Malaysia Boleh - Penang World Music Festival

Story by Mallika Naguran

Penang rocks!

To paraphrase, it’s “Malaysia can”. This arm-thrusting slogan was coined to reflect Malaysia’s sentiment to conquer all odds.

Politicians grunt it, and so do foreign music performers, apparently, when they feel the masses move beneath their hands.

And move they did the hearts, bodies and minds of bright-eyed Asian folks at the second annual Penang World Music Festival held at the charming quarry garden flanking the Botanical Gardens in Penang Island. Young and old bobbed and grooved to the strains, vocals and rhythm of 11 international bands from Croatia, Reunion Islands, France, Kenya, Denmark, Tibet (famed and exiled Techung), Mexico, Iran, India, Canada and US of A. See line up below and watch this section for album reviews and interviews.

Rhythmic percussion by Kumpulan Dendang Anak.

The infectious Kumpulan Dendang Anak of Trengganu, one of the four Malaysian bands to be featured, roused the crowds to their feet with their gendangs, rebanas, konpangs and more. They proved that age-old traditions and heritage still, to this day, send a tingle. “We brought back folk music that existed 600-700 years ago that would have otherwise gone extinct,” beamed leader and performer Zulkifli Ismail who blends gongs and gamelans with the acoustic guitar.

“Everybody plays for tradition,” said Gilberto Guttierez of Mexican Mono Blanco, adding that where they come from, the farm, that is, happy hour equals song, dance and music, of course.

DYA Singh passes down generations of hymns.

Tradition need not be boring or out of date, and this perhaps is the beauty of world music where a bit of experimentation

fuses myriad of tones from different sound boxes. It doesn’t matter where it comes from, what it’s made of or which century it originated in. The tabla for instance, an ethnic Indian percussion instrument, served centre stage in DYA Singh played by world-renowned Nepalese-born Dheeraj Shrestra. The group mixes beats of tabla with Greek bouzouki, harmonium and the Australian didgeridoo. “The beauty of the group is the spirit of the music, dance and rhythm,” says Dheeraj. Watch Dheeraj perform this 10 May at Nepalese Pagoda, South Bank, Brisbane.

George Achiem resurrects oruto's appeal in Kenge Kenge.

Kenge Kenge’s dynamic leader and lead vocalist George Achiem resurrected a dying string instrument he saw being played in the market when he was a little boy. The one-string oruto provides a feminine counterpoint to pounding beats, between booming drums and calls of the rustic horn of this band from sunripe Kenya. “The whole band uses traditional instruments, some with eight strings, some with one. We really love our culture,” he grinned.

And so did we. For three days, Malaysians and tourists, even invited journalists, were mesmerized by the mind-blowing cultural experience. “This is what world music should be, full of ordinary people, children and screaming teenagers appreciating the acts, most of which are of very high standard,” said Singapore writer, actor and musician Joe Ng. “I stopped going to WOMAD of Singapore few years back because it became such a soulless, yuppie thing.”

Electric and eclectic Afenginn infuse wild Nordic folk with Finnish nuances on the mandolin.

Even the absence of alcohol sale on the grounds did not deter anyone from getting a bit high during the three-day packed concert beginning May 2.

The music itself did the trick in lifting the spirits and screwing the brains (blame it on the Danish lot, Afenginn) with traditional instruments, lilting folklore, syncopated beats, surreal chants and head banging rhythms.

George Achiem best sums up the value of upholding traditions. “When we play our music overseas, we leave a bit of our culture behind and we learn new cultures from others.” This cultural exchange binds people together as they see beyond their inner worlds to understand and appreciate different perspectives.

“Music is the universal language, man,” said Brian the keyboardist of Techung as he pumped fists with Mame Khan, Badila’s Rajahstani singer at the post concert party. “I didn’t understand what you sang, man, but you know what, it didn’t matter. It’s all in the music, man.”

Music is the universal language.

I couldn’t agree more. If I were you, I’d make a date for the next Penang World Music Festival about the same time next year. Don’t forget to stay on for a few more days as Penang is lovely and harbours the best Malaysian food, like my favourite spicy sour assam laksa. Or if you can’t wait that long, head on down to the sizzling Sarawak Rainforest Festival 11-13 July. Book now to avoid disappointment - it’s a sell out I hear.

Akan Datang! Watch this space for more world music previews and reviews. View show video and more photos in Gallery.

Coming up soon: Afenginn on cheerful melancholy and rational madness. Only they can make this happen. Listen to their tracks here.

Coming up sooner: Internationally-acclaimed Techung writes the songs for Tibetan freedom

Gaia Discovery Rates the Show

Friday May 2 Day One

DYA SINGH (PENANG & AUSTRALIA) ***

TEADA (IRELAND) ****

KUMPULAN DENDANG ANAK (TERENGGANU, MALAYSIA) ***

MONO BLANCO (MEXICO) **

AFENGINN (DENMARK) ***** 

SALEM TRADITION (REUNINON ISLANDS) *****

Saturday May 3 Day Two

KUMPULAN KINABALU MERSU SOUND (SABAH) **

BADILA (IRAN, INDIA, FRANCE) ***

GALANT, TU PERDS TON TEMPS (CANADA) ***

DIPLOMATS OF DRUMS (KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA) *

KRIES (CROATIA) ***

Sunday May 4 Last Day

TECHUNG (TIBET) *****  Watch videos

BALFA TOUJOURS (USA) ***

LO COR DE LA PLANA (FRANCE) *****

AFENGINN (DENMARK) ***** 

* Loo time

** Nice, but where’s the oomph?

*** You got me

**** Yeah baby yeah

***** Call the police. Roof is falling down here!

This show was made possible by the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia and Penang Tourism Action Council. It was made successful with resourceful festival artistic director Yeoh Jun-Lin and brilliant sound producer Niall Macaulay of Cheer Productions.

Photos by Joe Ng, Tourism Malaysia and Mallika Naguran

Lip Smacking Malaysia Gourmet Festival

Back flip pulled tea

A trip to Malaysia will not be complete without sampling its authentic cuisine, and there are quite a few, from breakfast to late night supper, the latter to serve as essential tummy liners to pub-crawlers.

Even in the heart of Kuala Lumpur city, you might stumble upon a few finds. Like the mamak (or Indian) shops for hot, crispy roti canai (made of wheat flour, egg and ghee, this is also known in Singapore as roti prata) served with a choice of chicken, fish or dhal curry. Malaysians add a dollop of spicy sambal (chilli paste) in the curry and use their fingers to eat the bread.

Nasi Kandar Pelita along Jalan Ampang and opposite of Chorus Hotel is consistently good with its fast food rendition of Indian Muslim food which includes variations of roti canai (plain, tissue, bom, with egg, banana or shredded meat), all interesting and downright tasty.

Roti canai in different varieties

Mamak shops serve the popular teh tarik, literally known as pulled tea, which gives it the tantalising froth. Mr Moor Sazali, at the opening of the Malaysian International Gourmet Festival, drew gasps from 2,000 VIP guests as he twisted, twirled and even bent backwards yoga like to create frothy goodness.

Dollops of Malaysian Cuisine

Indeed, this celebration of food is no storm in a teacup for the Malaysian authorities that are bent on spreading the fame of local cuisine to the rest of the world. This includes issuing RM200 million worth of loans pooled to fund restaurant proprietors and investors in setting up bases outside the country.Malaysia has over 350 restaurants operating globally and this is to be upped to 8,000 by year 2015 to forge a stronger gourmet destination identity.

"The challenge is to develop a pool of Malaysian chefs and to export them to the world," said Mr Mohd Rosly Selamat, the chief operating officer of Pempena, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tourism Malaysia. Mr Selamat shared that an existing programme exists which invites overseas chefs to Malaysia where they get to sample and prepare local dishes. Malaysia Kitchen intends to promote gastronomic by-products such as sauces and condiments to the world, plus local culture and handicrafts (tableware, décor and music) through these restaurants.

Chef Ismail

Thirty restaurants participated in the month-long international gourmet festival beginning 2 November 2007, which is a step up from a mere 13 in 2001 when it first started. A Malaysia Truly Asian Cuisine showcase saw master chefs dabbling with local ingredients to create a dish that would typify Malaysia.

A definite step in the direction of savouring Malaysia’s heritage I say, as I help myself to another serving of Nescafe tarik (pulled coffee).

Heritage Tantalizes Tastebuds

More can be done, though, like profiling more authentic Malaysian restaurants in tourist literature and websites, banning the use of meat from endangered sources such as shark’s fin especially during gourmet festivals and encouraging local chefs to uphold traditional ways of food preparation and presentation.

Cuisines like and Aunty Aini’s Cafe, Rebung and Enak go a long way in restoring old - in some cases, dying - practices. Authentic dishes are environmental friendly too as ingredients are prepared using manual means and handmade tools as opposed to electrical appliances.

Chef Ismail of Rebung restaurant uses his grandmother’s old coconut grater in his restaurant, partly for sentimental reasons, and the other, to extract the best flavour from the fruit. "Food tastes better when prepared with love," he quipped.

Chefs making music

Give a Thought to the Environment

In authentic Malay cuisines, local produce is used most of the time, depending on seasonal harvests. Meat is gotten from local farms such as the kampong chicken that are free to roam and grow naturally. And where the only steroid used is sunshine.

Eating fresh is one thing. Not buying foreign produce means saying no to mass and over production - what we often see rows after rows of packed frozen and chilled goods in supermarkets. Frozen products also use up more energy in packing, storage and transportation.

If we switched to eating fresh at least half the week by way of buying from the local market or growing own vegetables and herbs, supermarkets would stock up half of existing supplies, there would be fewer cargo flights, fewer delivery trucks on the roads, less exploitation of land for farming, and less carbon and methane emissions.

Returning to basics, going back to simplicity and revisiting age-old practices is something everybody should seriously consider, especially the organisers of the next Malaysian International Gourmet Festival. It will be gentler on Mother Nature, and certainly gentler on our health.

Make a date to visit Malaysia during 2008 Malaysian International Gourmet Festival that takes place all around the country during 1-30 November. Visit www.migf.com for details.

Potos by Mallika Naguran.