["Guests came and went but the person I am waiting for didn’t visit. Only this blue baju kurung reminds me of my longing for her."]
Ahh… Sepasang Kurung Biru or Blue Baju Kurung remains my favourite Hari Raya (Eid) song. Songs like these will be played over the airwaves 2 weeks before and after Eid. Unlike other typical Malay Eid songs, Sepasang Kurung Biru by acclaimed composer Khairil Johari Johar is about love lost/denied and of that special girl clad in blue traditional Malay dress who used to greet him on Eid morning.
So what’s so special about the baju kurung? It is but the haute couture of the Malays.
Baju kurung Malay traditional costume (a shirt and pants for the male, and a loose fitting blouse and a long skirt for the female)
Baju kebaya Malay woman’s traditional dress (a long blouse over a batik or songket sarong)
Baju Melayu Malay male’s traditional attire (long sleeved shirt with a standing collar sewn in a style called "cekak musang", trousers and skirt-type adornment called the kain samping made out of songket or sarung)
A fashionable piece of dresswear even in today’s standards, many still consider the baju kurung evergreen, elegant and versatile. Malay women can wear it everyday: at home, to the office, to wedding celebrations and to formal events. You can customise the baju kurung using different types of cloth -- cotton, silk, satin or organza. There’s no standard colour for baju kurung, so one can see a colourful display of baju kurung during Eid; some Malay families adorn similar coloured baju kurung, symbolising family unity. Interestingly, one of the uniform options for female students in Malaysia’s government schools is the baju kurung (white blouse and blue sarong).
Photo caption: Hidayah's brother in traditional Melayu with tanjak (Malay headgear) celebrating Eid in late 1970s.
Malay men in Malaysia and Brunei even wear the baju Melayu to Friday congregational prayers at the mosque (though this is not widely practised by Malays in Singapore and Indonesia). It was not an uncommon sight to see Malay boys in their baju kurung walking to the village mosque in the 1960s and 70s. And it is indeed heart-warming today to still see groups of Malay youth (yes, those grunge-loving types) clad in baju kurung riding their Kawasakis to the mosque for Eid prayers.
The baju Melayu and baju kurung isn’t complete without the songkok or Malay headgear made of black or blue velvet. I recall how my aunt sewed a tanjak to complete my brother Hadi’s baju Melayu. Tanjak is yet another Malay traditional headwear; back in the day -- think P. Ramlee’s songkok and sandals epic -– the tanjak was an essential part of the costume of Sultans and high-ranking palace officials gracing public ceremonies. Today, Malay men normally wear the tanjak during their wedding, for that added bit of regal-ness.
Photo caption: Hidayah in Baju Kurung at friend's wedding
A Malay couple usually wear the Malay traditional costume at their weddings (besides the Western tuxedo and wedding gown). Even for couples with a blasé attitude towards culture, it is certainly touching how they would still wear baju kurung at their wedding. I remember how a Malay friend who was eloping to marry a man her parents didn’t approve, packed a gorgeous silk baju kebaya in her suitcase for the secret wedding in England!
I also remember how I, too, wore a satin baju kebaya for my graduation ceremony in the United States. Although it was “hidden” beneath my graduation gown, I felt honoured wearing a piece of my heritage to one of the most important events in my life. Amidst the chilling spring wind blowing in Goodman Stadium whose surrounding mountains reverberated to the sound of the Star-Spangled Banner sung by a fellow Lehigh student, I stood proud in my baju kebaya.
And just like Khairil who wrote about missing his girl in Sepasang Kurung Biru when he was a student in Boston, I sometimes wonder if a certain person in Singapore missed that Malay girl in blue baju kurung who was celebrating Hari Raya miles away from home…
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