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Modern Dayaks keep culture alive through song and dance

While many have embraced an urban way of life, some still hold fast to timeless traditions

We visit the Dayak tribal village of Pampang, which is in East Kalimantan, the site for Indonesia's new administrative capital. The indigenous people of Borneo who live in the village embrace urban ways while preserving their distinctive culture.
Tourists joining in a traditional Dayak dance, in which huge sticks are used. A performer in traditional clothes. At Pampang Cultural Village, tourists watch cultural performances and shop for Dayak handicrafts. Law graduate Novianti Liq, 24, about t
Tourists joining in a traditional Dayak dance, in which huge sticks are used. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Mr Ujang Laing, 79, who moved to the city with his wife and two children in 1978, still plays the sampe, a traditional lute.
Mr Ujang Laing, 79, who moved to the city with his wife and two children in 1978, still plays the sampe, a traditional lute. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Tourists joining in a traditional Dayak dance, in which huge sticks are used. A performer in traditional clothes. At Pampang Cultural Village, tourists watch cultural performances and shop for Dayak handicrafts. Law graduate Novianti Liq, 24, about t
A performer in traditional clothes. At Pampang Cultural Village, tourists watch cultural performances and shop for Dayak handicrafts. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Tourists joining in a traditional Dayak dance, in which huge sticks are used. A performer in traditional clothes. At Pampang Cultural Village, tourists watch cultural performances and shop for Dayak handicrafts. Law graduate Novianti Liq, 24, about t
Law graduate Novianti Liq, 24, about to perform a traditional dance. She said dancing is her way of preserving her Dayak culture, customs and traditions. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Arlina Arshad Regional Correspondent In East Kalimantan
Updated
Oct 12, 2019, 12:27 PM
Published
Oct 12, 2019, 05:00 AM
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Wearing a vest embroidered with tiger motifs, and with brass weights dangling from long, pierced ears, 47-year-old Laing Along sits at his organ and plays the Christmas carol, Silent Night.

His soulful voice rings throughout his spacious brick house in the Dayak tribal village of Pampang in Samarinda, the provincial capital of East Kalimantan.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 12, 2019, with the headline Modern Dayaks keep culture alive through song and dance. Subscribe

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