Remembering ancestors with rituals, music and food

Camera-shy: Tourists and visitors at the Ari Muyang ceremony on Pulau Carey take the opportunity to snap photos with a masked dancer during a break in the celebrations.

THE prayers and worship had started two days before, but the third day was when the Mah Meri’s Ari Muyang, or Ancestors’ Day, was open to the public to view their rituals.

In a wooden hut in Kampung Sungai Bumbun’s clearing on Pulau Carey, Selangor, the medium or wakil moyang, and his assistants were busy laying out food offerings in front of four carved figurines.

Three of these had black cloth tied around them, while the central figurine was in yellow.

Outside, cane poles with similar black, yellow and white cloth strips had been stuck into the soil by the medium.

Mah Meri traditional musicians performing for the crowd as part of the Ari Muyang celebrations. – Photos: VINCENT TAN/The Star

The black-clothed figures are supposed to represent panglimas (warriors) and keep away evil spirits which might disrupt the ceremony, while yellow represents blessings, and white, holiness or purity.

Besides the offerings, each household also brought a specific offering of a bowl of steamed yellow glutinous rice, with a boiled egg in the middle, to lay before the figurines, and only once all the households were present, would the blessings begin.

Raman Kasim, 60, is the wakil moyang who communicates with the ancestors’ and receives their answers to supplicants over the three days.

He blesses them by dipping a brush made of leaves into tepung tawar — a paste of rice flour, crushed flower petals, serai and pandan and smearing the mixture over their foreheads and forearms.

Mah Meri villagers and visitors taking part in a potluck after the main dances and musical performances in Kampung Sungai Bumbun, Pulau Carey.

Those who come usually ask the ancestors for help and guidance on various things, said Raman, from finding a partner, to getting blessed with a child or help with problems.

“The only thing people cannot ask is the lottery numbers-lah,” Raman laughingly said, emphasising the seriousness of the taboo.

Meanwhile, the dancers and musicians, mostly clad in grass skirts and bark-cloth, had begun performing for the crowd who had been arriving even before 9am.

The Mah Meri folk that StarMetro interviewed said it would always take place one month after Chinese New Year, which also allowed the villagers enough time to gather the money and resources to finance the three-day event.

“We gather to remember our ancestors, and also to appease them, so that they do not come and disturb us at our other festivals,” said Rosiah Kengkeng.

Even though the environment had changed, she added, traditions were still kept.

As part of the blessing ritual before visitors line up to seek help or counsel from the ancestors, Raman uses a grass brush to smear tepung tawar on different items, such as the ancestor figurines inside the shrine.

“Last time, there used to be streams and forests here, but it has all been replaced by oil palm plantations,” said Rosiah.

Julidah Uju and Maznah Minyan, both senior performers with the Kampung Bumbun music troupe, said they were worried about the future of Pulau Carey and its villagers.

News of a planned port and industrial city complex on the island, said Julidah, had her fearful that the their way of life might not survive development for long.

“For us Mah Meri, the forest has always provided for our needs.

“If we need leaves and what not for our ceremonies, we just need to go in to the forest, but that has all been replaced by plantations, so we have to go in further,” said Julidah, who now sings with the troupe.

Mah Meri woman tying on traditional decorations made of leaves

“But what happens when all the heavy vehicles and trucks start coming in?” Maznah added.

Subang resident Tennyson Lee returns frequently during Ari Muyang ceremonies to photograph and document the event, which is only open for visitors at Kampung Sungai Bumbun.

“When I heard about the port project, I made sure to come today, so that I could document this event before it totally disappears,” said Lee, who has returned at least a couple of times before to witness the ceremony.

Raman Kasim and a Kampung Sungai Bumbun villager poke in short poles with white, yellow and black cloth strips, to bring in blessings and ward away bad spirits during the Ari Muyang ceremony.

Just like Julidah and Maznah, Rashid Esa, who worked with the Mah Meri to start up the Mah Meri Cultural Village, observed that once development were to take place, the Mah Meri on Pulau Carey could lose their unique cultural practices that distinguished them from their brethren on the mainland.

“Once development on a large scale sets in, events such as the beach ceremony, the Pujuk Pantai, will be no more, and at least three villages could be affected, including Kampung Sungai Kurau, because it’s in the middle of the 100 sq km development,” he added.