The Boria. 



By A. W. Hamilton. 



Penang is the home of the Boria and this annual feast of fun 

 is looked forward to by old and young Malays and Chinese alike 

 with the greatest excitement and curiosity. 



The name Boria is applied to the performances of a troupe 

 of strolling minstrels who appear during the first ten days of the 

 Muharram and at no other time of the year. Each troupe con- 

 sists of twenty to forty youths, usually friends or inhabitants of 

 the same locality, who band together for the purpose of enjoyment 

 and emulation with the prospect of earning enough money for a 

 bean feast on the completion of their labours. Being as penurious 

 as the majority of their fellow countrymen they have first to find ,a 

 manager who will finance the whole concern and reimburse himself 

 with interest from the profits. 



This matter being arranged, a tulcang karang or composer and 

 leading tenor is chosen and it devolves on him to determine the 

 key-tune or chorus of the troupe and the words to be sung to it, 

 which should contain allusion to the locality from which the troupe 

 spring and if possible a reference to what they represented last year. 

 It is necessary next to divide the party into the two divisions of- 

 musicians and players, the latter being subdivided into star-turns 

 and chorus. 



Having decided what the troupe is going to represent such as 

 a band of European or Arab soldiery or a group of Chinese or 

 Javanese or any other class of people, the manager proceeds to 

 purchase outfits suitable for the part and hires or borrows the 

 musical instruments. 



The band usually consists of half a dozen instruments vary- 

 ing in nature with the representation, and it approximates both in 

 tune and structure to the national instruments of the country re- 

 presented. A cavalcade of Bedouins would give prominence to the 

 manias and a group of Indians to the dol whilst Chinese or Euro- 

 peans would be incomplete without the addition of c} T mbals (che n 

 che n and a drum (tamoor) respectively. 



The one essential instrument is the violin as it is the accom- 

 paniment to the recitation of the tulcang karang or composer. 



The two or three star turns are now arranged with regard to 

 the capabilities of the actors to mimic the dancing of the national- 

 ity represented, or some trait in their character or well known 

 feature of their daily life. The field is wide and full advantage is 

 taken of it to portray chetties and sensen, blustering officers and 

 coy dancing girls, together with a host of other well known 

 characters. 



Jour. Straits Branch R. A. Soc, No. 82, 1920. 



