Meet orang asli hero Bah Luj
Ahead of the Selangor International Indigenous Arts Festival this weekend, an academician shares how tales of a folk hero have been recorded in print and sound in an effort to preserve orang asli culture and language.
MOST Malaysians are aware of famous Malay folk tales such as “Puteri Gunung Ledang”, “Bawang Putih, Bawang Merah” and “Batu Belah Batu Bertangkup”. Orang asli tales are less well known, with the story of Puteri Santubong from Sarawak being, arguably, the most famous.
The stories of Bah Luj, though, are almost unheard of nowadays. Bah Luj is a heroic figure among the Semai orang asli in Peninsular Malaysia and could be as old as the earliest inhabitants to traverse this country centuries ago.
The basic story goes like this: Bah Luj is the youngest of seven children. He is born small-sized and ugly, and suffers terribly from scabies. The boy strives to overcome his lack of physical aesthetics by constantly increasing his knowledge and improving his skills in shamanism and mysticism.
He is naturally talented and good luck is always on his side. Guniq, or spirit guides, from the supernatural world often approach him to be their earthly friend. In return for his friendship, these guniq aid Bah Luj in outwitting enemies, casting spells and healing sicknesses.
Semai children used to fall asleep at night listening to the heroic adventures of Bah Luj dramatised by Semai storytellers. Each storyteller would integrate his daily experiences in the rainforest – such as hunting, gathering edible flora, fishing, and encountering strangers and exchanging goods – as well as his own worldviews and customs into new adventures of Bah Luj.
In 2016, the Malaysian Institute of Translation and Books (in Malay, Institut Penterjemahan Buku Malaysia or ITBM) and Penerbit Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) published four stories about Bah Luj and his adventures.
The first story, titled Bah Luj And The Evil Spirit, tells how Bah Luj outwits an evil spirit disguised as “Old Granny Hunchback”. The evil spirit manages to trick many orang asli villagers into climbing the cupu tree and plucking its fruit. Cupu is a very sour native fruit that grows on huge trees in the rainforest.
In the second story, Bah Luj And His Brothers, Bah Luj’s brothers conspire to kill him because they want his beautiful wife for themselves. With the help of his guniq, Bah Luj manages to deceive his brothers and ruin their plans. In this story, Bah Luj and his brothers fish for local fish such as tengas, senangin and kelah. Traditionally, orang asli use treated roots from the tuba tree to intoxicate the fish, a sustainable method of fishing.
The third story, Bah Luj And The Seven Bataks, delves into how Bah Luj, aided again by his guniq, tricks and traps the seven men from the Batak tribe who destroyed his family. Bah Luj squeezes juice from perah, a sour jungle fruit, to marinate the cikah (monkey) meat served to the Bataks.
In the fourth story, Bah Luj And The Garuda, Bah Luj helps the sultan to kill the garuda, a legendary bird-like creature with seven heads. To show his gratitude the pleased sultan gives his daughter’s hand in marriage to Bah Luj.
Stories of Bah Luj can educate us about Malaysia’s native flora and fauna as well as provide a diversity in worldviews. They connect us with Semai history and local experiences that are intertwined and reinterpreted in folk tales.
The CDs that accompany these books are the audio narration of the folk tales in three languages: Semai, English and Malay. The narration is also accompanied by background music inspired by traditional Semai instrumental and folk tunes.
Five researchers from UPSI collaborated to produce these books. The books are based on their research titled “Constructing A Model For An Orang Asli Animation Series: Performing Arts, Indigenous Wisdom And Folktales Communicated Through New Media” that was funded by the Higher Education Ministry’s exploratory research grant scheme from 2012-2014.
These folk tales are derived from adapted versions of the folktales told to the researchers by two Semai/Temuan storytellers: Bah Kang Bah Mat from Kampung Bukit Terang in Kampar, Perak, and Harun Isa from Kampung Serigala, Ulu Bernam, Selangor.
The UPSI team comprised this writer and Assoc Prof Dr Mohd Nizam Nasrifan and Mohd Azam Sulong from the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts, and Dr Loy Chee Luen from the Faculty of Human Development. A now retired Semai expert, Dr Juli Edo, from Universiti Malaya, also assisted in interpreting these folk tales.
The stories were recorded in Semai and Malay by Mahat China, a Semai novelist who was formerly a DJ at RTM’s Asyik FM. They have also been translated into English.
The illustrations in the books were drawn and painted by Pandak Basri Kana, a Semai artist from Kampung Tangkai Cermin, Tanjung Tualang, Perak.
These four folk tales can be purchased at ITBM or UPSI bookstores. They can also be bought online at itbm.com.my/shop and at penerbit. upsi.edu.my/seni.html where they are available at the discounted price of RM28 each (normal price RM35).
A chapter titled “Indigenous Semai Folktales Presented In Digital Media: Negotiating ‘Authenticity’ And Innovations Through Collaborative Fusion Of Indigenous Agency And Academic Knowledge” has been written on this research in the book Sustainability In Music And Performing Arts: Heritage, Education And Performance published by UPSI.
In 2015, these books won the gold award at the International Conference and Exposition on Inventions by Institutions of Higher Learning competition at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
Readers can watch a trailer about the books at tinyurl.com/ star2-bahluj.
For additional information, contact the writer at 05-450 6725 or clarechan23@gmail.com.
The Selangor International Indigenous Arts Festival will take place on Aug 4-5 from 10am to 5pm at the Shah Alam Botanical Park.
Assoc Prof Dr Clare Suet Ching Chan was Deputy Dean (Research & Innovation) of the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris from 2011 to 2017.