SINGAPORE \u2013 Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia will be putting up a joint bid for zapin, a traditional Malay performing art with deep roots in the region, to be inscribed on UNESCO\u2019s intangible cultural heritage list.<\/p>\n
The four participating countries aim to submit their nomination to UNESCO in March 2027, said the National Heritage Board (NHB) on Sept 24.<\/p>\n
NHB chief executive Chang Hwee Nee said the nomination underscores the cultural significance of zapin for communities in Singapore and across the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope this milestone will inspire a new generation of practitioners to keep this cherished dance form alive as part of our living heritage, while encouraging Singaporeans to explore and embrace its rich traditions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
This is the first time Singapore is jointly nominating a performing art form for UNESCO\u2019s list. It is the Republic\u2019s fourth nomination.<\/p>\n
Intangible cultural heritage refers to traditions or living expressions that are inherited and passed on between generations, such as performing arts, social practices, rituals and festive events.<\/p>\n
Zapin is an upbeat-tempo dance associated with budaya<\/i> (culture), nilai<\/i> (values) and adab<\/i> (etiquette). It is believed to have been introduced to the Malay Archipelago during the 13th to 15th centuries by Arab Muslim communities.<\/p>\n
It is one of five dance forms commonly practised by the Malay dance community in Singapore \u2013 the others are asli, inang, joget and masri.<\/p>\n
It is characterised by dance movements choreographed to lively melodies, which are performed with musical instruments like the gambus<\/i> (short-necked lute), accordion and rebana <\/i>(traditional drum).<\/p>\n
The dance moves often mimic the movements of animals and the natural world, such as the keluang<\/i> (fruit bat), batang <\/i>(tree trunk) and pusau<\/i> (swirl).<\/p>\n
Georgina Koh, NHB\u2019s director of heritage policy and research, said zapin has a vibrant practising community here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have also heard from the practitioners that they not just frequent festivals in Singapore to share zapin with the community here, but also participate in regional festivals where zapin is being shared, both the local variants as well as cross-sharing between the regions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The multinational nomination builds upon decades of regional community collaboration, with festivals such as Zapin D\u2019Muara, which later evolved into the annual Muara Festival in Singapore, featuring dancers and musicians across the region, said NHB.<\/p>\n
There are various zapin subgenres performed in the region. One form that has its roots in Singapore is Zapin Asyik, created by choreographer Liau Ah Choon in the 1960s after she watched performers at a Terengganu wedding and adapted it here.<\/p>\n
In the past, zapin was performed in Singapore only during significant or ceremonial occasions such as weddings.<\/p>\n
Today, the traditional dance has grown in popularity and is widely performed at various events and festivals by Malay dancers and students, including those from specialised dance companies and student interest groups, said NHB.<\/p>\n
It is sustained through strong community participation and education here, NHB added.<\/p>\n
Traditional Malay performing arts groups play a pivotal role as longstanding community anchors, mentoring the next generation of zapin enthusiasts and regularly showcasing zapin to the wider public.<\/p>\n
Complementing these efforts are local educational institutions, which offer co-curricular activities (CCAs) and clubs dedicated to traditional Malay dance to students from various cultural backgrounds.<\/p>\n Zapin practitioners at the Malay Heritage Centre on Sept 24.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Som Said, 75, founder of dance company Sri Warisan Som Said Performing Arts, has been involved in the zapin community for 61 years. She has created multiple works, such as Zapin Telok Blangah, a subgenre that has been performed in more than 100 cities around the world.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that zapin will be further recognised on the international stage,\u201d she said, adding that she wants to continue promoting zapin locally and internationally and to help younger generations appreciate the art form.<\/p>\n Osman Abdul Hamid, 64, who founded Era Dance Theatre, said zapin is a living heritage that carries the history, values and collective memory of the community.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you learn zapin in Indonesia or in Malaysia, it\u2019s different from what we have in Singapore,\u201d he said. \u201cThat shows Malay arts are very rich. It\u2019s not stagnant; it\u2019s not just one type of zapin.\u201d<\/p>\n He has tried to create new genres and approaches to zapin that are more energetic and contemporary to reach out to the younger generation.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce they are engaged with us, we will teach them the more traditional zapin, which is more structured… and then we transfer the values of zapin,\u201d he said, adding that the dance form\u2019s graceful and disciplined steps reflect the values of respect, humility and togetherness.<\/p>\n Sri Warisan Som Said Performing Arts and Osman are past recipients of the Stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage Award, in recognition of their safeguarding efforts in the field of traditional Malay dance, including zapin.<\/p>\n Young practitioners of zapin here include 20-year-old Mohammad Aniq Haqif, a resident choreographer of zapin with Dharma Endari, a traditional Malay dance group based at Republic Polytechnic.<\/p>\n He started learning zapin in primary school as a CCA, drawn by its distinctive sound, rhythm, beat and the values that the art form instils, such as respect for the elderly.<\/p>\n \u201cThe nomination is motivation especially for the younger generation,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need it to boost our energy and to continue what the older generation has passed on to us.\u201d<\/p>\n Zapin is an upbeat-tempo dance associated with budaya (culture), nilai (values) and adab (etiquette).<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Since UNESCO\u2019s intangible cultural heritage list was launched in 2008, 716 intangible cultural heritage elements have been inscribed as at December 2025.<\/p>\n Singapore\u2019s first nomination was hawker culture, which was successfully inscribed in 2020. The second was the kebaya, a joint nomination with Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand,<\/span><\/a> which was successfully inscribed in 2024. The third nomination of Chingay with Malaysia<\/span><\/a> is awaiting evaluation by UNESCO.<\/p>\n Results for the fourth nomination may be made known in two to three years, after its submission in March 2027, said NHB.<\/p>\n UNESCO\u2019s evaluation takes into account how the countries ensure the promotion and transmission of the practice, and how the bid involved the participation of the community in each country.<\/p>\n Zapin practitioners giving a demonstration of the dance at the Malay Heritage Centre on Sept 24.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n NHB said it would conduct focus group discussions throughout the nomination process to seek views on the social and cultural significance of zapin, as well as measures to safeguard it. It will also work closely with the community to raise public awareness of and participation in zapin among Singaporeans of all backgrounds.<\/p>\n Koh said discussions will also involve documentation of the art form, as zapin is mostly shared through oral forms or actual practice.<\/p>\n Noramin Farid, co-founder and resident producer of Malay dance troupe DIAN Dancers, and senior lecturer at the faculty of creative arts of the Universiti Malaya, said he hopes the nomination inspires audiences to discover zapin\u2019s rich regional history and to engage with the art form.<\/p>\n \u201cThis joint effort beautifully reflects the art form\u2019s long history as a practice shared across borders, which binds our neighbouring countries together through a shared sense of belonging,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n SINGAPORE \u2013 Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia will be putting up a joint bid for zapin, a traditional Malay performing art with deep roots in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":87652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/87652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=87651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=87651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/picture><\/div>
<\/picture><\/div>
<\/picture><\/div>
\n
\n
Read Full Article At Source <\/a>
\n