Kelantan's Lost Craft - Wau-maker (Kite-maker)

“Ewa ewa… Wau Bule (Bulan)

Wau Bule (Bulan) teraju tigo

Ooo..

Maaf la cik sedaro-daro ini male...

Hok saloh silap sedaro jge sipe taroh dale dado...”

That’s how famous the Kelantan Wau Bulan (Moon-kite) is, there’s even a song dedicated to it. It symbolizes Malaysia aside from Keris (the Malay dagger) and Bunga Raya (Hibiscus). Kelantan’s pride and joy (and it’s our Malaysia Airlines’ logo as well *smile*).

I did a weekend trip with Andrea Gail early this year where we stayed at Pasir Belanda (click HERE for more info) and Adam Eben promised to take us around Kota Bahru, being ignorant of Kota Bahru and having only 2 full days there; we decide to prioritize the activities specific to the must-visit-attractions (kononnya). We told Adam that he must find out how to get to a Wau-Maker place, Pak Shafie specifically. Hahhahaha… not easy apparently. Sorry Adam!

We start our day with a single mission, to look for the famous Kelantan Wau-Maker – Pak Shafie, we drove all the way to Pantai Cahaya Bulan not finding it (Ops! Sesat barat berbagai. Siap tangkap gambar tepi pantai, minum air kelapa , lepak-lepak lagi….). We stopped here and there, asked a few locals and finally found where Pak Shafie lives; a small looking home full of waus, big waus, many big waus.

Pak Shafie was awarded the Adiguru Aneka Kraf in 2006 for wau-making skill. At age 10, Pak Shafie paid a close interest in wau-making, observed from wau sifus (subject matter expert). He was able to make a small living with this special skill, later Pak Shafie participated in kite competition in Kelantan and that was the big turning point; he was noticed by foreign tourist in which kick-started his fame. He was interviewed by national medias as well as showcased his artwork in Australia, German, Maldives, Melbourne and Japan by collaborating with MAS (Malaysia Airlines).

Wau, often decorated in vivid floral patterns, shaped in crescent moon, bigger than the average kite, a wau will rule and roar beautifully up in the sky. The most famous wau known is Wau Bulan, but the truth is, there is few others that shared the same rank such as  Wau Merak (Peacock-kite), Wau Kucing (Cat-kite), Wau Puyuh (Quail-kite), Wau Jalabudi (“Budi” leaf-kite) among others. It is said that Wau Bulan originated from Sriwijaya Kingdom and was used by Prince Dewa Muda, it’s patterns represents the map of the area conquered by the Kingdom.

I also found information stating that there was a plan to build a Wau Museum unfortunately unable to find further information, meanwhile, for those kite enthusiast or interested to know more and at the same time wanted to experience the wau competition, head down to Kelantan this May 2014 (please recheck and reconfirm the details with Tourism Malaysia closer to the event date).

Direction

Venue    : Shafie Bin Jusoh Home (Pak Shafie, a Wau-maker)

Address : On the road leading to Pantai Cahaya Bulan, near the police station

GPS        : N 06' 10' 35.8", E 102' 15' 13.2"

Event

Date      : 28 - 31 May 2014

Venue   : Pantai Geting Tumpat, Kelantan.

Link        : Visit MalaysiaYear 2014

Others  : Base on 2013 participation, there would be approximately 47 participants from 18 countries (Indonesia, Sweden, China, Brunei, France, Germany, Cambodia, Italy, New Zealand, Philippines, Australia, Belgium, Thailand, Singapore, USA, Nepal, Japan and India) and 119 local entries.

Competition categories

1.National-level traditional kite-raising

2.National-level traditional kite art

3.National-level traditional kite construction and raising workshops (4 days)

4.National-level Kite Open

5.PBT & National Clubs Kite Open

6.Government/Private/Clubs & International Open

7.Kelantan state University level traditional kite

8.Kelantan state Secondary School level traditional kite

9.International level

Wau, wowed us!