GEORGE TOWN – The natural beauty in Teluk Kumbar has been put into song by Penang Forum spokesman Khoo Salma Nasution.
A vocal opponent of the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project, she said the idea to write a song came about in December 2019 and songwriting was completed in February last year.
“I had the idea to write two songs, one of them was for contemporary dancer, Aida Redza, to use for her performance, but it is not produced yet.
“In the end, I managed to produce this song named Istimewa Kawasan Selatan, translated as Uniqueness of the Southern Region, performed by Azmyl Yunor, who also writes songs with a social message.”
With her musical background, she was moved to uncover the old drapes over her children’s keyboard left idle for 10 years to put P. Ramlee-inspired melodies to the four-verse song.
“At that time, I was working with the former chairman of the Penang Fishermen’s Association, Nazri Ahmad, and he told me that though people say that with the PSR, boats can still travel anywhere, it is not true.
“When you go further out to the west, off Balik Pulau, near Pulau Betong, the winds can be very strong. When they come back to Teluk Kumbar, the waves and winds are calm.
“The bay is like a haven where the waters are shallow, around 4m deep. There are a lot of prawns, so it is the main area to catch them. That is the inspiration for my first verse,” she said.
In her second verse, she depicts what happens at the horizon, off the Teluk Kumbar shoreline, where there are at least 60 boats at any one time.
“It is where the seafloor drops, and there is an abundance of fish and prawns for the fishermen. Regular Penang folk don’t know about this.”
She also highlighted the issue of the 29-storey hostel built to house 35,000 migrant workers at the border of Gertak Sanggul and Teluk Kumbar in the third verse, where the song’s lyrics paint a beautiful sunset.
“These people have no imagination. Of all the things they can do, they want to put up a hostel.
“First of all, it will overwhelm the population, and secondly, that beautiful sunset will be tainted by the building.”
Finally, she homes in on the two islands that contribute to the rich biodiversity of the southern region, Pulau Kendi and Pulau Rimau, encouraging fishermen to speak up against the PSR project.
“This song contains all the elements that make Teluk Kumbar so special, ones that many Penangites don’t know about,” she said, adding that this song is dedicated to coastal fishermen in southern Penang in protest to the implementation of PSR in those waters.” – The Vibes, May 13, 2021
