Kompang Competition 2024 Platform To Showcase Regional Heritage Diversity

MELAKA, June 23 (Bernama) -- The “Kompang dan Persembahan Rebana Nusantara 2024” competition, featuring participants from Indonesia and Singapore, can serve as a platform to enhance cultural and artistic networks and promote the diversity of regional heritage.

State Tourism, Heritage, Arts and Culture Committee chairman Datuk Abdul Razak Abdul Rahman therefore said the Melaka government will elevate the competition to a large-scale annual event, expanding participation to include more countries in the region to showcase the unique art and cultural traditions of playing kompang and rebana from each participating nation.

“The Kompang dan Persembahan Rebana Nusantara 2024 competition is held in conjunction with Visit Melaka Year 2024 (VMM 2024) and has received positive feedback from participants abroad, including Indonesia and Singapore.

“The art of playing kompang should be preserved because it is one of the Malay artistic and cultural heritages that is also played across the archipelago with its own techniques and performances,” he told reporters after officiating the closing ceremony of the competition here today.

Abdul Razak said that the organisation of the competition could also help boost the state’s tourism sector and draw more international tourists to Melaka.

In addition, he said the competition serves as the best platform to discover new talents in the playing of kompang among the younger generation, enabling them to safeguard this intangible cultural heritage.

Earlier, he said about 700 participants from 34 groups took part in the competition, which was divided into categories such as primary school, secondary school, open, and higher education institutions (IPT).

In the open category, the Labuhanbatu Utara group from Indonesia emerged as the winner, taking home RM6,000 in cash, while Gema Malaya from Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, won the IPT category earning RM3,000 in cash prizes.

In the primary school category, Sekolah Rendah Selandar, Jasin, emerged victorious, while the Kompang ASiS group from Sekolah Menengah Sains Alam Shah, Kuala Lumpur, won the secondary school category, each receiving RM3,000 cash.

-- BERNAMA