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Peoples, Place and Performing Arts of the Riau Islands 

Reviewer Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Pugh-Kitingan 

 

Margaret Kartomi, editor, 2019, Performing the Arts of Indonesia. Malay Identity and 
Politics in the Music, Dance and Theatre of the Riau Islands. Nordic Institute of Asian 
Studies, Studies in Asian Topics, no 68.  Copenhagen: NIAS Press; xx-340 pp., ISBN: 978-
87-7694-259-5 

  

Dispersed from the Straits of Malacca across the South China Sea, from Sumatra, Peninsular 

Malaysia and Singapore to west Kalimantan, the 2,408 Riau Islands or Kepri (Kepulauan 

Riau) comprise Indonesia’s largest province. For a millennia, these islands have formed 

linkages in trade routes between the Sumatra, Java, south western Borneo, Singapore, Malaya 

and beyond. The Riau Islands have a long and complex political history going back to at least 

the Srivijaya Empire (7th to 14th centuries). After Indonesia attained Independence in 1949, 

Riau experienced various national governments, each with their own policies of development 

and the arts. Following the end of Suharto’s authoritarian New Order era, which promoted the 

Javanisation of cultures throughout this vast nation, the Reformasi era saw communities and 

provinces looking back to their older traditions for inspiration in contemporary times.  Riau 

was granted provincial autonomy in 2004.  This book investigates today’s cultural situation in 

Riau, through focussing on the state of the performing arts of the main indigenous inhabitants 

of the Riau Islands—the Malays and the Orang Suku Laut (“sea peoples”). 

Much of the research for this book was conducted from 2012-2016 in Riau with the support 

of the Indonesian Institute of Science, and funded by a research grant from the Australia 

Research Council Discovery Projects Funding Scheme. Entitled “The Changing Identity and 

Sustainability of the Music-Cultures and Worldviews of the Riau Islands’ Sea Nomads and 

Sedentary Malays,” the project was headed by renowned ethnomusicologist Margaret 

Kartomi of the Sir Zelman Cowan School of Music, Monash University. Earlier research in 

Riau had also been carried out by members of the team. Two international conferences on the 

performing arts of the Riau Islands were held in 2012 in Tanjungpinang and then in 2015 at 



Monash University in Melbourne. I attended the conference in Melbourne. International 

scholars and performing artists from Riau were invited to present, along with the project 

researchers, and the chapters in this book have been developed from those papers presented 

specifically on Riau. As such, this book is an important academic source on a hitherto largely 

neglected area of Southeast Asian performing arts. 

The book is arranged into four parts, according to locations in Riau. Part I, “The Riau 

Archipelago in the Southern Malay World” provides an overview of the whole Riau 

Province, and consists of five chapters. The opening chapter “The islands, the islanders and 

their performing arts” by Margaret Kartomi provides a detailed introduction to the book, its 

“across-the-arts” approach, the cultures of the Malays and the Orang Suku Laut and their 

performing arts genres.  It also discusses cosmological and performative concepts of space in 

Malay and Orang Suku Laut worldviews, and the idea of generative memory codes in 

performance. This well-written and comprehensive chapter presents important ethnographic 

and conceptual information for understanding the performing arts of the Riau Islands that are 

discussed in the rest of the book. 

In Chapter 2 “The world of the southern Malays,” Leonard Andaya differentiates the Malays 

of Riau and west Kalimantan from the Malayic peoples further north due to linguistic and 

historical differences.  He then focusses on the Malays of the formerly so-called Pulau Tujuh 

Islands (Riau) and west Kalimantan. This chapter provides detailed historical information 

about the Malays in the Riau area, as well as outside influences in the region including the 

spread of religions such as Islam.  My only question is the statement that “Islam reached 

Papua New Guinea in the beginning of the 18th century” (p.45).  Perhaps what is meant is that 

it touched the western shores of the New Guinea Island with trade from Maluku in the early 

18th century.  The eastern nation of Papua New Guinea attained independence in 1975, and 

Islam was only recently introduced by outsiders. Apart from this minor point, this excellent 

chapter provides an important historical background for the contextual understanding of the 

Riau Malays and their diverse and hybrid performing arts.  

Cynthia Chou, in Chapter 3 “The sound of music and the Orang Suku Laut today,” discusses 

the changing soundscape among these semi-nomadic people who once traversed the vast sea 

expanses between the islands.  Comparative references to publications about music of other 

sea peoples (p. 66) could have also mentioned studies among the west and east coast Sama 

Bajau of Sabah by Sather, Anis Nor, Hanafi Hussin, Judeth John Baptist, Pugh-Kitingan, and 



others.  Nevertheless, in the case of the Orang Suku Laut, the writer shows that while some 

traditional singers still recall their old stories, poetic songs, and other music, their soundscape 

has changed markedly with the advent of Indonesian Christian songs (lagu gereja) and pop 

songs (lagu pop).  The writer stresses that it is important to look at these two newer genres 

together in order to understand change and continuity in Orang Suku Laut identity and 

culture. The younger generation regard lagu pop and lagu disko (often played at full blast) as 

their preferred forms of music, while lagu Orang Suku Laut and pantun of the older 

generation are disappearing. In the case of lagu gereja, these songs have become a valued 

part of Orang Suku Laut culture, because their sound expresses local notions of 

progressiveness. These two genres thus overlap in the contemporary soundscape of the Orang 

Suku Laut as expressions of perceived modernity. 

In Chapter 4, “The nobat ensemble in the Riau-Lingga Sultanate, its colonial era demise and 

its recent sonic re-invention,” Margaret Kartomi looks at the history of the nobat ensemble of 

Riau-Lingga as an important expression of the political and cultural identity of the Sultanate.  

The chapter traces the intricate history and development of the Sultanate, from Hindu-

Buddhist times, through the coming of Islam, into the Dutch colonial era, the early 20th 

century. Embedded in this history is the story of its nobat instruments over time up to the 

“silent” years following the formation of the Indonesian nation, and the subsequent sonic 

rebirth of the ensemble (without some of its instruments) in 2013. This chapter is essential 

reading for those undertaking research on nobat in Southeast Asia, including those ensembles 

maintained by sultanate palaces in Peninsular Malaysia because it was through Riau that the 

ensembles were dispersed. 

Chapter 5 “Sound, space and social relations in nineteenth century literary texts from the 

Riau archipelago” by Jenny McCallum explores the now inaudible soundscape of 19th 

century Riau through descriptions given in written records by Malay, Dutch, and British 

observers. The writer examines historical texts describing both traditional instrumental 

ensembles (including drumming and cannon-firing) and western band music, as well as 

genres of vocal music such as syair.  From these records, she identifies three broad categories 

of idealised sound and their social importance: azimat (“awe-inspiring”) representing Malay 

regal authority, ramai (“busy noisiness”) connoting music for outdoor celebration and 

festivities, and quieter melodic merdu vocal recitations (“harmonious voices”) such as syair 

for religious instruction or secular entertainment. The nature of these soundscapes, gleaned 



from descriptions in the literature, defined political spaces and expressed intercommunal 

social relationships in 19th century Riau.     

Part II, “Two Western Riau Archipelagos” contains four chapters. Chapter 6 “Bangsawan in 

Lingga: the vanished era of the Lingga-Riau sultanate” by Bronya Kornhauser provides an 

overview of the development Bangsawan theatre in the Lingga archipelago, and the 

characteristics of the genre. Using field recorded films by Karen Kartomi Thomas, the writer 

then compares and contrasts two present-day bangsawan theatre performances by the Diram 

Perkase Performing Arts group—one from the indoor proscenium stage of Aisyah Sulaiman 

Arts Building of Tanjungpinang, and the other in the village of Sungai Buluh, west Singkep.  

She analyses the vocal and instrumental musical structures of the performances, as linked to 

the dramatic action.  Bangsawan in Lingga, as in other parts of southeast Asia, combined 

Malay and European elements. In Lingga, however, its themes, plots, actions and music recall 

the historical past of the Lingga-Riau Sultanate.  Bangsawan for the Lingga Malays is thus 

distinctive in that it evokes the unique regal past of the Sultanate in the present day. 

The biola is part of the instrumental ensemble accompanying Bangsawan. Hence, Chapter 7 

“The significance of place in the musical practice of two biola players in Riau Islands 

Province” by Brigitta Scarfe and Mouhamad Hasbi (a biola player from Lingga) focusses on 

this instrument.  They give a short history of the four-stringed European biola or viola that 

was introduced by the Portuguese. They then compare and contrast the performance practice 

and music of two self-taught biola players—Nasri or Pak Itam Pijat from the remote village 

of Kampung Kukang, Desa Pancur on Lingga Island, and Adi Supriyadi currently living in 

Tanjungpinang. Nasri’s music retains the traditional performance style with minimal 

amplification and local community participation, while Adi experiments with Mak Yong, 

“progressive rock,” world music and electronic enhancement.  Yet both performers are 

dealing with issues of cosmopolitanism. One strives to preserve tradition in the face of it, 

while the other tries to adapt and hybridise tradition to appeal to younger generations. 

Chapter 8 “Kinship among Penyengat musicians: the jiwa seni of Raja Khadijah, Tengku 

Fadillah, their forebears and descendants” by Vivienne Wee continues with the focus on 

musicians that began in Chapter 9, but now examines the hitherto undocumented genealogies 

and life stories of key self-taught musicians and their families, who happen to be of Viceroy 

descent.  She also discusses the Penyengat Malay concept of jiwa seni (“the artistic soul”) as 



expressed by these performers and shows how this is continued in the younger generation of 

musicians. 

The importance of the Viceroy’s court as an historical source of dance traditions is the theme 

of Chapter 9 “Zapin dancing and gambus music in the Viceroy’s court at Penyengat” by Raja 

Alfirafindra and Marina Martiara (translated by Margaret Kartomi).  This provides a detailed 

history of the Kepri style of secular zapin Melayu which can be traced back to the Malay 

palace in Sambas, West Kalimantan.  The chapter also deals with Malay concepts of space as 

expressed through this dance, and looks at current developments in zapin performance in 

Riau.  

Part III, “The Northern and Northeastern Archipelagos” consists of two chapters focussing on 

dance and theatrical genres.  Chapter 10 “Gobang mask dance theatre: icon of the Anambas 

Regency” by Syafaruddin, Manolete Mora and Margaret Kartomi describes the night time 

gobang dance by masked dancers on the beach and its accompanying music on Jemaja Island, 

among the remote Anambas islands of the northern archipelago. This genre originated from 

shamanistic healing rituals and still retains some occultic elements, but has developed into a 

form of comedic entertainment at life cycle celebrations and other social events. Gobang 

dancers or gobang ka normally wear conical hats and topeng ka masks representing various 

characters, animals and spirits. Although it has its roots in animism, gobang has incorporated 

newer elements from its history.  During one gobang performance on the night of 21 

September 1896, the Dutch Kontroleur and the local Datuk Kaya joined a gobang event to 

capture a suspected murderer who was dancing with the gobang ka, wearing his mask as a 

disguise.  Since then, gobang performances have included four gobang lawa dressed in black 

Dutch-style suits, boots, and helmets with green cloth scarves tied across their faces as topeng 

lawa masks.  This continuing comic element, indicates local disdain for former colonial and 

unwanted outside political intrusions that may seek to stifle the cultural life of the 

community. 

Chapter 11 “Mendu theatre performance in the Natuna islands (1984-2013): transformations 

in function, performance practices and style” by Karen Kartomi Thomas discusses continuity 

and change in mendu, a Malay theatre genre based on the Dewa Mendu epic, from the 

Bunguran District of the Northeastern archipelago. She compares and contrasts a traditional 

mendu performance from 1984 that took place at night on an outdoor stage in the village of 

Teluk Selahang near Ranai, with a new streamlined version held in a sports hall of Sedanau 



Town in 2013. Her detailed analysis of the two very different performances is set against the 

background of socio-political change, as the genre has regressed from the highly popular 

traditional village folk genre to the commercialised town version.  

Part IV, “The Cities: Art and Popular Culture” contains three chapters.  In Chapter 12 “Malay 

art music composers and performers of Tanjungpinang and Pulau Penyengat” Geoffrey 

Benjamin explores the performances and repertoires of leading music composers, most of 

whom are self-taught but have developed their creative skills through electronic media and 

information from the internet. These include those from Tanjungpinang who produce a 

variety of hybrid styles by fusing Malay motifs with country, blues, jazz and pop, as well as 

those from Penyengat whose compositions are more traditional. Many of these musicians, 

such as Adi Supriyadi and Raja Khadijah are from families of renowned musicians of regal 

descent, aspects of whose work and heritage were discussed in Chapters 7 and 8. 

While Chapter 12 focusses on Malay “art” musicians, Chapter 13 “Musical cosmopolitanism 

in Kepri: an examination of local aesthetic responses to socio-cultural transformation” by 

Manolete Mora looks at the work of both underground and popular musicians from Batam 

City and Tanjungpinang. He compares and contrasts the work of hardcore musicians such as 

Andy Diablo with the hybrid Malay pop music of others such as Raja Ahmad Helmy and Adi 

Supriadi (featured in Chapters 7, 8 and 12). He shows that the cosmopolitan Kepri musical 

scene largely consists of two divergent music-making trends, one which identifies with major 

transnational musical styles, the other which adapts global music codes to enrich and develop 

local Malay music.   

Chapter 14 “Who cares about Malay music?” by Nicholas Long concludes the book by 

examining of the changing sociocultural profile of Riau through the composition and 

performance of contemporary Riau Malay music by the group Trio Komodo—a group made 

up, not of Malay musicians, but of members of the immigrant Florinese community.  This 

group of devout Roman Catholics composes and performs out of their love for Malay music.  

This raises questions of Malay identity and Malayness in the context of performing arts in 

Riau.  Some, such as members of Lembaga Adat Melayu, believe that Malay music should 

only be created by Muslim ethnic Malays.  For others, such as those who hold to the view of 

the late Riau cultural leader Tenas Effendy, Malay culture should reflect its pre-colonial 

character of flexible accommodation of wholesome outside elements that enhance its 

development. Hence, Malay identity is inherently cultural rather than purely ethnic.  



In conclusion, Performing the Arts of Indonesia. Malay Identity and Politics of the Music, 

Dance and Theatre of the Riau Islands is a landmark publication that fills a gap in research 

on the performing arts of Riau.  Editor Margaret Kartomi, an expert on Indonesian music, has 

drawn together a group of esteemed scholars and researchers from various disciplines to 

produce an academically deep, yet highly relevant publication. Aptly illustrated with maps, 

colour and black-and-white photographs, diagrams, musical transcriptions and online sources, 

the publication provides insights into traditional and contemporary culture across the vast 

reaches of the Kepri Province.  The book is a delight to read.  It also has important 

implications for understanding contemporary change and continuity in the performing arts of 

other Southeast Asian cultures, not only among the Riau Malays and Orang Suku Laut.   

Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Pugh-Kitingan holds a B.A. Hons. (1st Class) from Monash 

University (1976), and a Ph.D. from the University of Queesnland (1982), with research 

among the Huli of Papua New Guinea for both degrees.  She is currently Professor of 

Ethnomusicology in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, and Head of the Culture, 

Heritage and Arts Cluster of the Borneo Institute for Indigenous Studies at Universiti 

Malaysia Sabah, where she also formerly held the Kadazandusun Chair (2003-2016).  Having 

married her husband from the Kadazan Dusun community of Tambunan in 1976, she first 

came to Sabah, Malaysia in 1977, finally settling permanently in 1982.  Winner of two 

PEREKA Gold Medals, her research interests encompass indigenous cultures of Sabah and 

Papua New Guinea, music, dance and ritual systems, music and language, organology, 

ethnographic mapping, updating Sabah’s sociolinguistic data in the Ethnologue®, indigenous 

customary law and the Sabah Native Courts, the megalithic culture of the Kadazan Dusun of 

Tambunan District, and indigenous ritual responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in Sabah. 

  

 

 

     © 2020 Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Pugh-Kitingan 

 


