KUALA LUMPUR – At first glance, Aqfierudzar Rizq Mohd Sulhie comes across as any other playful young child, but the 8-year-old wayang kulit (shadow puppet play) performer is mature far beyond his years, given his ambition to preserve the fading art form for future generations.
Despite his young age, the pint-sized Aqfierudzar – affectionately known as Pyu – has already shown extraordinary talent in both the Kelantanese performance arts of wayang kulit and dikir barat, garnering national attention as he began learning the ropes when he was only four.
Fast forward to today, Pyu reveals he already has plans to become an academic who specialises in the traditional art form.
This was revealed during his latest performance at a breaking of fast event at Ladang Farm Fresh in Serdang, where he showcased his skills as a Tok Dalang (puppet master) to some 40 other children during the intimate gathering.
And with the support of his doting father Mohd Sulhie Yusuf, also a traditional Kelantanese performing arts expert, and mother Aniza Musa, Pyu may be well on his way to inspiring his peers to appreciate and cherish this form of national heritage.
“I want to become a teacher in university to teach wayang kulit,” the Year 2 pupil at Setia Budi primary school told The Vibes.
In the past, Pyu had indicated he wanted to improve his English to bring wayang kulit on to the global stage, although Bahasa Malaysia remains his favourite subject in school.
His father, 45-year-old Sulhie, said Pyu developed a natural liking for wayang kulit after being exposed to the art form from the age of three.
Sulhie, who runs the Kelantanese performing arts outfit Akademi Arjunasukma, said he relocated to Gombak in Selangor from Kg Padang Lalang in Tanah Merah, Kelantan, to support his child’s ambitions.
“I grew up in a family and environment of Kelantanese arts,” Sulhie explained.
“So throughout my involvement since I was 10-years-old, with dikir barat, silat and others, I observed there was a lack of artists combining intellect and knowledge in their craft.”
Sulhie said he therefore feels there is a need to strike a balance between the mastery of academic knowledge and the skills involved in practising the local art forms.
He said this is the vision that he had for Pyu.
Sulhie insists that he had not forced Pyu into following in his footsteps. Instead, Pyu has shown genuine curiosity in what his father does for a living.
“From the beginning, I never expected him to go in that direction,” he said.
“But as time went by, he showed extraordinary interest. So I followed him and he has shown his abilities.”
With a maturity far beyond his years, Pyu’s abilities include bringing more than 10 puppet characters to life from behind the screen, and using different tones of voice to represent each character in order to breathe life into a story.
The young boy’s talent has seen him hold regular performances in Malaysia, Singapore and other places.
In 2020, Pyu performed at Yayasan Hasanah’s Arts for All Seasons (ArtsFAS) event at the Publika shopping centre, leading to Sulhie securing an ArtsFAS grant of RM50,000 for their 3 Dalang, 3 Generasi performance in 2021.
Generous backers
With Sulfie’s vision for his son to have both academic knowledge and skills in traditional performing arts, Yayasan Hasanah – the foundation under sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd – has provided financial support and other forms of assistance to the family.
Aside from helping to customise his performance sets and shadow puppets, Yayasan Hasanah has also assisted Pyu in gaining a scholarship at Setia Budi, a private school under the International Islamic University Malaysia.
Khazanah Nasional managing director Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir called Pyu a “national treasure” that the wealth fund wants to showcase to the country to allow all to appreciate Malaysia’s local heritage.
“When it comes to Khazanah, our long-term strategy is for advancing Malaysia. At the end of the day, we are investing in sustainable values for Malaysia,” Amirul said.
“Sustainable value does not mean just monetary or commercial (value), but also societal value as well, which includes our capacity building. It also means having vibrant communities and making sure that our heritage is put forth so we can appreciate it more.”
Meanwhile, Yayasan Hasanah managing director Datuk Shahira Ahmed Bazari said the foundation had discovered Pyu through his exposure on mainstream media and was instantly fascinated by the young talent.
She noted that Pyu is a third-generation wayang kulit artist and Tok Dalang, making him a special child with an even more special story.
“The father wants him to be successful not only in the arts but to be academically strong as well,” she said, adding that the foundation’s support for Pyu and his family is aimed at unlocking the child’s fullest potential.
“He (Sulhie) wants his son to be an educated artist, which is very touching.”
Shahira said Pyu is a grant recipient of the foundation’s Talent Development in the Arts programme, which helps local artists to grow and develop their profession.
She said the foundation also has other related programmes such as Arts for All Seasons, which enables artists to have continued economic activity, and raises awareness and knowledge of the arts among all layers of society.
“We give grants to all arts practitioners, not just those in performing arts, but others in the visual arts, crafts and more,” she said.
She said that last year, the foundation had provided funds for about 1,300 artists affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Shahira added that the foundation will be opening grant applications for its arts festival scheduled for later this year, which is open to artists of all ages.
The applications, she said, will begin on May 9, after the Hari Raya festivities, and those interested can visit the foundation’s website at yayasanhasanah.org – The Vibes, May 2, 2022
