Yo Miak Song as a Folklore

Sahang or Pepper

Yo Miak is an indigenous song from Bangka Island, Indonesia, which is about the tradition of working together in pepper plantations conducted by the majority of the people of Bangka Island. The people commonly sing it during the harvest period of pepper every year. The song is composed of three verses: the first verse talks about going to the plantation and working together; the second verse talks about eating together on the plantation; the third verse is about going home from the plantation. The lyrics of the song are:

Yok miak kite gi, ke kebun ke hume

Mawak suyak, mawak suyak mikol pacul

Kite begawe, kite begawe besame-same

Kite nebas lalang, macul rumpot

Biarlah leteh, biar leteh kebun lah berseh

Sahang kite, sahang kite la masak gale

Ambik belacan, garem, cabik kecit

Kite ngelempah, kite ngelempah lempah darat

Pucuk lah idat, alar keladi hai lempah darat

Yok miak kite makan laok lempah darat

Lempah darat, lempah darat Bangka asli

sungguh lah nyamen, sungguh lah nyamen makan di hume

Yok miak kite pulang, ari lah petang

Urang di humah, urang di humah nunggu lah lame

Ati lah senang, ati senang gawe lah sude

Ati lah senang, ati senang gawe lah sude

Ati lah senang, ati senang gawe lah sude

If translated into English, it would be:

Let’s go to the (pepper) plantation, girls/wives

Bring your basket and garden hoe

Let’s work together

Let’s cut down weeds, plough the soil

Even though we are tired, at least our field is clean

(and) our peppers are ready to harvest

Get shrimp paste, salt, and chillies

Let’s make Lempah Darat

(get) taro shoots and roots, that’s Lempah Darat

Let’s have lunch with Lempah Darat, girls/wives

Original Bangkanese Lempah Darat

Eating on plantation is very nice

Since it’s getting dark, let’s go home

Our family must have been waiting for so long

I’m so happy that our work is done

I’m so happy that our work is done

I’m so happy that our work is done

If the characteristics of folklore are broken down, the song meets all the required attributes of folklore and could be considered so.

Yo Miak’s song could describe the social reality of Bangkanese people during that time. Since pepper is the primary commodity in Bangka and the landscapes also support the activity of pepper farming, many Bangkanese people work in the pepper plantation sector. The pepper land ownership could depict someone’s social status during that time. The wider the pepper plantation one owns, the more prominent one will be in society (Nurhayati et al., 2021, pp. 289–289). The rest of the people would work as labourers or even freelancers on the plantation. There is a story originating from the writer’s father that every year, during the pepper harvest period, the writer’s father and his friends often came to a relative’s pepper plantation to help with the harvesting process and would get paid afterwards. Therefore, it proves that Yo Miak’s song is communal, which is related to a group of people — in this case, Bangkanese society.

Yo Miak’s song has Bangkanese roots attached to it. The language used in the Yo Miak song is Bangkanese or Bangka language, which belongs to the Malay language family. Within each verse, there are several items of Bangkanese material culture are mentioned, such as a suyak, a traditional basket in Bangka made of woven bamboo and put on top of a head to carry it, and Lempah Darat, a Bangkanese traditional cuisine made of three simple ingredients for the seasoning, shrimp paste, salt, and chillies. These material cultures and the song itself have existed and been used by Bangkanese for a long time. Therefore, it can be said that the Yo Miak song is traditional.

Yo Miak’s song is also a perfect depiction of the Bangkanese tradition of gotong royong (mutual cooperation). Gotong royong has taken root within Bangkanese society for many years. Even the slogan of Bangka Belitung Province, which is “Serumpun Sebalai”, and some of its regencies, such as “Junjung Besaoh” in Bangka Selatan and “Sejiran Setason” in Bangka Barat, have the meaning of gotong royong and familiarity. Serumpun means one big family, and Sebalai means one association, or in this case, becomes the reflection of Bangka Malay culture.

Regarding the transmission of the Yo Miak song, Bangkanese people do not receive any learnings about this song at school or in formal education. The older generation of Bangkanese could learn the song during the time of pepper harvest since the farmers commonly sang it. However, current Bangkanese youngsters might hear the song from their parents or even their grandparents. Not only that but the song could also be passed down from generation to generation through cultural festivals or customary traditions on Bangka Island. Many cultural festivals take place on Bangka Island, and Yo Miak songs are never absent. The song is always performed either as a live singing or played as a dance accompanist. Because of that, the transmission of the song can be regarded as unofficial or informal transmission.

Yo Miak has existed for a very long period of time and has been sung by many people during that time. No written records mention who sang the song first or who wrote it. Therefore, due to the lack of evidence regarding the history of Yo Miak, it could be considered anonymous.

Nowadays, pepper farmers in Bangka rarely sing Yo Miak songs. There might be some of them who still sing it in some areas, but not as much as before, during the golden era of pepper in Bangka. During that era, approximately during the 19th century, the price and production of pepper were high, and the number of Bangkanese people working in pepper plantations was massive. However, in recent years, the price of pepper in Bangka has dropped. It made many Bangkanese people abandon their pepper fields and begin to work at the conventional tin mine, which is also a major commodity in Bangka. However, despite the current condition of pepper in Bangka, Yo Miak’s song is still relevant for Bangkanese as pepper is still a significant commodity in Bangka. The song has also become inseparable from Bangkanese society. Thus, Yo Miak’s song meets the folklore characteristics of being stable, for it is able to adapt.

Yo Miak song, apart from being stable, is also variable. As the song has existed for a long time, Bangkanese people only know the lyrics and melody but no evidence of background music. So, since the song is now commonly played at cultural festivals or customary traditions, there are variations of background music for the song using Bangkanese traditional instruments. In addition, since many Bangkanese musicians or content creators have digitalised the song, there might be some arrangements of background music using more modern instruments found on the internet. Therefore, even though there are some differences in the details of the song, the theme remains the same.

Based on the explanation, the Yo Miak song from Bangka can be defined as folklore as it meets all the required characteristics of it. In addition, if a line is drawn between Yo Miak song and the Handbook of Irish Folklore, it is most relevant to the last chapter of the book, which is Chapter XIV: Sports and Pastimes under The Playing of Music sub-chapter, specifically the Tunes section. Furthermore, it also correlates to Chapter II: Livelihood and Household Support under The Agriculture sub-chapter — since the song is about how Bangkanese people grow and take care of their pepper — and Food and Drink sub-chapter — as the song mentions Bangkanese indigenous food.