KUCHING: The Last Ring Ladies, a documentary featuring the Bi’emban sub-ethnic culture group in Sarawak, is set to premier this Saturday at 9pm on TVS.
The one-hour documentary directed by Nova Goh tells the story and culture of the last remaining ring ladies – an item that is slowly fading away over time – to the world.
“The first time when I knew about the ring ladies was in 2014 on a hiking trip to Semban. And I was quite ashamed of myself during that time as I was ignorant and had not known about these women until there were only seven of them left back then.
“For me, the ring ladies are like a rare species of flower that stays in the unseen world, I can really feel it in their hearts that they want to blossom again before the end of their life. I wish it would happen but I had no idea at that time and I could only use the camera to document it,” said Goh when commenting on the documentary.
She said the opportunity came when fashion designer Wong Lee Leng, from West Malaysia, discovered the beauty of the ring ladies and decided to partner up with famous Sarawakian photographer Kevin Then.
“They decided to have a fashion shoot in Semban as a way to preserve and reinvent their traditional fashion and bring it to new heights.” she added.
In a nutshell, the documentary follows the story of Peluk Apeh, the last of the famed Bidayuh ring ladies, as the construction of a dam drives her from her ancestral home in the world’s oldest rainforest to a modern settlement.
Peluk struggles to adapt to her new environment and longs for the vanishing world she left behind.
But her new life also brings new opportunities: Wong discovers Peluk and the ring ladies and creates a ring ladies fashion collection. Wong then travels to meet Peluk and together they embark on a journey of personal discovery.
With the mission in preserving the heritage, together these two very different women introduce the unique culture of the ring ladies through fashion to a modern world.
The documentary has also premiered on NHK Japan, KBS Korea and PTS Taiwan Broadcasting television channels.
