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.

… “Very few of the instructor of performers had any idea of the origin of the performance, but in one or two cases it was recalled that years ago natives of Sambas in Borneo used to come anually in the fine weather for trading, and that during their stay in Terengganu they used to dance the ‘Rodat’ …The dance had proved popular and the local people had learn it from the traders … ” (4).

According to the author of Mastika, August 1967, Radat was brought by traders of Sambas and Pontianak to Terengganu 50 – 60 years ago. They came to buy Songket, golden thread, woven materials, and other products. They sailed to Terenggangu bay.

During their stay in Terengganu, the traders of Sambas gathered around 10 to 20 people played small Rebanas, sang, and danced together until midnight. The easy listening lyrics attracted the local people of Kuala Terengganu to come close to the performers near their big ship. From here the local people learned Radat.

Another opinion, Mr. Salleh bin Musa (a Radat instructor), 56 years old, states that around 70 – 80 years ago Muhammad Kepak, Cik Udun, and Abdullah Pepeh (cloth traders of Terengganu) brought Radat to Terengganu from Sambas. It was them who first played Radat in Terengganu especially in Kampung Pasir Panjang. Muhammad Kepak played his role as the singer and Rebana player, Cik Udin as the dancer, and Abdullah Pepeh as the singer. From this performance, Radat spread throughout Terengganu.

Reference:

www.sambas.go.id

http://www.trglib.gov.my/jaringan/trg/kesenian_rodat.htm (bahasa Melayu version)

Saprahan (Eating together)

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.