Singapore Writers Festival 2024: Orang Laut mantras and South-east Asian monsters

SINGAPORE – Legs splayed wide, the face of a snarling tiger – half orange, half white – on his shirt, Fransiskus Tintin calmly told those present that he was responsible for all living things on land, under the sea and in the spirit realm in his tribe.

The setting of The Arts House on Nov 10 was incongruous with the Northern Bintan Orang Laut leader’s spiritual proclamations. Yet a moment ago, Tintin had watched as fourth-generation Orang Laut descendant Firdaus Sani and artist and researcher Zarina Muhammad enacted a mantra-inspired performance in the space, their faces obscured by seahorse and sunbird masks.

It was an out-of-this-world experience, said Tintin, whose community practises such traditions only in secluded spaces.

“There’s a responsibility when activating those energies,” he said in Bahasa Indonesia, his words interpreted by moderator Courtney Saville. “We do it where people won’t use them the wrong way or where people can do their own energetic work so they are not affected.”

Called Ikut Arus, or Follow The Current, the ticketed programme was an unconventional late-night offering at the Singapore Writers Festival 2024. It took Firdaus a while to be comfortable with presenting these mantras – of protection, love and “chasing away” that were passed down from his healer grandfather – in public.

In the discussion after the show, Firdaus said that while tackling climate change was important, the social element of the land and its history with the islanders cannot be neglected, pointing to solar farms that have displaced indigenous peoples.

Responding to a question on “baby steps” people can take to connect with nature, Zarina urged all to lean into their animality and stop viewing it as problematic or inferior. “It’s like we exist only above our necks, in our head. We need to drop into our bodies more.”

Earlier, in another panel at the Asian Civilisations Museum, three young writers traded insights about the region’s monsters in Scared Silly: Exploring South-east Asian Horror.

Filipino young-adult author Rin Chupeco said she was unimpressed with the West’s tendency to hyperfixate on gore and body horror. South-east Asian horror feels more visceral to her, tapping more personal psychological fears that she tries to access in her writing – like “my mother’s shadow attached to me telling me I’m not enough”, she said to laughter.

Malaysian author Hanna Alkaf, whose new book is The Hysterical Girls Of St Bernadette’s, spoke of showing young people the darkness and teaching them “how to switch on the light” in her books.

A mother of two, she said her greatest fear since giving birth has become her inability to protect her children. “I’ve found that I have reservoirs to call upon to face the things that I used to fear, but with this, I must learn to sit with it.”

A third panel, Red Flags, White Pages: Navigating The Boundaries Of Expression, combined a discussion about cancel culture with political censorship, featuring Singapore writers Robert Yeo and Felix Cheong, as well as Malaysian best-selling author of contemporary romcom Last Tang Standing (2020), Lauren Ho.

This was a slower-moving affair, with each sharing experiences with backlash from readers and in Yeo’s case, the Government.

Cheong sees censorship as a spur to creativity, forcing him to improvise around situations. Yeo declared: “I believe all authors ought not to be censored, and they should not censor themselves.”

Correction note: This story has been edited for clarity.