【The Âtre 】：邊緣群體的發聲

二零二三年九月號 Issue 09

https://considerate-ferret-5zll1f.mystrikingly.com/

今年5月份，受新加坡濱海藝術中心委約，Orang Pulau（島嶼原住民，也稱作Orang Laut 「海人」）後裔菲爾道斯（Firdaus Sani）與詩人阿斯尼達（Asnida Daud）聯手呈現一齣舞台劇「Air Da Tohor」（潮汐退去），重現海人逝去的歷史與文化。

世世代代沿海為生的海人，在新加坡被殖民時期，以及獨立後的國家發展中，遭遇了離散和被消音的宿命：有的海人被迫離開新加坡，有的被迫搬遷到新加坡本島去。老一輩海人逐漸老去，海人的文化與記憶也隨之漸漸消逝。菲道爾斯眼見海人文化傳統與手藝流失，於是在2020年發起了Orang Laut SG（新加坡海人組織），通過社交媒體（@oranglautsg）和網站（oranglaut.sg），除了紀錄和保留海人美食的文化，這些年來也提高了新加坡人對海人文化的意識與認知。

海人是新加坡官方歷史裡隱形的族群，但也有藝術家對海人感興趣：早在2001年，跨媒介藝術家載昆寧（Zai Kuning）在劇團「劇藝工作坊」的藝術入駐計劃下，開始探索海人文化。載昆寧從對海人的藝術探索，漸漸擴展到探索古新加坡與周邊廖內群島複雜的歷史文化關係，他閱讀到馬來古國三佛齊第一位君王（Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa）和其2萬海人大軍的事蹟，於是自2014年起，他以海人視角重新想像馬來文化歷史，運用船型意象，在新加坡、香港、巴黎製造了四艘不同版本的藤船，創作出《Dapunta Hyang：知識的傳播》：一艘長17米、高4米的藤船裝置，2017年在威尼斯雙年展展出，隔年在新加坡「劇藝工作坊」展出。

在官方歷史中消失的海人族群，向來只是歷史研究員的對象，由藝術家為其發聲；到了社交媒體時代，海人族群也有了更多渠道来保留/推廣自身文化，也能獲得官方藝術機構（如濱海藝術中心）的支持與資源供給。

但也有組織從中看到了商機：2022年，旅遊體驗業者「出發吧！新加坡旅遊」設計了一個旅遊配套，邀請公眾乘船遊歷新加坡南部島嶼，安排演員在船上扮演「海人」為乘客講述海人歷史，頗富戲劇色彩。然而新加坡海人組織指出，該體驗式演出對海人文化的詮釋有誤：例如讓「海人」角色穿馬來傳統服飾；例如遊客與「海人」竟然是乘搭中國古帆船出海。海人在城市發展下遭受傷害，如今又在企業商機下二度受害。

藝術可以是為邊緣群體賦權的有效媒介，但如何有意識地、負責任地為邊緣群體發聲，如何尊重而不淪於消費他們的文化—— 間接加速了邊緣文化的消亡—— 是藝術工作者們接下來需要進一步進行的探索。

The Âtre Issue 09 (September 2023) https://www.the-atre.com/

Voices of Marginalized Groups

Text/Neo Hai Bin

In May this year (2023), Firdaus Sani, a descendant of Orang Pulau (also known as Orang Laut "Sea People"), and Asnida Daud, a poet, jointly presented a theatre performance "Air Da Tohor" (The tide is low).  Commissioned by the Esplanade, the play attempts to revisit and raise awareness about the lost history and culture of the Orang Laut.

During the colonization of Singapore, and following the development of the country after independence, the Orang Lauts, who have been living along the coast for generations, have suffered the fate of being separated and silenced: some were forced to leave Singapore, while others were forced to relocate from the sea to the main Island. As the older generation of Orang Lauts aged, their culture and memories faded away with them. Amidst the loss of their cultural traditions and crafts, Fidelis founded Orang Laut SG in 2020. Through social media (@oranglautsg) and website (oranglaut.sg), he seeks to document and preserve the way of living, such as food and culture, in order to raise awareness amongst Singaporeans.

The Orang Laut remains quite an invisible community in Singapore's official history, but there are artists who have been interested in the history and culture of the Orang Laut. Since as early as 2001, cross-disciplinary artist Zai Kuning explored the culture of the Orang Laut community under the Artist-in-Residence program of a Singapore theatre company “TheatreWorks”. Zai Kuning's artistic exploration of the Orang Laut gradually expanded to the exploration of the complex historical and cultural relationship between ancient Singapore and the Riau Islands. 

He read about the first king of the ancient Malay kingdom of Srivijaya (Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa) and his 20,000-strong Orang Laut army, and from 2014, he has been re-imagining the history of Malay culture from the Orang Lauts’ point of view, utilizing the imagery of a boat. Four different versions of the rattan boat were made in Singapore, in Hong Kong, and in Paris to create “Dapunta Hyang: Transmission of Knowledge”: a 17-meter-long, 4-meter-high rattan boat installation, which was exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2017, and then at TheatreWorks in Singapore the following year.

Without much presence in official history, the Orang Laut community seems to be the subject of interest of researchers and artists. In the age of social media, the community now has digital platforms to preserve and promote their culture, as well as access to the support and resources provided by official arts organizations (such as the Esplanade).

But some organizations had also jumped on the bandwagon, seeing this as a business opportunity: in 2022, a “theatrical” boat tour offered by “Let’s Go Tour Singapore”  designed a travel package that invited the public to take a boat trip to the southern islands of Singapore. During the trip, actors would play the role of “Orang Laut”— throughout the journey, these “Orang Laut” would convey the stories of the seafarers. However, according to Orang Laut SG, this experiential production failed to accurately portray the culture of the Orang Laut: for example, the misuse of the traditional Malay costumes on the actors, and the bizarre use of a Chinese junk boat in a boat tour that is supposedly about the Orang Laut culture. The Orang Laut had been victims of urban development, and now they are being exploited again by corporate business opportunities.

Art can be an effective medium for empowering marginalized groups, but how do we consciously and responsibly give voice to the marginalized groups; and how do we avoid degradation of their culture so that we do not fall into the traps of turning their culture into commodities for consumption, indirectly accelerating the demise of these marginalized communities… These are pertinent question that artists need to further explore in the coming years.

* “She started a boat tour business with her husband to share her Orang Laut heritage and bring people closer to the sea” : https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/women/get-hooked-sg-orang-laut-nurhuda-saad-383621