Meet Umar Tomik, arguably the only Sarawak Malay gendang maker in Kuching and possibly, in the state.
The 64-year-old man said the gendang (hand drum) is made from goat skin, segak rattan and hardwoods such as belian (eusideroxylon zwageri) or menggeris (koompassia excelsa) or merbau (ipil).
To him it is important to use hardwood to make gendang so that the final product would be of high quality. For the batter head (the skin), the most commonly used is processed goat skin.
The hair on the skin is first removed and then the odour is eliminated using chalk. Next, it is sun dried.
“Sun drying is the best way because a higher temperature could form cracks on the skin,” Umar explained in an exclusive interview with New Sarawak Tribune at his residence in Kampung Paroh, Jalan Matang recently.
Although the gendang can be used alone to accompany a solo/lone singer, it often forms a part of an ensemble of various instruments such as a violin (of Western origin), a knobbed Asian gong, and a flute (optional).
Rhythmically the gendang is used to set and maintain the tempo/beats of a song which, for Sarawak Malaysia, is often the joget, a traditional Malay dance that originated in Malacca. Influenced by the Portuguese dance of Branyo, the joget is believed to have spread to Malacca during the spice trade. It is one of the most popular folk dances in Indonesia and Malaysia and normally performed by couples in cultural festivals, weddings and other social functions.
When a gendang is the main instrument used in a musical show, the occasion is called bergendang where the singers and dancers perform lagu-lagu joget (joget songs) and tarian-tarian joget (joget dances).
The gendang player cum singer (called seh gendang) sings songs that are in the form of pantun (poems). To perform a dance (tandak) to the beats of the gendang is to nopeng or bertandak.
Umar, who was born in 1956, has been a gendang maker since 1988, taking after his father (Tomik Dol) and grandfather.
“I learned the skills from my father who in turn learned from his father, my grandfather.
His grandfather, Dol Ayub, who was born in 1894, produced gendang as his career until he passed away in 1971. After his passing in 2005, Tomik, who was born in 1932, inherited the business.
“Even before my grandfather died, I was already a gendang maker as I had spent a lot of time watching him and my father, and practising making not just the gendang, but also other types of drums such as the rebanna,” he said.
As the third generation gendang maker, Umar admitted that the handicraft might not continue to the fourth generation as his children have shown little interest in it.
As far as he knows, there are only five bergendang groups in Kuching with some small groups scattered throughout Sarawak such as in Mukah, Sadong Jaya, Limbang and Miri.
“It is very hard to find someone who is willing to learn the trade. Modern youth are more into computers, Internet, computer games and so on. Still, I hope youngsters would not abandon this Malay cultural heritage and help preserve it for future generations,” he said.
On whether he had made any attempt to find an apprentice, he said Handicraft Malaysia Sarawak Branch asked him to run a gendang making class or workshop, but there were very few participants. In spite of that, he believes that the teaching of gendang making could be successful if taught in school.
“We have Sekolah Seni Malaysia Sarawak. If we could insert the subject in the curriculum, the students would be exposed to the art and the heritage could be preserved,” he said hopefully.
Having said that, he saw another problem — the lack of qualified instructors/teachers. For that, he had no suggestion or solution.
Umar is a member of Warisan Wawasan (Warisan Budaya), which is a performing gendang band.
On his list of achievements, he (and his group) was champion in five different events, namely, Festival Pantun Sarawak 2014, Festival Gendang Sarawak 2016, Gendang Melayu Satok Fest 2017, Pertandingan Gendang Melayu Sarawak 2018, and Pertandingan Tandak Gendang Melayu Sarawak (Adult Category) during the 2019 Festival Gendang Melayu Sarawak.
As a parting ‘gift’, he recited an original pantun (below) which he had performed at gatherings. This writer won’t even dare to translate it to English as it would sound too ridiculous.
‘Anak Raja pergi menyumpit,
Dapat seekor burung tekukur,
Alangkah cantik bintang terbit,
Bagaikan songket kuntum bertabur.
‘Anak Bugis bermain pedang,
Buka silat di tengah padang,
Wajah adik cantik dipandang,
Bagai emas baru timbang.’
