Bersiwai

When I look at the photo of an Orang Asli thatched roof house with tree bark walls in the blog I sent yesterday, I remember about one of their ceremony called 'bersiwai'.

'Bersiwai' is an Orang Asli gathering and merry making at night time, I have never been to. Probably then we the Malays never took part, it was not a part of our culture. But since it happened in Pahang (a Sultanate State in Malaysia)it probably can be considered as a Pahang culture. I am told that the Orang Asli in their settlements used to dress up in their best for the night occassion, wearing also decorative items made of 'lidi' and woven coconut leaves materials dancing to some sort of bamboo instrument beat music in the simmering light of the kerosene 'pelita' or even in the shadow of the moonlight. It was all shouts and grunts of men and women, where I suppose anything and everything went. That was probably why we Malays (except for a few taking advantage of the situation) never went or were never allowed to go.

I have a writeup of my experience with Orang Asli in my blog http://why360.motime.com/tag/orang_asli