HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR from Angklung Pak Radja

 Have a prosperous Chinese New Year everyone!

A remarklable Angklung Performance by SMK Taman Universiti, Johor Bahru.
Bravo and  thank you Cikgu Zainal.

Karya Teragung Tan Sri Dr. P.Ramlee

             Getaran Jiwa in Angklung version

Reviews are based on this book.

Who is P.Ramlee?

“P.Ramlee was the quintessential Malay entertainer par excellence, the Malay Noel Coward, if you like – actor, composer, singer, filmmaker.”

“In his own lifetime, P.Ramlee created myth of what a boy unschooled in music in the performing arts could attain.”

“For the world, he became a symbol of eternal genius of msic, acting and directing. Despite the heights of brilliance he had attained on the screen and in the music world, he remained a humble person.”

“He has a luminous quality-a combination of brilliant acting, melodious singing, radiance-to set him apart, and yet make everyone wish to be like him.”

  

"The legendary P. Ramlee - whose super human talent was failed to be recognised then by the government, hence contributed to his downfall and his subsequent death, broke and broken..How heart-wrenching

SK Bandar T6, Kluang Johor : Welcome to the Big Family of Angklung Pak Radja

ANGKLUNGPakRadja to Kluang, Johor

SK BANDAR T6, KLUANG JOHOR

                         Welcome to the big family of Angklung Pak Radja Group, SK Bandar T6!

                    I really miss Johor. It has been a while since we last came here... The last time we visited Johor was in November 2011. We visited Pasir Gudang, Johor with much anticipated 'mission' to deliver a full set of  ANGKLUNGPakRadja to SK Kopok.

                    Johor is  a state in southern Malaysia. It is linked to Singapore by a causeway. Johor is also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ta'zim, or "Abode of Dignity". It is also known as Johore in English. Well-known for its beaches and rain-forests. Desaru Beach is one of the most favourite beach. A must visit! It has lovely resorts along the white sandy beaches. While Endau Rompin National Park is recommended destination for nature lover. Here they conserve and protects rhinoceros in the mountainous jungle. The capital, Johor Bahru, reflects its melting-pot history with landmarks such as Victorian-era Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque and Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple, a crystal Hindu shrine. A must visit site indeed!

                     This time we headed for Kluang, Johor. Kluang is a town and district located near the centre of the state of Johor, Malaysia. It lies about 110 km north of Johor Bahru, east-southeast of Batu Pahat, west of Mersing and south of Segamat.

                      This is my first visit to Kluang, Johor. And feeling quite  excited about the whole affair.  We started our trip as early as 7:30 am. When the morning sun had long peeped behind the beautiful Maxwell Hill in Taiping, Perak. I mentally prepared myself as its going to be quite a long journey, 600km! The Waser confirmed it with 6 hours non-stop on the road! Well, that's unlikely to happen as we planned to take a break every 100km at The R&R along the way. Alhamdulillah, we reached Pagoh, Muar at 7.00 pm. It took us almost 12 hours! Better safe than sorry, right?

                       As planned earlier, we visited Pak Radja's older sister, YM Raja Norazni.  She and her husband anxiously waited our arrival which was 5 hours late. My sister-in-law is the proud owner of  Mama RM Tom Yam Restaurant in Muar. She is a fine cook. Most of her dishes are traditional and much sought-after by her long-line of regular customers. She is also well known for her motherly, kind and loving care towards others.

She insisted on serving us dinner there and then. She had prepared our favourite  local delicacy; Patin Tempoyak and Sambal Sadin. Yummy! Fingerlicking yummy ....

Patin Tempoyak

         

Sambal Sadin

                       Apa lagi! We dug into it with gratitude and flair.  Thank you, Engku Kuni. Delicious as always... We stayed up until 2am sharing beautiful childhood memories. Well, my husband and Engku Kuni contributed most of the down to memory lane conversation, and I somehow couldn't help but smiled seeing their closeness and laughed with much anticipation at their stories of silly childhood ventures. Subhanallah! Engkau peliharalah hubungan sillatulrahim yang amat berharga ini...

                        The next day, after a heartfelt breakfast we headed to Kluang, Johor for another 2 hours journey on the road. Our arrival were greeted by a  delightful rainfall. A rainfall full of God's grace as there hadn't been any rain there for quite awhile. However, it slowed down our drive. 

                        

                         Finally, we arrived at the school at 10am sharp, but one hour late!  Nevertheless, we were warmly welcomed by Cikgu Mohd. Firdaus, the school very talented Music Teacher. The students had been waiting patiently for us at the music room. Without much ado we started off the Free Demo by introducing Angklung Pak Radja to the excited students.

Pak Radja in the house

Cikgu Mohd. Firdaus a capable and talented music teacher

 Jom kita ber- Angklung!

Terima kasih Cikgu Mohd. Firdaus dan murid-murid SK Bandar T6, Johor.

Selamat maju jaya.

Semoga terus cemerlang!

Johor Here We Come!

The latest addition in 

 AngklungPak Radja 

 big family.

Looking forward to seeing YOU, one and all!

10 Reasons Why Playing Music Is Good For You

"Music

 produces a kind of pleasure 

which human cannot without."

Confucius

                No matter how old you are, it’s never too late to pick up any musical instrument that you fancy playing.. or what you have lying around, and learn how to play it! 

                    Have no idea how? Well, not to worry, the fact is, you don’t have to be a prodigy to gain the benefits of playing an instrument. On top of that, you also don’t have to spend a lot of money to be classically trained. There are many books on the subject sold everywhere, plus the internet and YouTube are full of tutorials to help you learn on your own. 
                     Did you know that playing an instrument can actually change the architecture of your brain? That might sound like some kind of a made-up futuristic Matrix mumbo jumbo but the truth of the matter is, it’s been scientifically proven ...that’s not even the tip of the “benefits of playing musical instruments” iceberg!

Refines your Time Management and Organizational Skills

               In order to learn an instrument successfully you have to learn how to be organized and manage your time wisely. To progress quicker, a musician will learn how to use their time efficiently and plan different challenges to work on. When you see yourself continuously improving, you will be motivated and ready to take on those new challenges.

 

Betters Your Mathematical Ability

                       Music consists of notes and rhythms. In order to read music well, you have to count notes and rhythms, which has the effect of improving your math skills. Learning music theory includes many mathematical aspects.  So it’s not surprising that it can help you understand things like fractions more effectively. A very pleasant news for you who are still in school.  

                      There is also a causal link between music and spatial intelligence .  It is the ability to perceive the world accurately and to form mental pictures of things. This kind of intelligence, by which one can visualize various elements that should go together, is critical to the sort of thinking necessary for everything from solving advanced mathematics problems to being able to pack a book-bag with everything that will be needed for the day.

Teaches You Discipline, Responsibility And Perseverance

                 No pain no gain. Learning to play an instrument takes time and effort, which results in your learning patience and perseverance. To get a musical phrase or entire song down with as few mistakes as possible takes great focus and repetition since most people will not be able to play a piece of music perfectly the first time. In fact, majority of musicians have to work difficult sections of music multiple times in a row before they can play it correctly. Since it is such a challenge, this teaches you self-discipline and the importance of maintaining a steady practice schedule.  

 

Improves Performance On Cognitive Tasks

                       Who said you cannot  teach an old dog new tricks! People over the age of 65...Yes! You read it right, after 4 or 5 months of playing a musical instrument for an hour a week there were strong changes in the brain—the parts that control hearing, memory and the part that controls the hands, among others all become more active.  
                         Another bonus is, the effects are long-lasting too! Adults aged 65-80, the more years a person had spent playing an instrument, the better they performed on tests of word recall, nonverbal memory, and cognitive flexibility. Other delightful results is that playing an instrument can help your IQ increase by seven points.  

Provides Health Benefits

              Playing music acts as a form of therapy. It  provides calming effects on the mind and body. Music has been found to reduce blood-pressure levels.  Other studies suggest that music therapy helps children and teens with Attention Deficit Disorder, insomnia, and depression. In addition to that, it can also be exercise : 90 minutes of drumming burns as many as 500 calories. That sounds so much better than jogging! 

Enhances Your Coordination

                  If you learn how to play an instrument, the parts of your brain that control motor skills actually grow and become more active. By reading musical notes on a page, your brain must convert that note into specific motor patterns while also controlling breathing and rhythm as well. Also for most instruments, you have to be able to have your fingers and/or limbs each performing different tasks simultaneously. Therefore playing music requires a lot of hand-eye co-ordination.

Fosters Your Self-Expression

                  Music provides children with a means of self-expression. Now that there is relative security in the basics of existence, the challenge is to make life meaningful and to reach for a higher stage of development. Everyone needs to be in touch at some time in his life with his core, with what he is and what he feels. Self-esteem is a by-product of this self-expression. Since music is an art form, you can easily play a piece and use it as an outlet for your emotions. Playing an instrument of your own will not only help you relax, but can help build confidence and give you a sense of achievement. 

Increases the Capacity of Your Memory

                  Both adults and children can benefit from learning to play an instrument because it helps the mind to be alert and remain active eventually helping to sharpen the memory. This makes learning a foreign language easier and makes you more perceptive to interpreting the emotions of others. This is due to the fact that learning an instrument requires you to learn about tones and scores which increases your ability to store audio information. 

                  Therefore, it becomes easier to pick up other languages and have a better verbal memory in your own language. Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in specific ways. Linking familiar songs to new information can also help imprint information on young minds.

Relieves Stress

                    Music naturally can soothe not only others but the musician as well. The sound combined with the release of creativity and emotion, as well as the simple vibration of an instrument against a player’s body can significantly lower a musician’s stress level. Playing any instrument can actually help release the endorphin in your body, which will also result in reduced levels of stress.

It’s Just Fun!

                 Even after learning the simplest three chords, you have the ability to write your own song. Bob Dylan has written several well-known songs using only a few chords and there is nothing like playing a song you just learned or wrote for a friend or playing it with friends. You don’t have to be Beethoven or Mozart here, you just have to have a desire to learn!

So let's shake our Angklung!

Up-close With Pak Radja

05.01.2016

Same day as in 6 years ago

Pak Radja as a School Inspector

            On 5th January 2010, Pak Radja had a rare opportunity  to visit one of the primary schools located in the interior of Keningau, Sabah. The school is SKM Kuala Kahaba. SKM stands for 'Sekolah Kurang Murid', it simply means a school with low enrolments. which it classifies as schools with less than 150 students. It is located at Kampung Kuala Kahaba, along Keningau Ansip road.

             According to the official record, in  2009 the school had 98 students, consisted of 42 boys and 56 girls. And 12 teachers! In Malaysia, we have more than a thousand schools categorized as SKM. 

             Although most of our schools here are of National Language medium; Bahasa Malaysia, We also have primary schools with Chinese and Tamil medium, reflecting the cultural diversity in Malaysia.  This extends children's knowledge of their own culture as well as to understand others. 

               Meet four out of eight pupils of Year 3 SKM Kuala Kahaba.

Mary and her younger sister at the back row.

               There were 8 registered pupils  for this class but then only 4 of them turn up during this first day at school. This is not an unusual scenario in SKM schools. Most of the family lived quite far from the school premises and this hinder them from getting to the school early.

                One of the pupils, Mary came with her younger sister. She had to tag along as nobody at home was free to babysit her. Both of her parents were working and the other older siblings were at secondary schools, won't be too lenient in having a younger brother or sister tagging along.

                 Who we are, which race do we come from, what is our social status, which ethnic do we represent or speak, don't matter because we are united as one. we are 1 Malaysia. And the future of better Malaysia is in our younger generation's hand. 

Pak Radja signing off.

Last but not least, keep your Angklungshaking!

 

                

Akademi Seni Angklung Nusantara

Presenting............

Akademi Seni Angklung Nusantara

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Congratulation : YM Raja Anuar bin Raja Adnan

Keep It Up!

Happy New Year one and all!

 

Auld Lang Syne