Mother placed her handbag delicately over her arm and held my hand as we walked into this wonderland of lights strung from the trees in the garden and musicians sitting in a corner filled the night with the sounds of familiar music. Baba Ong’s son has returned from England, having graduated as a doctor. So Baba Ong and his wife, Kim Neo, have invited family and friends to celebrate. 

After a th’ng tok (long table) dinner, we all sat around casually in the open space in the big hall of this mansion. I sat next to mother and grandmother with the other ladies in a little tete a tete.  Little girls are to sit quiet and stay well behaved. 

The nyonyas drop earrings glittering in the dark as they talked animatedly, the colourful baju kebayas and, the music that was flooding this hall and spilling out to the garden, enchanted me.  The keroncong ensemble began to play and a heightened excitement seems to fill the room.  Old Baba Kim Teck, a popular dondang sayang personality started the entertainment for the night with the opening lines of a pantun (poem) that signals a night of dondang sayang and dance following.

Dondang Sayang literally means songs of love. 

Baba and Nyonyas enjoy the dondang sayang, a favourite past time on festive occasions.  These are an exchange of witty, humorous banter and poems accompanied by the violin, accordion and traditional instruments like the rebana, drum and gong. These lyrics were also found recorded in pantun and syair melayu booklets that were sold then.

Keroncong originated in the 16^th century with the arrival of the Dutch and Portuguese in the Malay Archipelago.  Sailors from Portugal brought Bobian instruments and music and this gives rise to songs like Buka Pinto, Nina Bobo Opapaja, Sarinande, among others.

Keroncong was popular with the peranakan communities and is performed by men or women.  The songs are sung in slow sustained notes, in a theatrical melancholic tone with the violins and flute filling in the pause between the singer and song.  Sung, danced and performed by guests at weddings and birthdays, someone would begin with a romantic theme and it goes around, carried by others, and each taking turns to compose a spontaneous witty response. As they sing, they may take to the dance floor and move in slow gyrations to the slow movement and tempo of the song.  A quiet and clever repartee will bring laughter and applause from everyone present. This rhythm and melody is carried by voice, flute or violin. The flute or violin usually plays the introductory elaborate passages.

My favourite Keroncong Kemayuran begins to play.  Old nenek got up to dance with a young man.  The crowd cheers this cheeky fun grand old lady on.  Matriarchs seldom dance as this is seen as improper.  But then again, this is Old nenek.

Old time favorites are Bangsawan solo, Sapu Tangan, Inang china, Bunga rampai, Nonalah Nona, Chan Mali Chan, Baju shanghai floated from the violin strings and its accompanying instruments. The guests happily sang along. This warmed up the crowd and when Burung Kaka Tua, Enjit Enjit  Semut, Chan Mali Chan, Ole Ole Bandung, Trek Tek Tek, and Lagu Congo played,  both young and old Babas and Nyonyas  bounced to a good joget, chacha and samba dance.

The night draws to a close and guests stood up to leave. I climbed on the back seat of grandpa’s Morris Minor and looked behind me. The gaily lighted bulbs winked good night from the trees, and P. Ramlee and Saloma croons a love song as we drove off into the night.

Article and Pictures provided by Lillian Tong for Penang Passion.com