KUALA LUMPUR: Award-winning Malaysian filmmaker Chong Keat Aun's recently released fifth Chinese New Year folk music video, Echoes of the New Year, features diverse cultural elements in an effort to celebrate and preserve traditional local arts and culture.
Filmed amidst the paddy fields of Sekinchan in Selangor, the music video features the folk arts of Hakka, Cantonese, Hainanese, Teochew, Hokkien and Peranakan communities.
It also highlights diverse cultural elements from the sape to cak lempong, as well as the dragon and lion dance, Chinese opera, 24 festive drums, Chinese zithers and more.
Produced by SunStrong Entertainment with Janji Pictures, Southern Islet Pictures and The Classic Accents, the music video opens with a classic poem that gives a sense of renewal and hope as everyone can now look forward to celebrating the festive season again after enduring two years of hardship due to the pandemic.
Props seen in the music video such as kuku kambing (traditional crowbar), millstone, bakul siah (auspicious basket), porcelain plates and paper windmill are real artefacts that belong to the elderly in different communities.
Chong, a Golden Horse Award winner (the Chinese equivalent of the Oscars), has spent 18 years documenting local oral traditions of different Chinese dialects and sharing these stories with the larger community through various mediums.
In a statement yesterday, SunStrong Entertainment founder and music video executive producer Jment Lim said: "Collaborating with a creative as phenomenal as Chong for the second time, we are able to create works that showcase local folk arts, which allows us to ensure they thrive and live on."
"That way, the new generation will get to know that there is also folk music which has been part of our communities for centuries besides the popular Chinese New Year songs we hear today," he said.
The music video is performed by Sung Fong Meng Cantonese Opera, Penang Teochew Puppet & Opera House, Hainanese Opera actress Mah Ah Mooi, singer Winnie Ho, Kun Seng Keng Dragon & Lion Dance Selangor, Souls Impact Percussion, Klang Pin Hwa High School Drum Team and Rithaudin Nusantara Dance with music arranged by Alu8khan Chen and Chris M. Yong.
During the premiere ceremony of the music video at Pavilion Bukit Jalil here recently, Communications and Digital Deputy Minister Teo Nie Ching said she was impressed with the music video and even welcomed Chong to film in her constituency of Kulai, Johor.
Selangor State Legislative Assembly Speaker and Sekinchan assemblyman Ng Suee Lim who was also present, commended Chong for showcasing the beauty of Sekinchan and vowed to promote the music video throughout the festive period and use it for the tourism promotion of Sekinchan this year.