Golden Watermelon (Semangka Emas)

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“So many countries, so many customs”, (Even though people might have similarities physically, yet the characteristics, attitudes and hearts are different one another). The meaning of this saying is reflected in one of folklores from Sambas, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is a story of two brothers, Muzakir and Dermawan. Both were the sons of a prosperous merchant in that area. The story tells that the two brothers shared the same amount of inheritance as their parents passed away. However, since the two were contradictory in approaching life so they treated the inheritance in a different way. Muzakir was a greedy man that he was reluctant to share his belongings and also money to anyone for any reason. Different to his brother, Dermawan (as is seen from the name, dermawan, which literally means a philanthropist), is a kind man. He sincerely shared his money or belongings to help the people in needs. It is told that one day Dermawan ran out of money for giving most of his money for charity that he left nothing more for himself. The brother Muzakir felt entertained by the fact that his brother was a fool sharing his money with others and was becoming poor.

The misfortune of Dermawan didn‘t last long; Muzakir came to know soon that his brother was no longer poor. Dermawan suddenly gained back his prosperity; owned a big house with a wide nice garden. This intrigued Muzakir that he wanted to know the secret behind his brother sudden fortune. What made Dermawan become suddenly rich? The answer is in the whole story of The Golden Watermelon as told below.

Radat of Sambas goes to Terengganu Malaysia

Tari Radat Sambas (Radat Dance of Sambas)

Radat dance is usually performed in a wedding party or other cultural ceremonies. Radat is one of various Sambas Malay cultures which is the assimilation between Malay and Islamic Middle East cultures.

 

Radat in Terengganu.

Until today, it is still difficult to track the exact period of when Radat came to Terengganu. However, according to some Radat instructors of Terengganu that this performance originally came from Middle East since the lyrics are mostly copied from Hadrah Book, and music instruments are almost identical with Rebana (tambourine) of Hadrah. It is believed that Radat was introduced by some traders of Sambas, West Borneo.

Saprahan

Saprahan is a unique tradition of Sambas Malay in which a group of six people join together to have their food in wedding meal or other ritual meal. A host of wedding party groups his/her guests six by six in a special tent which is called Tarup (comes from Arabic word “Ta’aruf”, normally a big tent built from bamboo with timber floor) or in his/her house depending on the party. Saprahan still can be found in most villages of Sambas regency or Sambas community outside the regency.

Originally, the group of people is seated in a circle facing their meal. There will be six plates for six of them with one or two baskets of rice and with various side dishes in front of them. The meal is always served by the host’s servants. The guests do not need to take their meal from a table. They only wait in their group patiently for their turn of having a polite service from the servants of party. They usually have a nice conversation with their fellow group while waiting for being served or while having their meal.

The philosophy of Saprahan is actually to grow the sense of togetherness, to improve a good relationship, and to build equity among the people. This has a big impact in Sambas community for harmonious life in their society. Sense of togetherness and equity gets rid off a big gap among the society.

However, nowadays many people start not to practice this genuine tradition, especially those who live in an urban area. They think this practice of serving their guests in a party is not practical, time consuming, and more costly. They prefer a modern practice, which is called Prasmanan model, to this tradition. In this model, every guest who comes to their party takes their own meal from a certain table, takes a seat on a guest lounge to eat their food up, after that congratulate the host, then leaves the party. It is so simple. No wonder why many people like to apply this model when they have a weeding party. However, it seems very individual. There is only little togetherness and warm communication among the people.

Is it one of the indications why lives are not as harmonious as when I was young? It’s only my curiosity.