Puppet masters: (from left) Siti Nur Hanisah, Mohd Azirul Haiqal, Sonia, Nur Zarith Masyitah and Nydia posing with their props.
WHEN five students at Keningau Vocational College, Sabah, were presented with an opportunity to take part in an online art competition, they decided to bring an old Sabahan tale to life through a puppet show. Their two-week-long effort bore fruit when they bagged the first prize at the International Festival Online Competition Art Marathon in Germany organised by Monolit Festivals recently.
In their puppet show, the 18-year-olds – comprising Siti Nur Hanisah Omar, Sonia Ivana Jack, Nydia Natasha Jefrin, Mohd Azirul Haiqal Mohd Azri and Nur Zarith Masyitah SH Zaludih, all of whom are pursuing the early childhood education course at the institution – presented a story that was adapted from a Sabahan folk tale originated in Papar.
“This was one of the popular tales in several districts of Sabah that has been spread through myth.
“Sadly, it has become a part of our culture that we are just losing along the way,” Sonia told StarEdu.
The story entitled Innocent Tricksters chronicles a healer’s encounter with an old man who is actually the Crocodile King in disguise.
The latter and his species possess the ability to shapeshift from crocodiles to humans at will.
The old man’s daughter has fallen ill so he begs the healer, whose name is Mekau Serin, to tend to his daughter’s ailments.
Not long after she is cured, Mekau Serin’s village people go into battle against the species. Finally, the Crocodile King is killed at the hands of Mekau Serin. In his last breath, the Crocodile King vows to hunt down every last human without mercy.
It is a tale that has been used to explain why crocodiles behave so aggressively towards humans.
“I love the way they adapted a local folk tale that most do not know,” said the team’s English language teacher Dr Sirhajwan Idek. “This competition gave them the means to express their creativity and encourage them to learn more about our cultural heritage. “This helps to preserve our folklore and authentic tales that have been fading from the fabric of our modern society,” he added.
In coming up with the puppet show, the team, led by Siti Nur Hanisah, not only fell back on their cultural knowledge, but also took the Earth’s environment into consideration.
Instead of making or buying new puppets for the show, they made the puppets using recycled materials such as unused fabric and Siti Nur Hanisah’s broken childhood toys – an effort which teammate Sonia described as “such a great way to be eco-friendly and save money at the same time”.
“We never thought of winning this competition. We are so happy that all our hard work paid off,” said Sonia, adding that the team learnt the significance of teamwork and cooperation through their participation.
According to Sirhajwan, modern-day education should incorporate more performing, literary and visual arts.
“I feel that the arts tend to be overlooked with more people prioritising science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and academics, but it has the power to play a big role in nurturing students’ self-expression, confidence, individuality and cultural appreciation.
“Being artistic and passionate about something outside of mandatory school lessons should be emphasised just as much as scoring perfect grades,” he said.
“In every student, there is a performer, a writer and an artist, and these students have proven this further,” he added.
College director Christine Stanislaus Kinsik @ Christina expressed delight in the creativity shown by the team in the competition held on Jan 10, adding that the activity was aligned with the syllabus of the vocational programme that they had enrolled in at the college.
She also expressed hope that more students would venture into art-based projects in order to hone their artistic talents.
Alyson, 17, a student in Kuala Lumpur, is a participant of the BRATs Young Journalist Programme run by The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (Star-NiE) team. To join Star-NiE’s online youth community, go to facebook.com/niebrats.
