4/23/2015 Many parts, one whole. Because we care.By: Khoo Yi Feng Edited by: Wee Min Er On 13 March 2015, many parts came together to form a whole, the Southeast Asian Studies Society’s annual event, the Southeast Asian (SEA) Night 2015. Associate Professor Itty Abraham kicked off the event by asking the audience to question Singapore’s position in the Southeast Asian region. This question is especially timely since Singapore is celebrating its 50th birthday. In this jubilee year, the society was truly blessed with the strong support from the folks at SG50 and NUS110 for the SEA Night 2015. How do you see Singapore contributing to and benefiting from this region? SEA Night 2015 came alive with Dr. Johnson Irving’s witty rendition of Nang Talung, a form of shadow puppetry popular in the Buddhist regions of Southern Thailand. Better known to students as Dr. J, the unorthodox, fun-loving, talented, creative and much loved SE1101E teacher added a contemporary twist. Amidst the traditional Thai music and dancing puppets, he injected jokes, peppering the dialogue with Singlish words and related the performance to the NUS context. It got the audience cracking up that set the tone for the night; it was a joyous and light-hearted night where our beloved lecturers, undergraduates and guests enjoyed the cultural feast. Moving from Southern Thailand to Indonesia, the NUS Singa Nglaras Gamelan Ensemble graced the stage. With melodious beats and three traditional tunes, Dr. Jan Mrazek and Mr. Thow Xin Wei led the gamelan team to deliver a musical feast for the ears. Gamelan originated from Java and Bali and is made up mainly of percussive instruments. Any SEAsian show will not be complete without a gamelan performance. Pak Jan (as he is more affectionately known as by students) impressed the crowd with his serious devotion to the art. Mr. Khaizuran Ahmad, the head of the Perguruan Seligi Tunggal Angkatan Singapura swooped into action next. Through the short 15 minutes stage time, he skillfully showcased the deadly but aesthetically refined Pencak Silat style of his school. Beginning with the demonstration of his trademark bunga-bunga, a set of movements, he opened the stage for his students, where Ms. Elina Lee demonstrated jurusan, another set of movements, before Di Di and Iryshed treated the audience to a visual feast of vigorous but carefully choreographed sparring. Just as we thought the exhilarating performance had winded to a satisfying close, a challenger appeared! Decked in Kendo armour, the Japanese samurai warrior, of the department's lecturer Dr. Effendy, stormed the stage to challenge Mr. Khaizuran, the Silat pendekar. A nail-biting battle ensued, neffendy-wrecking indeed! It ended in a draw between the two masters, suggesting that the duel might have "to be continued". Amidst the blood-curling kiai shouts and spectacular clashes, the audience was visibly enthralled. Some were even imitating the moves! After an intense clash between two titans, the Department of Southeast Asia (SEAD)’s very own band, Crossroads, took to the stage and enchanted the audience with tunes from different SEAsian countries! One key person that brought the band together is definitely Dr. Arafat. As the Student Advisor of the Society, he led by example in scouting performers, coordinating practices and realizing the dream of having a SEA band. From a Thai folk song, to Indonesian pop star Shae’s “Sayang”, to Singaporean Indie band Shirley Nair and the Unexpected’s “You’re the Boy”, the audience grooved to the songs. The backstage crew even lip-synched and danced heartily along to the tunes! The major requirement of learning a new Southeast Asian language definitely helped in making this possible. Such is truly the talent, versatility and diversity that SEA majors celebrate! Of course, any SEA night will not be complete without the beautiful ladies wearing the elegant Ao Dai from Vietnam! Blessed by the support by the Vietnamese Community in NUS (VNC NUS), the audience was treated to a Vietnamese special, the Non La Ao Dai Dance! It was an especially poignant moment since the Community was celebrating their 15th year anniversary. The dance transitions as the song, “Que Huong Ba Mien” by Quang Le, takes the audience from the North of Vietnam to the Central, then to the South. The song title signifies hometown in three regions, where the culture and accent changes as you would experience travelling through the country. As the night was less young, the NUS Malay Studies Society (MSS) brought the event to a gentler pace with a poetry recital from three prolific Malay writers from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, namely; Mohammed Latiff Mohammed, Usman Awang and W.S. Rendra. SEASS appreciate the steadfast support by MSS! The SEAD look forward to more collaboration so as to learn more about the region together! It was apt that SEA night ended with a poignant question of “What does Southeast Asian Studies mean to you?” posed to various parties by Graphics and Design Director Nadzirah Halim. She presented the responses in an entertaining video form. Through the video, the audience saw many parts come together to form one whole. While the SEAD's interests and intentions in studying this region may differ, one thing's for sure, we care about this region we call home. What about you? What does Southeast Asia mean to you? How can we contribute to the growth of this region? The society is very grateful to all who took time out of their busy schedules to join us at this event, and we hope to see more of you in our SEA night next year!
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July 2015
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