KUALA LUMPUR: The 29th SEA Games opening ceremony showcased a cultural extravaganza that acknowledged the various cultures in Malaysia and the other South-East Asian nations. It was a spectacular show of lights as well as song and dance.
It all began in a dark stadium when an Orang Asal came into view with a gleam in his hands.
He released the light – a firefly – which was joined by 99 other fireflies that flew left and right following the Orang Asal’s guidance.
As the sound of a horn heralding a new dawn was heard, the fireflies flew upwards to meld with the stars, while on the ground, the Mah Meri – natives of the western part of peninsular Malaysia – presented the Sewang, a dance usually performed to treat the wounded or sick.
They were joined by Negritos, members of several ethnic groups from isolated parts of South-East Asia, and Mangunatip dancers who incorporated bamboo sticks into their gig.
Malaysia’s Orang Ulu, Iban warriors and the Bidayuh came in next, accompanied by drum selipar and angklung players.
The atmosphere turned electric as the projections on stage showed the Perisai, an armour-like symbol, and dancers and musicians formed a Perisai outline with their bamboo sticks as other performers emerged.
The Kulintangan players produced a form of music through a set of gongs, while the Rungus people, Dusun Penampang, Dusun Papar, Lotud, Bidayuh Padawan, Bidayuh Serian, Melanau and Alu Alu, from the island of Borneo, formed the inner pattern of the Perisai.
Other performers who took to the stage represented the Biyasa, Lundayeh, Melayu Brunei, and people of Tidung Ulu – all also from different parts of the island of Borneo; as well as Ketam Bangkang dancers who performed steps taken specifically from the movement of crabs.
There were also Ngajat performers whose choreography stemmed from a family of dances among the Iban, the Suluk who are an ethnic group of the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, along with the Orang Ulu.
Cheers rang out as the Bajau, ethnic has inhabitants of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia, rode in on horseback across the stage, ushering in a river behind them which grew and ended up transforming the field into a sea.
Lepa boats, houseboats of the Bajau people were greeted with song as they approached the rafts and muara sungai, more commonly known as an estuary.
A Serunai, a traditional wind instrument in the Minang Society, introduced a huge pohon beringin, the weeping fig which is an official tree of Bangkok.
The spotlight was then shone on a Penglipur Lara, a storyteller portrayed by singer Datuk M. Nasir, who sang about similarities in diversity.
A brief dragon dance took place immediately after, followed by a drum performance featuring the various instruments from the multicultural South-East Asian nations.
At the tail end of the stunning show, a group of performers entered with silver-coloured bunga manggar, and Mia Palencia delivered the closing number So Many Hands.
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