and a half years. Now we are legal, why do you go ahead and ask for judicial review?"

The Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed former SUPP leaders to challenge the decision of the ROS on Wednesday. The case was brought by Datuk Dr Jerip Susil, Dr Johnical Rayong, Ranum Mina, Shiling Banggit, Datuk Tiong Thai King, Suzanne Lee Tze Hua and Penghulu Sia Jii Ming.

Dr Jerip had said this meant that ROS' decision made on April 30 in not de-registering the party could be overturned by the court and the ROS' decision may be rendered null and void.

With the case now in High Court, Dr Jerip said the legitimacy and existence of SUPP as a political party is still in question.

In January 2013, the ROS issued notices stating that two SUPP branches — Bekenu and Piasau — had been de-registered while the party central was slapped with a show cause letter, requiring it to explain why the party should not be de-registered.

In February this year, SUPP replied to the show-cause letter and on April 30, the ROS responded saying it had decided not to de-register the 53-year-old party.

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Six national parks to be gazetted — Abang Jo

Posted: 21 Jun 2014 12:02 PM PDT

by Danielle Sendou Ringgit, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on June 22, 2014, Sunday

KUCHING: Six new national parks are in the planning to be gazetted by the state government, revealed Tourism Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg during a press conference at Sarawak Cultural Village yesterday.

Although he did not disclose where these six new national parks were going to be, currently there are at least 20 other National Parks across Sarawak.

"We will try to get about two thirds of our land mass still covered with green," he added.

In order to achieve the gazettement of these six new national parks, he said, we have to continue planting more mangroves. He hopes this greening initiative will create awareness of the importance of the ecosystem among the young generation and society at large.

"We feel that we have to do this not only to educate our own people on the importance of the environment but also collaborating as well as sharing with society at large on importance of this environment," Abang Johari said.

He also noted how much the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) has snowballed over the last 17 years and created interest among Sarawakians and Malaysians in general, resulting in the growth of a few local bands and their improvement in terms of presentation and quality.

"We have sent our groups to New Zealand, Australia and Europe and with that exposure, there has been a lot of interaction among the musicians," he said.

He also noted how social media Youtube had become a platform for local musicians to disseminate their music and also improve their music.

On the second year of the Borneo World Music Expo, designed as a platform to create networking between local and international musicians and music programmers, he hoped that by the third or fourth year, there would already be a certain policy direction between music producers as well as those in the business of music.

Promising young Sarawakian violinist Nisa Addina Taufik, 18, was also introduced during the press conference. Currently in the midst of promoting her debut album, Abang Johari said her musical education to the US would be sponsored by the government.

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Sape music among others on first night of RWMF

Posted: 21 Jun 2014 12:00 PM PDT

by Patricia Hului, seeds@theborneopost.com. Posted on June 22, 2014, Sunday

KUCHING: The first night of the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) 2014 on June 20 had the crowd listening to strings of Sarawak sape, Cuban Latin music, South Indian ethno beats, and English folk rock at Sarawak Cultural Village.

Hailing from Cuba, Son Yambu played authentic 'Son Cubano' or Afro Cuban music that originated in the streets of eastern Cuba over the last century.

Son, which is Spanish for rhythm, is a fusion of Spanish and African rhythms and is the root of all salsa music.

Yuriselys Moreno Soria, the vocalist and minor percussionist of the seven-member Son Yambu band said that it was the first time they were performing at RWMF, and the ambience and culture of Borneo reminded her of her homeland Cuba.

They entertained the crowd with tropical rhythms beaten out on congas and timbales among other instruments, ending their set with Shakira's 2010 World Cup theme song, 'Waka Waka', which was suitable for this FIFA World Cup season.

Kalakan from Basque Country toured with Madonna during her MDNA Tour 2012 and last night were performing for the first time at the RWMF.

They sung in their native Basque language, singing Basque texts from the 16th century as well as playing contemporary music and lyrics by contemporary poets to the beat of drums.

Even when the trio toned down the evening by singing the Basque lullaby in a capella, Kalakan still managed to captivate the crowd.

Made up of three singers and percussionists; Kalakan believed in simplicity, elegance and communicating with emotion.

The last performer of the night was also a first-timer to the RWMF: Blackbeard's Tea Party from York, England had the crowd calling for more even after they had finished their last song.

The vibe was infectious as they introduced funky folk tunes by mixing the fiddle, squeezebox, guitar and bass.

They lived up to the expectations of being one of the best live bands in the UK in the 2011 Fatea Awards by exuding great energy while singing English folk songs with rock edge.

This year RWMF had 22 bands performing during the night at the Tree Stage and Jungle Stage, plus a new addition of Theatre Stage during the day.

The third stage was reserved for more acoustic, chamber, formal and intimate musical performances to provide a foil to lively, upbeat night performances.

The first two to perform at the festival at the Theatre Stage of SCV at 2pm yesterday were Talago Buni from Indonesia and Horomona Haro from New Zealand.

RWMF was voted for the fifth consecutive year in 2014 as one of the 25 best international festivals by renowned world music magazine Songlines.

The other performers of the night were the Bisayah Gong Orchestra from Limbang, Sape & Warrior and Karinthalakoottam from India.

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‘Technical and vocational training is the way to go’

Posted: 21 Jun 2014 11:45 AM PDT

by Jeremy Veno reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on June 22, 2014, Sunday

KUCHING: Producing graduates with technical skills and hands-on experience is vital to propel the state's economic growth via Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE).

Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister's Office (Promotion of Technical Education) Datu Len Talif Salleh said industrialised nations such as Germany and South Korea had shown what could be achieved through technical and vocational training of their human capital.

"Even though we are several years behind, there is always a point where we should start and look seriously at the importance of technical and vocational education," he said when closing Kuching Vocational College's 50th Golden Jubilee celebration at Jalan Batu Lintang yesterday.

Len Talif, who is also Belawai assemblyman, said technical and vocational education should not be seen as a 'second choice' among school leavers.

"Some who call themselves engineers from top-notch universities are still not guaranteed to produce the same quality and workmanship of students who graduated from technical institutions."

In technical and vocational institutions, it is common to have at least 70 per cent of course work on a hands-on basis while the remaining 30 per cent are on theories and classroom subjects.

It is undeniable that most theoretical studies would falter and produce inefficient results in workshop as the rule of thumb and hands-on experience is the formula for success in any production line.

Kuching Vocational College director Flora Imor Phillips said the college had added two new subjects, namely Diploma in Accounting and Fashion and Design.

Before 2012, the college was known as Sekolah Menengah Vokasional Kuching.

It was later selected as one of the 15 schools across Malaysia to be transformed into a college under a pilot project by the Ministry of Education.

This year's celebration started on Friday and among the activities held at the compound of the college included career showcase, stalls selling food and clothing items, sports competition, singing competition and an Open Day for the college's automotive workshop.

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