MUKAH: “Who are we without our culture?,”Pencak Silat Pusaka Mengalai president Mohd Hidayah Aidan, 36, asked the younger generation in Sarawak.
Silat Mengalai is one of the ethnic Mukah Melanau martial arts which are slowly known to the public after being revived.
Fearing for its extinction, Hidayah formed the Pencak Silat Pusaka Mengalai Association three months ago to revive the martial arts.
“This is our first involvement in this year’s Kaul Festival,” he told Suara Sarawak yesterday after the ‘Serangan Kakan’ ceremony at Kala Dana Beach here on Saturday.
He added that he had previously participated in silat performances but not through an association.
“This association was founded recently as a result of our efforts to find and gather those who have learned silat.
“Silat Mengalai was nearly extinct in the 1980s as many exponents have abandoned it.
“However, we have taken the initiative to revive the martial art and inserted the name “pusaka” and now called it Pencak Silat Pusaka Mengalai.
“It is a Melanau traditional martial arts but we have not taken in many students.
“We welcome anyone who wants to master this traditional martial art and are willing to train him/her,” he said, adding that at present, the society had more than 50 members but was looking forward to recruit more.
Hidayah pointed out that the word “mengalai” in Brunei Malay meant dance and that the martial art had many different versions.
He hoped that Silat Pusaka Mengalai would not disappear as it was part of the Melanau culture.
“I want the younger generations to know about this martial art and to guard it from being forgotten,” he said.
