On Friday night (July 7), a total of twenty veteran artistes from Sarawak were honoured in a glittering award ceremony at the Dewan Santapan of the new State Legislative Assembly Building in Petra Jaya. The awards were presented under the Seniman Sarawak Awards 2023, also known as the Sarawak Artiste Awards, the second such ceremony held after the first in 2020.
These prestigious awards included the Special Artiste Awards, Legendary Artiste Awards, Best Artiste Awards, and Unique Artiste Awards, given to twenty individuals from across Sarawak. Hundreds of local Sarawak artistes from the singing, music, and performing arts industry were present to witness the awards being handed out, including a lady who received the award posthumously.
As a recipient, it was an eye-opening moment for me as it was the first time I was invited to such an event and was selected as a recipient. It was astounding to share the moment with the prestigious few, including two men who received their awards on wheelchairs. One of those men, who was an eighty-four-year-old veteran and had performed (singing) in Malaya in the old days, was seated at my table and aided by his daughter.
All of us recipients represented the 50s, 60s, and 70s. I was the second recipient called to the stage and was listed as Elvis since 1971. I am still going strong till today and was introduced, as well as accompanied, by Elvis’s evergreen number Can’t Help Falling In Love and a montage of my performances pictured since 1975 till 2017. Seated beside me was the first veteran artiste called to receive the Unique Artiste Awards, Thomas Mok, in his early 70s. He was a rhythm guitarist with his band in the 60s and was accompanied by his son. He showed me his young photo during a performance, and I also showed him my photos in performances in Mukah, Kapit, Kuching, and Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.
Rogayah Shukri, an active member of the Malaysian Arts Culture Practitioner Association (MACPA), was seated at the next table and had a small talk with me prior to the award ceremony. Rogayah has been an active member and helped in seeking artistes who need attention and recognition. On the other table next to ours were Ismail Mahdi and Stephen Adam, who received the Legendary Awards for being active musicians for some decades. Ismail is a keyboardist, while Stephen is a saxophonist.
The ceremony was organised by MACPA with the support of the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industries and Performing Arts. The chief guest was the minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah. Also in attendance were Speaker of Dewan Undangan Negeri Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar, assistant ministers Datuk Sebastian Ting and Datuk Snowdan Lawan, as well as State MACPA president Marzuki Tambi.
Abdul Karim pointed out in his speech at the beginning of the ceremony, “This award ceremony aims to give recognition to the sacrifices and services of previous veteran art activists for having made significant contributions in the field of art and culture in Malaysia, especially in Sarawak. At the previous award ceremony held in 2020, a total of 59 veteran artistes were awarded in their respective fields.” At the end of the event, he announced a RM3k award to be given to each recipient, to thunderous applause from the huge crowd.
In handling all the awards by the respective VIP, they were accompanied by MACPA president Marzuki Tambi, who earlier made a lengthy but interesting address prior to the short speech by the minister.
Performances by local and invited artistes from other parts of Sarawak and KL were included to spruce up the event. One interesting performer was twice Elvis Presley of Sarawak title-holder Wilfred Vincent Ragam, 74, who rendered an Iban song plus EP’s Don’t Be Cruel. Another Iban recording artiste who did a Malay number was Karen Libau. Two other Malay ladies also performed the song Lagenda with Karen, while invited veteran artiste Black Dog Bone still produced his number with high and controlled pitch to thunderous applause from the audience.
Other performances included a modern dance by a cultural group and a Mandarin song by one of the award recipients.
The event was an eye-opening experience for most of those in attendance as it showcased Sarawak’s rich resources of talents among its diverse population. It is hoped that such awards would inspire younger generations to continue doing their best in their capacities as individuals and produce items that deserve recognition, be it in singing, performing arts, culture, and other pursuits. They will find one day they will get due recognition, as was the case with myself. I never contemplated receiving such an award, but I kept on doing what I like and neverstopped making singing my cup of tea, keeping it just level and not too sweet. There were skeptics along the way, but they were just part of the learning and adjusting process, and I remained unperturbed by them because the majority gave me the support and inspiration to go on. I want to thank all my fans and supporters. God Bless You.
The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the New Sarawak Tribune.
