15 Jul 2020

The Secret Story of the Sarong

Admin

Part clothing, part weapon, all amazing

Author : Nabila Riza (TUS Guest Writer from Indonesia) & Pendekar Hussein (TUS Founder)

Tarung Sarung: Indonesian movie featuring the Sarong as it was used by the Bugis tribe in Sulawesi in a dueling format. The Bugis tribe is renowned in Indonesia and Malaysia for their martial prowess and warrior culture. Famous Bugis include the former Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, who is the leader of the Orang Kaya Indera Shahbandar (اورڠ كاي ايندرا شهبندر). A Bugis family that is part of the royal court of the Pahang Sultanate. They trace their history to To Tuan, a Bugis chief who settled in Pahang and married a local wife.

History of the Beloved Cloth

Sarong is one of the oldest styles of clothing still worn today, and the national clothing of countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Yemen, Burma, and Somalia. A long fabric made of cotton, silk or rayon, it is worn as a wide piece of cloth around the waist to cover the lower part of the body. And in extreme cases, used as a weapon for self-defense in the various arts of Pencak Silat. The Sarong has a long history in the Nusantara (Indonesia and Malaysia) but its origins can be traced back to pre-Islamic Arab society in the land of Yemen, in the Arabian Peninsula, where the Sarong is called Futah (فُوطَة‎) or Izzar (إِزَار‎) by local people. And Saroun (صارون) by the Hadrami people, many of whom have tribal descendants in Indonesia and Malaysia until today known as Sada (blood relations of the Prophet Muhamad PBUH) and Non-Sada (blood relations to the Prophet Muhamad’s tribe of Quraysh). Syed Al-Mashhor, one of the most famous Malay Hadramis, was a Sada who was a key figure in the Klang Wars, in Selangor, Malaysia.

In the Nusantara, Sarong came to the islands via Arab and Indian merchants who brought their wares for sale and settled in their new homeland. The Sarong is now one of the most iconic symbols of the the people of the Nusantara and the art of Pencak Silat. Sarong was popularized by the merchant sailors in the Malay Peninsula near Sumatera and Java islands. These sailors were Muslims who used the Sarong to properly cover themselves while they prayed, as it is still used today in Malaysia and Indonesia. So it is through those people that the Sarong made its early appearance in the Nusantara and was adopted by the local inhabitants. The plaid Sarong in Indonesia and Malaysia is usually used as clothing during worship, differing from the Arabian Peninsula where it is a standard part of a man’s daily wardrobe. For Arabs, wearing the traditional long white robe (thobe) is preferred at times of worship.

Yemeni villagers wearing the Sarong and Jambiya (traditional Arabic knife) in Bayt Al-Faqih (بيت الفـــقية‎)

Old footage of a Yemeni dance with Jambiya knives and the Futah or Sarong. Some Yemeni Sarong are open and some are closed. The open is the oldest style of Sarong.

Sarong, Songket, Batik: More Than Just Clothing

Sarong is a very symbolic part of the culture of the Nusantara and it holds a special place in the hearts of the people. Through the Sarong you can identify social classes, tribes, ceremonies, and more. Specialized types of Sarong like “Songket” are used for very formal occasions and their quality and style can command hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars in the case of nobility. The Songket of a Sultan and that of an office worker would be vastly different in terms of quality, texture, and of course, price. Songket is one of the traditional weaving methods of “Orang Melayu”, Malay people, and is often embroidered with gold and silver thread. Songket is famous in Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia, especially in Palembang and Padang, areas which have large Malay communities dating back to the great Malay Empire of Sri Wijaya. The Songket weaving methods reached all over the Malay Archipelago through alliances forged between noble families, as the Songket, often incredibly expensive, was used as part of the dowry in marriages. Such practices helped to bring the high art of the Songket to the royal courts and noble families of the Nusantara.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin of Malaysia in front of the Sultan. Both wearing impeccable Songket of the highest quality over their Baju Melayu, a traditional two-piece suit worn by Malay men.

Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, fell in love with Batik after being gifted a tailored Batik shirt from president Suharto of Indonesia. Afterwards, he commissioned his tailor to make all his shirts of Batik fabric.

In Malaysia, it’s a mark of pride to wear traditionally made clothing from Terengganu. Terengganu being one of the most famous places for Batik, Songket, and Sarong. The history of Songket goes back centuries and commands incredible prices for the best selections and designs. The most popular motifs are natural scenes: leaves and flowers. Malaysian Batik depicting humans or animals are rare because of the Islamic prohibition disallowing the engraving or design of living things in physical form. The eastern Malaysian states of Terengganu and Kelantan are traditionally more religiously conservative, hence designs take on a more natural aspect of the environment. However, the butterfly theme is a common exception. Malaysian Batik is also famous for its geometrical designs such as spirals. The method of Malaysian Batik making is also quite different from those of Indonesian Batik, the patterns being larger and simpler, and a different dyeing method applied. The colors also tend to be lighter and softer in comparison to the deep-colored Javanese Batik styles. Malaysian weavers are famous all over Southeast Asia for their incredible quality and high standards of production.

In Indonesia, the most well-known dyeing methods for Sarong are the "Batik" and "Ikat" methods. "Batik" is an ancient dyeing method that originated in Java. The word Batik comes from the Javanese word "tik", which signifies to dot. This method of dyeing consists of applying hot wax over portions of a cloth to retain its original color, then the cloth is dyed and patterned. Ikat is a type of tribal print and the dyeing method has been historically used in Southeast Asia as well as in South America for centuries. The word "Ikat" means to bind or to tie something together. The fabric is first dyed using this method and then woven. Ikat is a woven fabric that is distinguished by a blurred or feathered edge to a design produced by tie-dyeing yarns before weaving the fabric. Ikat prints are distinguished by their bold, powerful colors. 

Sarong During the Era of Colonialism in the Nusantara

The Sarong and Songket, which was always held in high regard by the people of the Nusantara, lost much of its honor and nobility during the colonial era. As colonial administrators made a point of looking down on local clothing styles as backward, many of the inhabitants of the areas started to retreat from wearing traditional clothes. Famous Pendekars like Abdul Wahab Hasbullah (Left) founder of Nahdatul Ulama in Indonesia and Tok Janggut (Right) from Kelantan, Malaysia, were instrumental figures in fighting against the colonialists, in bloody battles, as well as against their ideology of cultural superiority.

Sarong and Pencak Silat

Silat is known in particular for its extremely effective use of edged weapons and empty hand combat methods for warfare or self-defense purposes. But the Sarong, which is usually worn as a piece of everyday clothing, can also act as a tool in self-defense when you find yourself unarmed or you have lost your primary weapon. The Sarong can be used for locks, holds, and also to trap an opponent's weapon hand in order to take them to the floor and further disable them. It can be particularly useful for defense against blades as the fabric is long enough to offer a bit of distance between the Pesilat (Silat practitioner) and the attacker. In more extreme self-defense cases, the Sarong was loaded with a rock and soaked in water, effectively creating a type of flexible mace. Sarong techniques of this type generally belong to the category of flexible weapons, and the techniques can be modified to work with similar portable cloth like handkerchiefs or Cukin, the traditional around-the-neck Sarong popularized by Orang Betawi (Betawi people) in Java. Needless to say, bringing a piece of cloth against a knife attacker isn’t the best choice, therefore it is classified as a last-resort self-defense tool and not a primary weapon against a knife. A Golok, Karambit, or Smith and Wesson revolver would be a much better option for such an occasion.

There are also stories of the Sarong being a tool of guerrilla warfare against the Dutch, British, and Japanese colonialists. When covered in mud and brush it was said to act as a makeshift Ghillie suit to break the human form and create camouflage. The Pendekars then sprung out, or sometimes down from a tree, onto colonial forces and cut them down until they were themselves martyred. Whether these stories are true or not is less important as the image of the Sarong and its part in them, as an iconic symbol of Pencak Silat and resistance against foreign occupation of the Nusantara.

The Sarong Today

The noble Sarong, which was once ridiculed and looked down upon during the era of colonialism as low-class clothing, is now re-surging in popularity among the younger generations due to the efforts of the Indonesian and Malaysian governments to preserve its honor. And the culture of wearing Sarong, Songket, and Batik. In Malaysia, it’s common to see people walk around in full traditional regalia on Fridays as it is the official day for group prayers (Salat Al-Jumah) and family gatherings. In Indonesia, the Sarong and Batik are commonly seen worn by all levels of government officials as a signature of the culture and history of the land. Modern designers are also using traditional motifs to create new and interesting clothing that have a wider appeal for younger people, further strengthening the cultural tie to the Sarong. The Sarong is also one of the most visual symbols of the influence of Islamic culture on the Malay Archipelago, forever binding the history of the Arabian Peninsula with the great sea empires of the Nusantara. As the martial arts of the Archipelago become more well-known around the world, people outside the Nusantara are also learning about the Sarong, wearing it in their training sessions, and learning the techniques of self-defense ,using it against weapons of all shapes and sizes. The noble Sarong is the most iconic symbol of our beloved art of Pencak Silat. Every time we wear it we honor the Pendekars before us who shed their blood for the systems we are all benefitting from today. We are Pesilat. Sarong should be more than just clothing for us. Sarong is our identity.