MALAYSIA: More than a thousand drummers break national record in festival

Record ID: 376772

  • Title: MALAYSIA: More than a thousand drummers break national record in festival
  • Date: 23rd June 2001
  • Summary: KOTA BARU, KELANTAN, MALAYSIA (JUNE 16, 2001) (REUTERS) INDIAN DRUM GROUP PERFORMING AT FESTIVAL CLOSE-UP OF INDIAN DRUMS MALAY PERCUSSION GROUP PERFORMING PAN PERFORMERS WITH THEIR DRUMS ANOTHER MALAY PERCUSSIONIST PERFORMING DRUM FESTIVAL SIGNAGE PERCUSSIONISTS PERFORMING WIDE DRUMMERS PERFORMING DRUMMERS PERFORMING CU PERCUSSIONIST PERFORMING PERCUSSIONISTS I
  • Embargoed: 8th July 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KOTA BARU, KELANTAN, MALAYSIA
  • Country: Malaysia
  • Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA2Q5F31IHQW7LPCH23BO3ENBKI
  • Story Text: More than a thousand Malaysian drummers broke a national record - pounding, beating and striking various drums - in a festival in Malaysia's ethnic Malay heartland.
    Malaysia's Islamist-ruled Kelantan is the heartland for the country's ethnic Malays and is known for its leisurely pace of life.
    But this quiet city was shaken to its foundations recently as more than 1,000 drummers picked up their sticks and set about their drums with gusto.
    The drummers, playing mostly a variety of Malay drums, were joined by percussionists from the Chinese, Indian and Thai communities.
    A total of 1,051 drummers performed in the festival launched by Kelantan Sultan Ismail Petra in an opening ceremony that featured elephants and fireworks.
    Among the percussion instruments used were the giant Malay rebana ubi drums, used long ago as a means of communication between remote villages.
    Made of timber and cow or buffalo leather with rattan to keep the skin taut, the rebana ubi drums provided the bass section of the entertaining festival.
    Some 80,000 people, including tourists, flooded the stadium venue to watch the festival which included performances of wind instruments that are considered taboo in the Islamist-ruled state.
    A fireworks display brought the show to an end in the entertainment-starved state.
    Malaysian tourism minister Abduk Kadir Sheikh Fadzir said the drum festival is part of the "Colours of Malaysia" month that is meant to promote tourism.
    "When people want to go for a vacation, a holiday, they want to go where there is a lot of colours, fun and games.
    That is the whole aim. So you can have, the colours of Malaysia month in Malaysia. And you see how colourful this event is. Just the drums, the drums from the various parts of the country, from the various races and so on put together in a symphony is a great thing. I think it is something worthwhile telling the world about," Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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