by H. Muhammad
I am not a Mak Yong lover nor Kelantan born. But to me 'Mak Yong' dance performance is a traditional artform, which is unique to, and synonimous with Kelantan. To ban the artform would mean a lost to Kelantanese cultural identity and traditional heritage. I don't know for sure the reasons why in the early 90’s they (Kelantan government) banned the artform, but I feel there should be better ways to handle the issues.
If the decision made to ban the artform was due to the Mak Yong's storyline, which they (PAS) deemed as propagating 'myth and superstitions' and therefore against PAS ideals, they should've considered other options. One of it would be to persuade the performers to change the storyline to one that suits the PAS ideals. I don't see the need to ban the artform altogether. Perhaps they could suggest the performers to come up with a religious storyline instead, such as the story of 'Isra Mi'raj', the night Muhammad PBUH ascended to heaven on Buraq.
If the ban is due to the act of women dancing, they should've given directives to Mak Yong performers that only men dancers are allowed. Again I don't see the need to totally ban the artform. I personally feel it'll be a lost to the richness of diversity in the Malay cultures particularly the Kelantanese traditional art and culture.
If the decision to ban Mak Yong for the purpose of guarding the 'aqidah' of its people against 'un-Islamic animistic' elements of influence, they should realize that historically despite such restriction on the artform, Islam managed to flourish. It was the beauty of the religion itself, which had appealed to the Malays at that time. And PAS hadn't even existed during the time Islam made its way into the Malay Peninsula. Seriously, I don't see how Mak Yong performance could ever be a threat to Muslims aqidah or revert them back to their old animistic belief.
But still, I can’t stop wondering why the need to ban such beautiful cultural art form. Who benefits? What’s the motive, if there’s any, and what would it be? Why is there a need to outcast Mak Yong as ‘decadent’ culture in an impudent manner while preaching and propagating their (PAS) ‘preferred cultural ideology’ to the masses? Why can’t they embrace diversity in its truest form? It’s mind boggling, that some (majority of Kelantanese) agreed with this disadvantageous partiality, why?
Let’s look into the land ‘they banned Mak Yong’ and seek for answers.
It is obvious to see a dichotomy of ‘perceived’ levels of class-consciousness: the upper spiritual level (ulama) lead, rule and guide, while the lower subjects submissively follow. The former monopolize knowledge, and instill ‘favoured cultural ideals’. They (ulama PAS) achieve this by setting a spiritual paradigm, which encompasses all aspects of living. The latter (follower) abide to these set of rules faithfully and continuously strive to support and maintain this complex structure — the structure that was built upon ‘perceived levels of spirituality (religious conviction) with foundation based on subliminal inequality and mental oppression. And that is the complex structure of mind domination.
In the early 90’s the decision made to label and then ban what was deemed as the ‘decadent culture’, was a strategic pre-emptive political move fuelled by conservative ideological ideals that set a foundation to speed up the process towards ‘preferred culture’ ideology. This was the preliminary phase — ‘purifying’ phase. The propagandists from upper ‘spiritual class’ started to indoctrinate the masses to submit to the ideology. They started to broadcast through loud speakers ‘ceramah’ in every ‘wakaf’ and village from dawn till past sunset. Not to forget, such broadcast could also be heard from every street side corners of what now is declared as the Islamic city. All these were sheer moves to manifest power and send clear message to the people in its subtlest form of who is in control.
It is quite obvious to some that in this class and caste structure lies insensibility that characterized the social structure of the ‘Master’ and the ‘Subjugator’. The latter, who are submissive, has been ‘culturalized’ into an active medium for spreading the ‘preferred cultural ideology’. The upper spiritual class who now have the means will continue to dominate the docile minds so that the present and future generations will not be able to critically reflects and decide for themselves on issues/situation. They (the follower) prefer to be dictated even on the matters of personal faith and aqidah. In the end, these happily subjugated docile minds will be the force that continues to support and maintain the ideology and the power of their ‘masters’ with the objective of preserving this complex structure.
Considering the above, it wouldn’t be hard to conclude why the need to ban, and who benefits from all this. Is it not obvious who are ‘the dominator’ and ‘the dominated’ in this complex structure of domination? Who employ this skilful utilization and exploitation tool of mind domination? In this era where religion and politics are complexly intertwined, political parties produce discourses to legitimise their strategies and goals. This is a clear example of how religion is exploited as a pawn that underpins political logic and camouflage political objectives.
Thia article is actually in response to an article in Malaysiakini. It can be viewed here;
http://azlyrahman-illuminations.blogspot.com/2006/05/reader-pesponse-mak-yong.html
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Kelantan may allow mak yong
By IAN MCINTYRE
KOTA BARU: The mak yong, frowned upon by the Kelantan Government for its alleged anti-Islamic elements, may see its fortunes revived following the state government’s more-agreeable stance towards the art.
State executive councillor Datuk Anuar Tan Abdullah said the state government would approve mak yong performances only if they contain Islam-friendly elements.
“It must be a revised version and not one that contains anti-Islamic elements,” he said, referring to the continuous appeal by the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry to revive the Malay dance theatre in Kelantan.
Last month, in an attempt to gain more support to its cause, the ministry held a performance in a closed-enclosure in Tumpat.
“The ministry can hold it. I understand it’s a revised version and not the traditional type that centres on fantasy.
“It is a version that the state government can accept,” he said.
Anuar and Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat had attended a ministry-organised cultural event on Saturday that was also graced by Sultan of Kelantan Tuanku Ismail Petra and Raja Perempuan Besar of Kelantan Tengku Anis Tengku Abdul Hamid.
The four-hour event, atop a giant stage, showcased various fusions of dikir barat and gendang perdana, supported by performances by Akademi Fantasia 2 winner Zahid and folk artiste Zainal Abidin.
At the end of the programme, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim told reporters that a planned RM15mil cultural park here would be able to feature the mak yong if it met the state’s approval.
“I do not see any problem. We did the performance in Tumpat and it did not run against the local by-laws,” he said.
Dr Rais said mak yong, recognised by Unesco as a world heritage performing art, would be showcased soon in London as part of the ministry’s move to expose Malaysia’s rich cultural and performing arts heritage to the world.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/5/8/nation/14178742&sec=nation
A view from US professor on Mak Yong.I think it was a bit crazy and didn't make sense at all.
Who does Mak Yong serve?
Azly Rahman
http://www.malaysiakini.com
Apr 10, 06 12:10pm
I have always wondered why the traditional highbrow art form called Mak Yong was banned in the Islamic state of Kelantan.
I have also asked this: who do the court dances or tarian istana serve? The dichotomy is obvious: the dancers dance and the king and the queen get entertained. There is a class relationship forged, harmoniously.
But there is a deep structure of inert insensibility, imprisonment, and inequality underneath - one that characterises the world of the dominator and the dominated, of the powerful and the powerless. Beneath this lies the
structural violence to be preserved. It is about power, knowledge, and ideology. There is a class and caste dichotomy at play.
The one seated owns the means of intellectual, cultural, and economic production the one serenading are the cultural workers enslaved by the
system build as a ‘culture’. The one performing the act is preserving this complex structure of domination.
I had one vivid cultural experience.
Growing up as a child in Johor Bahru I was always mesmerised by the kuda kepang dance and marvelled at the fact that, through dance and mantras,
thinking and feeling human beings can evolve into horses. I actually
saw the dancer, in trance, fed with what looked like flower petals-salad for
Malaysian horses, perhaps.
The enslaved mind is the one of the kuda kepang dancer, the owner of the enslaved mind is the guru/bomoh/shaman who owns the mantra (know-how) of domination. The pieces of flower petals become the opium.
Now that I am deeply involved in the study and the teaching of some
aspects of the theories of mind control, state-inspired totalitarianism, and
structures of hegemony, I think I have some answers to the question I posed on the Mak Yong.
My search for answers on Mak Yong and the tarian istana brought me to the terrains of post-structuralist theories of language and symbolic power and the role of art in the development or retardation of human onsciousness.
Whether one watches Mak Yong, Mawi (photo) or M Daud Kilau, or istens
to Led Zeppelin or Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, the impact of mental colonisation can be explained.
What is the perfect state of human liberation? How must one walk as a
free person individually and culturally?
How do cultures control those enculturalised? Through what means are the human mind controlled? Who does ‘cultural transmission’ serve?
"Culture of mind control"
The cybernetics and poetics of mind control is not difficult to
understand. Research findings in the neurolinguistic programming aspect of brain functioning tell us how the human mind can be conditioned to alter
perception. This is done through the process of numbing of the senses and by the manipulating the alpha-beta-delta-theta waves. This process contributes to the setting the stage for the production of the conditions of mentaldomination.
Step outside of ourselves. Watch a 30-second television commercial and observe how we get gladly glued to the mind-controlling machine and analyse
how much the brain cells get excited and bombarded by the split-second messages and images. These images will be imprinted into the
consciousness that will help the mind become conditioned to be reconfigured to suit the
needs of those who attempt to dominate.
Look at the advertising billboards around us - on our streets and in
the physical and mental landscapes of the world surrounding us.
Why are they there? What and who do they glorify? What impact on the humanconsciousness are the producers of these images trying to create?
Elements of culture are like synapses that bind the message linking the producer and the consumer. One becomes addicted to the junk produced on Malaysian television, be they entertainment, infotainment, talk shows,
or cleverly biased documentaries.
Cultural artifacts are the markers of identification that demarcates
the classes of people. They become manifestations of the structure of
economic dominance created in society. They amplify the idea of feudalism.
The ancient feudal state continues to be transformed into the modern
state and next into the post-industrial neo-colonialist state that witness the collaboration between state and international actors conveniently called
‘glocalists’ (global-local entrepreneurial matrix).
"High culture and hegemony"
Mak Yong mesmerises the masses into thinking that this is the reality of culture of their spiritual lives they are constructed by. It is ntertainment for the masses, like wayang kulit or the plays based on the
Ramayana and Mahabharatha, that has been enculturalised and Malayanised as medium of spreading the ‘propaganda’ of those who owns the means of producing propaganda.
In Southeast Asia, we see for example, the enculturalisation of the Ramayana - in the shadow and non-shadow puppet plays of Indonesia, Malaysia,
Thailand, Vietnam, and Kampuchea. They preserve the cultural tradition of the epic, preserving the cultural contradiction built into the complex matrix of supernatural-ideological informational code of cultural
continuity. In other words, they preserve the life-force of mental
domination.
Propaganda is produced by institutions build to create what the Italian thinker Antonio Gramsci called "hegemony" or the intellectual leadership
that makes cultural and class oppression seems natural and pleasurable
Those who owns the means to mentally oppress will produced modern versions of artifacts of high culture in the form of the "preservation of tradition",
without realising that it is this transformation of ancient etishism
into post-modern fetishism that facilitates the imprisonment of the docile mind of the masses and makes them happily indoctrinated into the ideology of submission.
Aristotle banished the poets. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) warned
against the hegemony produced by the poets. Mao ZeDong created a
counter-revolutionary
plan of action to educate the masses of the continuing dangers of sublime influence of counter-revolutionary movement in the form of ancient Chinese
culture that particularly glorifies Confucianism and promotes filial piety.
One needs to read the work of French existentialists and the debates of the function of art to understand the nature of cultural domination and how they create the ‘authoritarian self’.
Our nation needs such a debate.
"Cultural revolution needed"
Paulo Freire, the Brazilian educator writes about "cultural action for freedom" and to ask people to think of how language structures our reality
and creates the structure of domination.
Education for critical consciousness is needed. We need to teach people how culture is produced and how artifacts, rituals, and reproduction of
these imprison or liberate the human mind. We need to deconstruct the inner working of the minds of those in ‘state-sponsored cultural
institutions’ that continue to push ‘preferred cultural ideologies’ onto the masses
so that the latter will continue to support institutions and maintain hegemony,
power, ideology and control in the subtlest of all ways.
In this age of Malaysian mentally-damaging reality television shows, we need to teach our children how the broadcast and digital revolution has helped
speed up the process of transmission of ‘decadent cultures’ that ‘numbs
the human mind’ so that the children of this generation will not be able to
critically reflect upon the forces that are carpet-bombing their
senses.
Today's television is pervasive in the way it colonises the Malay,
Chinese, Indian, Bangladeshi and the mind of any nation. One can see for example in the way old Malay movies are produced; how myths are turned into award-seeking motion pictures.
The character of the unthinking and unethical feudal slave-warrior Hang Tuah is now played by pan-Asian looking actors that "mystify and mask" the mentally-paralysing feudal culture and produce yet another artifactual-cultural-dynamics trajectoried in the age of digital broadcast -
all with the intention of transforming mental colonisation into its highest art-nouveau-est form. This is a complex phenomena of what perhaps cultural
critic Walter Benjamin would call, culture of domination in the "age of mechanical reproduction".
It is an absurd situation but can be explained to the masses in simple terms- that propagandists of high culture conspire to reproduce domination sothat the docile mind will continue to be docile and will fail to
reflect upon the crisis of the subject and the object inherent in the field/habitus of cultural contradiction. A docile mind is also good for the state and
modern Malaysian media corporation to funnel useless information.
Culture is never static. A dynamic culture is one that is always
undergoing evolution or even revolution.Must we remain in the superstitious and violent-subconscious realm when
our mind needs to be freed to evolve into the greater Spiritual Heights - beyond those of the libidinal and cerebral.
Cultural preservers of Malaysia I ask you this: Who does Mak Yong and all forms of tarian istana really serve? Must we let these genre survive?
No wonder most American voted Bush as their president.
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