Traditional malaysian music

Traditional malaysian music INTRODUCTION: A BRIEF HISTORY OF TRADITIONAL MALAYSIAN MUSIC The history of Malaysian music needs to be viewed from the perspective of the old Malay world which covered Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia, along with parts of Thailand. Within this cultural entity, one can find numerous similarities of musical instruments and musical structures which are the result of a common cultural heritage moulded by musical elements from the West Asia, India and China In addition to the Indian and Islamic factors, Malaysian art forms have also been influenced by the countrys neighbours, particularly Indonesia and Thailand. Indonesia immigrants, especially Javanese and Bugis, along with Minangkabau, Achinese and other Sumaterans who are traditionally concentrated in the south-western part of the Malay Peninsula (ex: Johore, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor) brought with them several of the performing arts which are now considered Malaysian (Ghouse Nasuruddin 1992). Among them are the Javanese wayang purwa, a form of shadow play which is different from those of Kelantan and Kedah; the ketoprak, a dance drama; kuda kepang, another traditional dance; and the angklung, a musical ensemble consisting of bamboo chime instruments. In addition, the Bugis brought to Terengganu the joget gamelan from the Riau Archipelago, and also the rodat from Acheh in Sumatera via Sambas in Borneo. The Malaysian performing arts in the northern part of the Peninsula have been greatly affected by Thais cultural influences. (Ghouse Nasuruddin 1992) In the wake of the decline of Majapahit during the course of the 14th century, the Thais started their move southwards and tried to assert their claim to over lordship of all the Malay Peninsula and forcing Malay Rulers to send ‘tribute to Ayuthia, and then later to Bangkok. Nevertheless, the rise of Malacca checked this southward expansion, and even after the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese in 1511, Thai influence was successfully confined to the three northern Peninsular Malay states of Kelantan, Kedah and Terengganu. The British helped in containing Thai influence to theses states as their own power and influence grew in the Peninsula. Finally in 1909 sovereignty over these four northern states (which now included Perlis) was formally handed over to the British by the Treaty of Bangkok. Nevertheless, for over 500 years these for northern states of the Peninsula Malaysia had been periodically subjected to Thai political and cultural influences. It is, therefore, not surprising to find elements of the Thai performing arts such as the Wayang Kulit Siam of Kelantan, the Wayang KulitGedek of Kedah and Perlis, and the menora dance drama within these states. ). (Terry E, Miller, Sean W 2008) The more recent major influence on the performing arts of Malaysia, was effected by the Portuguese are credited with the introduction of the violin and the guitar, while British cultural influence in Malaysia has been much more generalized. (Ghouse Nasuruddin 1992). In addition to popularizing western music, dance, and theatre, the Europeans have also directly influenced the development of semi-modern syncretic musical forms such as the asli, keroncong, ghazal and bangsawan, which combine both western and traditional musical elements. As a consequence of these influences, traditional Malaysian music exhibits multi-faceted musical styles which combine regional as well western and West Asian elements. For example, the musical styles and instruments of northern Peninsula Malaysia resemble those of the Thais, while those in the southern part of the Peninsula have incorporated Indonesian musical elements. Furthermore, all over Malaysia western musical influences are glaringly evident. Shadow puppet theatre The shadow puppet play (wayang kulit) is an ancient form of traditional theatre in Malaysia. The stories are told by a puppet master (dalang) who manipulates the puppets (called wayang) which are seen in shadows projected on a screen. (Ghouse Nasuruddin 1992). In this very old form of theatre a small ensemble plays the music to accompany the movement of puppets and events in the stories. In Malaysia there are four types of shadow puppet play, each with a specific name and distinctive style. These are Wayang Kulit Jawa (Javanese shadow puppet play), the Wayang Kulit Gedek (mixture of Thai and Malay folk styles of shadow puppet play), the Wayang Kulit Melayu (Malay court form of shadow puppet play) and Wayang Kulit Kelantan (Kelantanese shadow puppet play) The presence of foreign influences in puppets, repertoire or music does not in itself prove that the technique originates from the same source as these influences. Wayang Kulit Jawa The Wayang Kulit Jawa, Javanese influenced and originated in Indonesia and is performed today by the descendants of Javanese immigrants who settled in the southern state of Johor many decades ago. (Ghouse Nasuruddin 1992). In Malaysia, this form of shadow play still maintains the basic features of the Wayang Kulit Purwa of Indonesia, including the use of the stories, characters from the Mahabharata epic and the musical accompaniment of the Javanese Gamelan. The gamelan in this shadow play includes singers as well as xylophones, metallophones, and knobbed gongs just as in Indonesia. Malaysia maintains the basic feature of Wayang Kulit Purwa which consist the characteristic of Mahabharata epics and gamelan ensemble accompaniment. Wayang Kulit Jawa Wayang Kulit Gedek This Wayang Kulit Gedek, performed in the northern peninsular states of Perlis, Kedah and Kelantan, is called Nang Talung in Thailand. (Ghouse Nasuruddin 1992). This type of shadow puppet play originated in Southern Thailand and features small-sized, flat leather puppets. In Malaysia Wayang Kulit Gedek is performed by Thai and Malay peoples using a mixture of Thai and Malay language or just the southern Thai dialect, depending upon the audience. The stories feature local tales and episodes from the Ramayana epic (called the Ramakien in Thailand). The style of performance, music and puppet design show a distinct mixture of southern Thai and Malay traits including the small orchestra of drums, knobbed gongs, cymbals and bowed stringed instruments. In former times the wind instrument called pi or pi Jawa (a quadruple reed shawm) was included in this ensemble, and it is still often featured in the Wayang Kulit Gedek orchestra in Malaysia. However, today in southern Thailand the bow lutes called saw oo and saw duang (originating from the huqin family of Chinese bowed flutes) are preferred in place of the pi. The drums in this ensemble include klong khat, thon and klong khaek, similar to the Malay geduk, gedumbak and gendang,(Figure 1-3), respectively, a small pair of finger cymbals and the gong-chime called mong (2 knobbed gongs placed horizontally in a wooden box) are also used. WAYANG KULIT GEDEK Wayang Kulit Melayu Wayang Kulit Melayu, also named as Wayang Kulit Jawa, is strongly influenced by the Wayang Kulit Purwa of Indonesia. In the 19th and 20th centuries, this type of shadow play developed under the patronage of the sultan and existed as entertainment mainly for the aristocrats connected to the palaces of Kelantan and Kedah. In earlier times it was also performed in the Malay Sultanate of Patani. Today this Sultanate is no longer exists, but the location of the former kingdom is still located at southern Thailand. The stories of the Wayang Kulit Melayu focus on episodes of the Mahabharata epic, and the form and design of the puppets are nearly identical to the style of puppets from Java and Indonesia. During World War II this type of shadow puppet theatre was not performed; after the war years it was revived as entertainment for villagers without the patronage of the sultans. By the 1980s experienced puppet masters were difficult to find ant the Wayang Kulit Melayu. Today in Malaysia, this shadow play is rarely performed. The orchestra consists of several bronze gongs including a pair of large, hanging gongs called tetawak(Plate 1), a single knobbed horizontal gong called the mong, and a set of six or more small horizontal gongs called the canang(Plate 2). In addition, a pair of kesi cymbals (Plate 3), a pair of elongated barrel, double-headed drums called gendang (Plate 6) and one 2-stringed rebab is used. The rebab exhibits a mixture of Malay and Javanese features using only two strings in Javanese form, but with the body construction of the Malay rebab. A specific musical repertory existed for this type of shadow play, but today only a few pieces are still known. Wayang Kulit Melayu WAYANG KULIT KELANTAN The Wayang Kulit Kelantan is a folk theatre and is to be referred as Wayang Kulit Siam. This shadow puppets originally from and play around states in Kelantan, Kedah, Terengganu and formerly in Perak and Pahang. This is the most famous traditional puppet theatre among all in Malaysia. The former time, this performance is for ritual purpose, but today it been revived and to be performed as an entertainment. The Ramayana epic is the main focus for the trunk and stories for Kelantanese shadow play. The shadow play is one of the oldest theatrical art-forms in Asia and is found as far north as China and as far west as India and Turkey. Each country has its own form and style of shadow play, and there are variations within each of these forms. The home of the shadow play still has not been identified with certainty, as an evident from the controversies regarding its origin. According to Otto Spies, Sabri East Siyavusgil and William Ridgeway, it originated in India. Berthold Laufer, citing China as its home, tells of a legend about the later Han Emperor Kuang Wu Ti (25-57 A.D.) who instructed the court shaman to cast shadows on a screen in an effort to recall the spirit of his departed wife. Hazeu, on the other hand, credits Java as its place of origin because of the Javanese terminology in the Wayang Kulit Purwa. There are scholars who support the India origin of the shadow theatre because of the repertoire of the South-East Asian shadow plays which mainly portray episodes from the two Hindu epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata. But as noted by Alessio Bombaci, the shadow play could have emerged on its own in all these places – India, China and West Asia, and from these separate areas spread to other countries throug h economic, political and cultural interaction. However whatever its genesis, the shadow play doubt began as an animistic ritual. Even since its inception, the shadow play has been influenced by the religious beliefs prevalent in those countries where it has become established, to the extent that each variety reflects in microsm the religious history of its land of domicile. This is particularly true of the Malaysian shadow play whose rituals combine elements of animism, Hinduism and Islam. As we have already seen, through the ages Malaysia has been influenced by strong Indian, Chinese, Thai and Javanese cultural influences, with the result that her shadow plays bear striking resemblances to the Thai nang talung, the Khmer nang trolung, and the Javanese Wayang Kulit Purwa. The four types of Malaysia shadow play adapted from Javanese Wayang Kulit purwa, Wayang Kulit Melayu and Wayang Kulit Melayu both display similarities in structure, technique and performance with their Javanese counterpart. What differentiate is the one from the other of the configuration of the puppets and the nature of their musical ensembles. According to Patricia A, Sooi Beng T, the puppets of the Wayang KulitMelayu, which are highly stylized, have two moveable arms, while those of the less stylized Wayang Kulit Melayu have only one moveable arm. While a gamelan ensemble accompanies the Wayang KulitMelayu, the Wayang Kulit Melayu uses an indigenous musical ensemble. The repertoire of both the shadow plays consist of episodes from the Javanese and Malay versions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, tales from the Panji cycles, the Islamic tales of Amir Hamzah, and local lore and legend. (Endon S 1999) Wayang Kulit Kelantanuses the technique of the Javanese Wayang Kulit Jawa to perform the Thai version of the Ramayana, as well as containing elements of local lore and legend. It differs from the Wayang Kulit Gedek, in the configuration of its puppets and in the nature of the accompanying musical ensemble. (Ghouse Nasuruddin 1992) The puppets of Wayang Kulit Kelantan are only seen in profile, puppets of Wayang Kulit Gedek uses combination of full-faced and profiled. Furthermore, the Wayang Kulit Kelantan musical ensemble is larger than that of Wayang Kulit Gedek. Wayang Kulit Kelantan Shadow Play Music There are seventeen repertoires in Kelantan shadow theatre and to be divided into four categories Ritualistic, emotional, designate individual character, and variety of occasions and designate action. Two examples are show below: Bertabuh and Tuk Maha Siku Mak Yong pieces are included in some of the repertoire in shadow play, for instance Lagu Yong Bertabuh, Sang Gendang, Pakyung Muda, and Lagu Barat. Younger troupe insert several modern pieces such as Lagu Joget Kelantan and Lagu Berlari Yong Muda, This is innovation of shadow play but was not appreciate by the older troupes to adulterate the music of shadow play; they only stick to their principle by performing traditionally pieces. For my opinion, innovation of shadow play is a significant issue for the sake of entertainment effect and also self satisfaction to make an improvement of music element aspect. Lagu Perang (war music) is the most common piece to be play Kelantan shadow theatre. It is show in the opening continuation as Lagu Bertabuh, combat in between two Dewa Panah (mystical warriors); the whole repertoire is all about fighting and battle in the play. A few pieces were often to be played in the shadow play are Lagu Hulubalang which indicates all warriors; it accompanies Sri Rama when he is ready for war, Hanuman, lesser princes, and all warriors. On my opinion, within the play proper of the shadow play performance, dramatic action is essential to be played in the music piece, but the structural format is remain a definite ritualistic opening of the actual play performance. Before the proper performance start, Dalang Tua (elder Dalang) will manipulate the puppets, sing and speaks every characters part and conduct the orchestra. The buka ponggang( opening ceremony) emerged in Mak Yong repertoire to portrayed his acts of connecting the real and nether worlds. Lagu Bertabuh is a start of informing the villagers that the play is to begin; in another way is also a conclusion of the ritualistic ceremony. Shadow play ensembles or orchestras and instruments The musical ensembles of the shadow play are percussion-dominated with either a solitary aerophone (wind) or a chordophone (string) instrument. An example for Wayang Kulit Kelantan ensemble has the following instruments: Idiophonic (Brass) Orotund material is to make to Idiophones instruments. Tetawak, kesi and canang occurs as a pairs in idiophone structure. The pair of tetawak (Plate 1) are knobbed gongs which hung between wooden racks, and padded beater is to hit the knob. The larger tetawak played lower pitch which calledâ€Å"tawak ibu† (mother tawak), tawak anak (child tawak) played the high pitch. Major third or perfect fifth is the tuning in between one set to another. The standardization of the tuning of tetawak so as canang is not the main important issue in music. Canang(Plate 2) is made of iron or metal, and it consists of two knobbed gongs, which hung horizontally on the wooden rack. The two gongs are hit by a pair of peddar beater, both gongs (anak canang and ibu canang ) played in different pitches( high and low pitch). Both gongs tuning interval may range from majors second to sixth. Kesi Cymbals (Plate 3) have a cup-like protruding with a small hole to enable to two cymbals to be connected. It is made of booze or iron. Resonant, ringing sound occurs when striking by player on the pair of cymbals. Unison are played in two pieces of timbres with canang, canang anak (high pitch) played ringing timbre whilst canang ibu (low pitch) played damped timbre. Kesi is similar to the western cymbal. Aerophonic (Wind) The serunai(Plate 4) is a double reed instrument which falls into the shawm category, varying in length from 12 to 18 inches and constructed from variation of woods such as batang lada, lebam and nangka. It is divided into three sections, namely kepala (head), batang (stem) and pipit (mouth-piece) .Daun lunta, a type of fern leaf, is used for the reed. Altogether there are eight sound holes on the serunai, seven on top and one below. It is adorned with intricate carvings and painted with various shades of colour. Membranophone (Percussion) Three types of drum constitute the membranophone category. The first is a pair of mother and son cylindrical-shaped geduk (Plate 7), with the mother being the larger of the two. Its dimension varies from 12 to 20 inches in length, with a front circumference between 30 to 37 inches and a back circumference of between 27 to 33 inches. The body of the geduk is mostly made from kayu nangka, but kayu sena or kayu merbau is sometimes used. Both sides are covered with cow or buffalo hide. The two legs located at one end of the geduk serve to tilt it towards the drummer to facilitate his playing, which is done with a pair of drum sticks. The pair of gendang (Plate 6), mother and son, are both barrel-shaped, with the mother being the larger of the two. The mother drum measures from 20 to 22 inches in length, and has a front circumference which varies between 24 to 33 inches and a back circumference of between 24 to 29 inches. The length of the gendang anak (son drum) varies from 19 to 22 inches with a front circumference of between 22 to 25 inches and a back circumference of between 19 to 22 inches. More often than not, the body of the gendang is made from kayu nangka rather than from kayu merbau. Both the front and back faces of the drum are covered with animal skins, cow hide for the mother drum and goatskin for the son drum. Rattan strands are coiled around one end of the body as an anchor to stretch the skin and vary the tension of its surface. The drums are played with both hands, one for striking each face. Texture and Form The texture of shadow theatre can be categories into melodic line played by serunai, variety of drum rhythmic pattern and bronze instruments play the element of gong. The form and structure in each piece of shadow play is determined and defined by colotomic structure or gong unit in the music. (Ghouse Nasuruddin 1992) .The gong unit is a time unit marked at its end by lowest pitches gong is the tetawak ibu, which is stuck at the last beat of gong unit. Gong unit is to be served as a basis element to be play in shadow plays and Mak Yong, multiples of two beats are based on the total number of colotomic structure. (Patricia A, Sooi Beng T 2004). Hence, in the gong unit, there are no 2- beat but continuously with 4-, 8-, 16-, 32-, 64- and so on. The gong unit is to be identifying by particular gong tone to played specific beat, as a result binary form is occurs in gong unit as the subdivision of internal gong to be played. Division of half occurs in first gong unit, for example gong tones occurs in beat 8 and 16 in a 16- beats gong unit. Another significant trait in 2-beat stress in the gong unit, firstly it( pulse weakly on the first beat and continue with a strong stress on the second beat. Patricia A, Sooi Beng T 2004) Repetition of the weak and strong stress in the repertoire is to gain the appropriate number of beat at variety gong unit. Canang gong chime play the 2-beat stress gong unit in shadow play, sometime ding-dong vocalized syllabus will be use as ding to be the first weak beat by canang anak (high pitch); whereas dong is to be played on the second strong beat by canang ibu ( low pitch). At the meantime, kesi cymbals are played to mark a resounding timbre in the weak beat and damped timbre in the strong beat. In the piece of Pak Dogol, the gedumbak and gendang anak produce specific 4-beat rhythmic patterns that combine to give a complete resultant rhythmic pattern for piece. Because the piece Pak Dogol based on 8-beat unit gong unit, the 4-beat resultant drum pattern is played twice in the time one complete gong unit. (Example 1) Scale Pentatonic, hexatonic and heptatonic are the main three scales in shadow play pieces. These three scales type are established in the repertory, hexatonic and heptatonic scales accent on five specific pitches which may contemplate a pentatonic core within the larger scale system. Semitone or whole tone are contains at all level of intervals. For example, third interval include in some scales. Sampling to be shown below: (Patricia A, Sooi Beng T 2004) DALANG Dalang can be found at padi harvest, the wayang season thus beginning of the rainy season. A popular dalang may expect to receive invitation to perform which will keep him occupied throughout the season, extending from about March to October. Dalang incomes (Amin.S 1972) entirely from the wayang and those that attempt to do so have a meager existence during the rainy season when they are forced to live on what has been saved during the wayang season which is seldom much. The dalang have a secondary occupation, and where the dalang does not enjoy much success, the wayang will be his secondary occupation. The performance definitely entertainment for humans not spirits. These rituals are performed for various purposes, propitiation of spirits, releasing a person from a vow, and initiating a pupil, but their form is basically the same and consists of a synthesis of Javanesse wayang ritual and local spirit medium ship. The importance of these rituals is that performed to ward off the threat of cholera by placating the local spirits. The dalang learn their art from a teacher, the few exceptions to this merely imitating the performances of others. The teacher is rarely the dalangs father and the art is not hereditary. (Amin.S 1972). Comparison of the repertoire, performance and ritual of a dalang with those of his teacher reveals, almost without exception, considerable differences. There are several reasons for this: It is rare that a dalang learns everything from one source and it is not unsual to have had more than one teacher, though this may not be admitted. A dalang may further learn pieces of repertoire from persons who are not even dalang and information are also gleaned by observing the performances of other dalang. It is clear, therefore, that every dalangs knowledge is to a greater or lesser extent a pot pourri gathered from several sources. (Amin.S 1972) Several reasons for becoming a dalang but the primary motive is nearly always that he experiences intense pleasure from observing the wayang and that he has the urge and desire to perform himself. Dance Theatre – Mak Yong Human characters but not puppet play performed the traditional theatres known as Mak Yong. Mak Yong is forms by three integral- dance, dialogue and music with the legend story from local place. While there are common denominators in dramatic, musical, and dance structure, there are, however, marked difference among them in dance and music styles. The Mak Yong has been noted as an ancient Malay form of theatre as witnessed in legends, myths and by its close ties to the traditional healing ceremony called the main puteri. (Ghouse Nasuruddin 1992) Besides that, Common feature are shared in these various traditional theatres. The performances are usually to anticipated and down mainly from stories and legend known to the community. Generally, plots are episode and long enough to allow audience members to drift in and out during the performance. Mak Yong is a traditional form of dance originated in Southern Thailand, it appears in Kelantan since last two hundred years, and is one of the popular traditional dances in Terengganu and spread to Kedah. In the early 20th century, Mak Yong was given royal patronage by the court of Kelantan which established a â€Å"theatrical village† known as the â€Å"Kampung Temenggung† in the town of Kota Bahru. (Ghouse Nasuruddin 1992) This form of theatre was supported and patronized by His Highness Temengung Ghaffar from the Kelantan palace at that time. But the patronage did not last long until the death of Sultan Mohamad IV at 1920, although Mak Yong was originally about rural regions as a folk tradition, through its years of royal patronage the music, dance, costumes and other theatrical aspects were refined because of the constant opportunities for practice and performance in Kampung Temengung. In between the changes; Mak Yong became popular as an entertainment in the public and lost its artistic quality which is normally connected with a court oriented performance. When time goes by, the court dance eventually turn to a normal performance to the public and created new audience, portraying the folk life. Mak Yong performs at many occasions, but emphasize specifically on padi harvest, that is a thanksgiving ceremony for bounteous crop. Wedding, kings birthday and national holiday were the occasions Mak Yong to be performed. According to Patricia A, Sooi Beng T, Mak Yong traditional performances have a connection with ritual and the world of spirits. Mak Yong served as healing rituals. Main Puteri is the healing person and the healing section involves soporific dance and spirit possession. In some traditional cities, the healing rituals are still pursuing but they are mainly frowned nowadays. It reflects the inner, the significant and mysterious of stories. High ritual performance sometimes occurs in Mak Yong. A good example: sembah guru (paying homage to ones teacher) ceremony and performance in which a student, who is ready to go on stage as a principal, performs certain rites within connection of a performance itself. The main puteri healing ceremony for the intention of healing a sick people will sometime found in the main structure element of Mak Yong. Shaman (bomoh) take the lead to communicate with the spirit world to discover the root of an illness and the main actress (the Pak Yong character), a lthough main puteri ceremonial elements become dominant in the performance, the music used is still that of the Mak Yong. Troupe of women performed the main role whilst men played the clown roles. This form of dance was established as a court form (C.1875) that became well known to villages. The women sing, dance and perform improvise dialogue especially in the clown and contemporary section. The action takes place in the round, with all nonnative cast members sitting casually around the outside of the circle. (Anonymous n.d) Performers are considered to be off-stage or members of the chorus when not in the central acting space. Performers work towards the creation and identification character types, stylized motion, poetic language and rhythmic language. Along with dialogue and notated passage, music, song and dance is also incorporated into traditional performance. Serious or tragic events are intermingling with comedy. The original story in the Mak Yong dramatic repertory is called the Dewa Muda, which is a Malay folk tale. The stories Dewa Muda come along with about twelve other tales consist the dramatic repertory. (Patricia A, Sooi Beng T 2004) Several of these stories are also performed in other local theater forms such as the wayang kulit, menorah and the bangsawan. The stories focus on folk heroes, heroines, their fantastic adventures, and are told using dialogue, singing and dance by the characters along with the accompaniment of vocal and instrumental music. Some of the especially important roles are the Pakyung and Pakyung Muda (the king and prince), the queen or Makyung and the princess or Puteri Makyung, the old and young clown-servants known respectively, as the Peran Tua and Peran Muda, and the astrologer or expert of some kind called Tok Wak. In the 20th century, and still today, all principal roles are taken by women who dress according to the role played. However, before the 1020s m en played the roles of the Pakyung and Pakyung Muda and not women. Performance practice The Makyung performance begins with an opening ceremony called the Buka Panggung (opening of the stage) with prayers, offerings of food and the consecration of the musical instruments and other items. (Patricia A, Sooi Beng T 2004). Immediately following the official opening is the performance of several pieces before the story itself actually begins. These pieces each have a special function and serve to introduce the characters or carry out some other special purpose. For example, the actors and actresses come onto the stage with the accompaniment of the piece called Pakyung Turun (The king descends), an instrumental piece. This piece is followed by a ritual song and dance called the Menghadap Rebab (paying homage to the rebab), which salutes the musical instrument called the rebab. The opening section of the performance continues with the pieces entitled Sedayung Mak yong and Sedayung Pak yong. These two pieces are performed to introduce the Mak Yong and Pak Yong characters. Another piece entitled Ela is performed by the Pak Yong character to introduce the character he will play in the story for the evening. All of these pieces (except the Pak Yong Turun) also involved specific dances, which are performed by the main singer along with the members of the chorus (the jong dondang). This group of sung and danced pieces comprises a fixed opening, which is performed each time a Mak Yong performance takes place. A given story takes several nights to complete and, before its continuation from night to night, the fixed opening of sung and d

A Midsummer Nights Dream Journal Essay

I am personally not a big fan of Shakespeare although by reviewing the play A Midsummer night’s dream, I’m starting to like Shakespeare’s different ideas and how most of his writing and plays involve falling in love and such. This play is mostly about four couples falling in love with the wrong person because they were potioned by a magic fairy in a forest. The setting of this play mostly took place at a forest and the time was night when the play reached its climax. In the beginning of the play, I felt like it was just one of those Shakespeare’s play where there are more dialogues than actions; but as the play keep progressing it started to get a little more intense and enjoyable to read more about the play to find out what might happen next. The part that i found to be really interesting is when the fairies put the magic potion on the wrong person’s eyelid’s and later on he woke up and fell in love with the first person he saw. That caused a lot of conflict where later in the play Hermia was jealous over helena due to the fact that both guy are going after her and challenges her to a fight. As the night progressed, Lysander who Hermia loved is chasing Helena because of the magic potion that was cast upon him and demeitrius. Later in the morning, the potion wore off but Demetrius kept his love for Helena. The production for this play is going to be epic in my opinion. I personally love plays that take plays in the nature such as the forest or somewhere in the wild. It gives the play a life of nature rather than the setting of the play being in a city or a suburb. The characters in this play are really interesting and due to their actions it seems that at a live production, they will give the audience what they are looking for. A midsummer Night’s dream is one of Shakespeare’s popular play which has been played in different cities and states with many different people who has a lot of experience with acting. In this play, some of the conversations were boring and unethical. I didn’t understand few of them and what the characters trying to say to each other until I looked them up on the internet. By reviewing this play, I believe the production would be really interesting to watch. The only thing I hate about Shakespeare’s play is the use of old English which many of us cannot understand. I don’t know for a fact if this play is going to be exciting but by reading the script I think it should be an interesting play to watch because of the setting. I like plays that take place at forests which brings in more adventure and excitement to the audience because they are expecting more from the environment and the characters.

Industrial Relations And Labour Studies Architecture Essay

The Penan is a mobile native that roamed on the land of Sarawak Bumi Kenyalang and some other parts on Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan. They are a extremely evolved classless society and small gender division. Man and adult females shared largely the jobs among them. Such as, garnering the forest merchandise and extracted sago from the sago thenar. But they are still some portion of jobs was male dominated. For illustration, hunting. The Penan practiced the rite of ‘Molong ‘ which means ‘never return more than necessary ‘ . That had made them the hunter-gatherers. Not every of the Penans are mobile hunter-gatherers. The present Penans are consisted with settled, semi-nomadic and entire mobile communities that to the full reliant to the wood merchandises. Presents, the figure of Penan had officially stated approximate to 10,000 people and around 350-500 of them are mobile that scattered over Ulu Baram, Limbang, Tutoh and Lawas of Sarawak. Normally the mobile Penan moves in group that consisted about 40 people included kids and old people. They do non stayed for a long clip in a peculiar topographic point. Once the resources at the topographic point that they stayed became fewer, they will take other suited topographic points and moved once more. ( Figures retrievedfrom:hypertext transfer protocol: //www.survival-international.org) I have to contract down the range to the group of mobile Penan that I would wish to analyze approximately. The mobile people that lived in the forest rely much on their traditional diet- Sago ( amylum from the Sago thenar ) . As the Penan people valued the environment so much, merely the matured and to the full adult sago thenar trees will be cut down. The leader will do certain an sum of sago starched plenty from a individual or a few sago thenar trees and kept adequately for their supply. After that no more sago thenar will be chop down until they are ran out of nutrient. Besides that, the Penan besides preys on meat. And the protein result in their day-to-day diet was contributed by largely wild Sus scrofas, mouse cervid and monkeys. The huntsmans Hunt by utilizing a blowtube, made with the Belian wood and carved out with a bone drill. The darts that they used are made from the sago thenar ‘s tree bark and on its tip ; the Penan dipped it with sort of powerful toxicant latex that extracted from a tree from the wood. However, their manner of life is about to alter due to the force per unit areas that forced them to accommodate the cultivation of seting and domestic animate being genteelness.Issue to lift:As the Real GDP ( gross domestic production ) growing in Malaysia since the twelvemonth of 1999 to 2007 had improved in great per centum, Malaysia authorities had put a tonss of affords on the lumber industry in Sarawak territory. Sarawak was blessed with tonss of valuable trees. The authorities puts a strong accent on the processing lumber that can maximise the local net incomes. It is believe vital to maintain up with the big demand from Japan, India and the Far East states. Ironically, logging seems to convey great blessings to the state, in Sarawak it destroys legion of sago thenar and consuming a huge country of rain forest that the Penan people lived in. Poorly planned logging trails had caused the issues of Earth eroding, landslides and the silting of watercourses happened. The state of affairs had affected the functional relation among the Penan and the wood. Once the large trees were removed, shortly the secondary bushy forest will take over the bare wood bed. Meat becomes difficult to track and fruits that used to be big go less abundant. The Penan is holding troubles in roll uping and runing their nutrient. Resistance from both the settled and nomads were fierce. The authorities faced a difficult clip from those natives. The Sarawak authorities had frequently stated to convey upon the issue and promised to offer development to the Penan. About all nomads Penan go up against with logging and it happened to be immense spread of swearing and understanding between the authorities and the Penan. The authorities puzzled why would anyone desire so much to populate in the jungle and trusting thoughtfully the Penan will comes to their senses. On the other manus, the Penan had lost faith in their authorities as more and more bulldozers driven through their forest. In their position, logging merely convey them catastrophes and they will lose it all if they move a measure rearward from their base on protecting the forest. What is more, at the same clip they see the pristine forest been tear down, holding their districts distorted into oil thenar and acacia plantations is a calamity. Anyhow, as now the Penan had come across the job, they have a pick to do. Shall they stand firmed on their rule and allow the resistance of deforestation continued or merely accept what the authorities had offered and worked in tandem to predominate societal harmoniousness and peace? Can they defy the Penan society to alter? Surely it is a difficult determination to do, there are excessively many valuable things will hold to waive and finally became memory. Harmonizing to Bilton T, Bonnet K and the bookmans,the diverseness and changeableness of societal constructions are a centre subject, together with the disclosure that human action can recast societal dealingss and establishments ; it reveals the human potency for release and originative societal Reconstruction. ( Introductory Sociology: 2nd edition, Bilton T, Bonnet K, Jones P, Stanworth M, Sheard K and Webster A. 1987. Mackays of Chatham PLC, Kent ) Harmonizing to the statement above, societal alterations that happened to the Penan folk was due to the ground of rewording and retracing into a broad and originative society. But the point that I want to reason here is- Does the folk want to alter? Considered upon the motivation that they fight over their rights on the land and the forest, I strongly doubted their willingness in altering their societal concept and their societal life. There was a cause that forced them to travel out from the jungle ; there was a cause to necessitate them to give up their nature root. And it is our responsibility to unveil the secret. Social alteration was defined as the clip when external events happened, such as war and conquering and civilization contact and diffusion, or environmental factors or internal events, such as inventions, innovation and population displacements harmonizing to Barbara Marliene S. & A ; Mary Ann A. Schwartz ( 2006 ) In this point of position, the society of Penan changed when development and wealth interfered. Some of them accepted it and follow a new life manner yet some resisted it and willing to pay any monetary value to defence their existent life. Yet, this diffusion, the spread of civilization traits from one society to another, is the inevitable consequence of contact between civilizations. With modern communicating engineerings making into the most distant corners of the Earth, the rate of diffusion has accelerated dramatically since the bend of the 20th century. ( Sociology: Making sense of the societal universe, 2nd edition, Barbara Marliene Scott & A ; Mary Ann A. Schwartz. 2006, Allyn and Bacon Pearson. ) The societal alteration of the Penan folk was occurred because of the civilization contact and diffusion harmonizing to the statement above. When the civilization of new economic bloom and the up raise national income due to timber industries scatter to the land Sarawak, the districts of the Penan folk was the chief locale to be affected. For illustration, big graduated table of logging operation encroach their land doing them to endure under the pollutions. Their H2O catchment countries were polluted with sediment supplanting, many sago thenars were lost ; wild Sus scrofa, cervid and other game became scarce, the fruit trees and medical specialty purposed herb were difficult to happen. Therefore, their epinephrine prepared them to contend or flight. The consequence of societal alteration among the Penan is staying negative in footings of the authorities position. The Penan chose to contend. For illustration, many encirclements were set up in effort to halt logging operations on their land. Unfortunately, the attempts were difficult to transport on and the state of affairs turns bad with huge graduated table of clangs between the autochthonal community and the province supported logging company. For illustration, SamLing Corporation, lead by CEO Yew Chee Ming, COO James Ho Yam Kong. In association with the honest main curate ‘s privilege company known as STIDC. The Malayan Timber Certificate Council ( MTCC ) had granted the companies with a logging grant. It is average that they have the power to log even on the land that traditionally inhabited by the natives of Sarawak. Apart from the ground of civilization diffusion, the societal alteration that happened among the Penan was due to the cause of demographic tendencies. That is to state every birth, decease, and migration rates can impact the size and composing of a population, which in bend, can hold a major impact on a society.Barbara Marliene Scott& A ; Mary Ann A. Schwartz ( 2006 ) .For illustration, scarceness of nutrient and taint of environment. Presents, the Penan is covering with the exact jobs that I have stated above. Their nutrient becomes difficult to achieve and the inhabited environment was contaminated. These sorts of state of affairs makes their life in the jungle becomes tough and unease. On the other manus, the member in the group is keep diminishing due to migration. Migration refers to the motion of people into or out of a geographical country ( Barbara S & A ; Mary A, 2006 ) . This is to state, many child who grew up in the mobile group choose to travel out from the community and headed to the life manner in the metropolis. The birth rate in the group becomes lesser and lesser as the immature people instead choose a partner from the metropolis than they own people that stayed in the group. As clip base on ballss, merely old coevals and some few immature people will remain on. Finally, their group will turn out to be a smaller group and possibly faded off. It was non something surprise with the reactions that the mobile presented. Harmonizing to Barbara S & A ; Mary A ( 2006 ) ,the behaviour that is likely to emerge in such state of affairs is called corporate behaviour, the comparatively self-generated and unstructured behaviour engagevitamin D in by big Numberss of people who are responding to a common stimulation. ( Sociology: 2nd edition, doing sense of the societal universe. Pg63. 2006. Barbara Marliene Scott & A ; Mary Ann A. Schwartz. Allyn and Bacon Pearson ) The corporate behaviours that the Penan folk had were the attitude that they had shown. Such as, the confrontations with the logging companies and the encirclements that they had made. Corporate behaviours take many signifiers. Some are short-period, self-generated and unstructured. But some are durable, formalistic and well-planned. The signifier the Penan folk used to oppose their dissension was categorized in the center, which is societal motion. It tends to be long -lasting because it has to accomplish a certain end of altering societal order in some cardinal method. For case, the leaders of the Penan folk have a good organized program to achieve their end of continuing their rights on the land. They even met with Al-Gore and Prince Charles sing to their jobs. Harmonizing to Barbara Marliene Scott & A ; Mary Ann A. Schwartz, 2006 in Sociology 2nd edition-making sense of the societal universe, contemn the tremendous power of social establishments and other societal forces against the control of persons, formal organisations of single activism are frequently important to societal alteration and can sometimes agitate the foundation of a society. Such has been the instance with assorted actions that had taken to demo their dissatisfaction, including the protesting that brought upon the media and how the folk fought against the political power and obtained the opportunities to talk out to the universe. In my sentiment, the ways that the Penan took in protesting their disfavor was in the in-between portion of corporate behaviour and societal motion. It is non every bit well-structural as the societal motion because of their by and large free-form attack. Apart from that, it does non involved big Numberss of people. Compares to societal motion, t he manner that the Penan acquired was merely engaged comparatively little sum of people, such as their leaders and alders. It besides consisted a end ; a ground to contend for. So, it can besides be said a end oriented corporate behaviour. But, by deriving the impulse in their opposition and expostulation, they are to state a little measure from becomes societal motion and possibly, it might win in the hereafter!Decision:As everyone can see, societal alteration is non a little affair. Many facets in life have to be considered. Individual, groups, communities are loath to alter and confronting large battle to set from the life manner and conditions that they had used with. At the same clip the society have to differ themselves to keep existing conditions. For case, as jersey and denim has been introduced to the Penan, they have ever preferred chawat. However, when the clip has come, alterations have to be done. Conflicts and contradictions will happen within the procedure for certain . The Penan resists change because of their romanticized impression of traditional values and â€Å" the good old yearss † . ( Barbara S, Mary A, 2006 ) For illustration, the Penan people valued their forest home ground and their traditional rites really much, they like to bathe in the river ; they enjoyed the hunting activities ; they have used to every trees in the jungle. The fright of losing each of them caused them hesitated to have alterations. Not merely that, mobile Penan resists alterations merely merely because of inactiveness ; they have becomes complacent, even if their lives are far less than ideal. ( Barbara S, Mary A, 2006 ) Changes required people to make something different, and it may do a batch of uncomfortableness. Often, the leaders who accept the legitimacy of position quo would likely defy alterations the most. This is because with the credence, it might coerce them to reconsider the genuineness in the old society that used to specify their full intent and power. They might besides afraid of losing their people Black Marias and their prestigiousness in the society to the present authorities. Some mobile Penan refuses to accept alterations due to the miscommunication and misinformation. ( Barbara S, Mary A, 2006 ) . For illustration, the Penan regarded the present authorities as something bad, and they are bad in the context of infiltrated their land and infringed on their rights. It was clearly shown with the logging systems. During the stay of Bruce Parry, the leaders came from afar merely to inquire Bruce to direct their message to the authorities of British so that they can take over the authorities once more. They felt ferocious and anguish towards the Sarawak authorities ‘s making. Affords to advance societal alteration expected to see opposition been provoked as there will ever be person who do non derive anything or lost something if non everything due to the procedure of alterations. So, the phenomenon of the Penan opposition is natural and it is common if they persisted in their expostulation. Personally to state, the 1 who in charge of the forestation in Sarawak should hold been more justness to the people. Government should be the listening ear for the people non the taking manus. Merely the righteous authorities can last everlastingly in the people Black Marias.Mentions:hypertext transfer protocol: //www.survival-international.orgIntroductory Sociology: 2nd edition, Bilton T, Bonnet K, Jones P, Stanworth M, Sheard K and Webster A. 1987. Mackays of Chatham PLC, KentSociology: 2nd edition, doing sense of the societal universe. Pg63. 2006. Barbara Marliene Scott & A ; Mary Ann A. Schwartz. Allyn and Bacon Pearson

Practical vs. Theoretical essays

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