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We last chatted with puppeteer Bright Ong when he appeared in the sold out My Neighbour Totoro last year. This autumn, he and his puppets have been associating with royalty – quite literally in the case of the Raja Muda (Crown Prince of Perlis, Malaysia), and also with the Queen of Conservation Dr Jane Goodall, renowned for her ground-breaking work with primates. Here he tells us about the amazing opportunity that brought this about.
Earlier this year I was delighted to be involved in a fascinating venture; the reopening of a heritage trail in Perlis, Malaysia. As a commission by Roots and Shoots Malaysia, which is an arm of the Jane Goodall Institute, I created a suite of stump-tailed macaque puppets under the banner: “Beruk Kentoi: Echoes of Perlis”. This scheme supports the rejuvenation of a small town in Malaysia (Kaki Bukit, in the state of Perlis) as an ecotourism destination, encapsulating the area’s architecture, natural landforms, spirit, grit, and soul in the process. The project was headed by Peter Ong of Monyet Ventures.
My monkeys would perform at the opening of the Denai Warisan eco-heritage trail: a highly prestigious opportunity, as the puppets were to be presented to the Raja Muda and his wife. I hoped to convey through my creations how puppetry can embody more than the usual environmental messages on conservation, also being a powerful metaphor for heritage and natural history, along with a symbol of hope.
The stump tailed macaque is a species only found in Perlis and the mascot for tourism in the area, so it was already a perfect choice for my puppets. But I also wanted to reflect upon the nurturing effect of being in nature (representing the idea of Mother Nature) and to appeal to emotions and memory through relatable characters. With this in mind I chose to make them all female – a grandmother, mother and baby.
The main puppet took a month to create and it was quite a challenge. I had never made a puppet entirely from wood before but wanted the chosen material to speak towards the environmental relationship with the eco-heritage trail. Moreover, in line with the theme of sustainability, both the monkeys and their carrying cases were made entirely out of offcuts from the workshop they were built in, reducing waste by repurposing wood that was destined for the skip.
The history of Malaysian tin mining also figures in the monkeys, the essence of their animation bringing ideas of tenacity, hard work and hope. For the eyes, I chose to use ember marbles, embodying the way the sky lights up in this particular hue when it meets the earth at every sunrise and sunset. The local stones bear witness across generations to our nation’s past, but also look towards a future yet to come. Three performers brought the creatures to life, enacting the reinvigoration of a unique local biodiversity that will be preserved and restored along this eco-trail.
In November, at the Symposium of Hope in Kuala Lumpur, I was further privileged to attend the 90th birthday celebration for Dr Jane Goodall, the world’s most revered expert on primates. Invited to use the large macaque in the introduction before her speech, I could never have guessed how moving it would be when Dr Goodall engaged directly with the puppet, placing her forehead on the monkey’s own, and giving it a kiss, the way she has done with her chimpanzee companions for years, and in that moment making her love for all living things utterly tangible.
People often say puppetry is for children, but it’s actually at its most powerful when for adults. If an adult is willing to suspend their disbelief for however long and believe that these creatures are real, that’s a kind of black magic to me and it’s incredible. And this project has been an amazing affirmation of how puppetry can make people believe the impossible can become possible. Bringing to life my macaque puppets was not only an entertainment articulating the story of why these fabulous living creatures should be valued, but it also created a space in which eco-conservation too could be seen as a reality for the future – not just here but in other conservation settings globally. It is amazing how bringing fundamentally inanimate objects to life was key to drawing people of different cultures and tongues together, sharing a universal, emotional language, learning about eco-conservation and breaking down barriers.
So what next? I hope to inspire more artists and organisations to undertake projects like these, so that our art can be put to good use. Connecting the worlds of Puppetry and Environmental Activism together has been no easy feat, but it has been a great success. Sharing knowledge of it has highlighted the potential for similar collaborations to increase globally. In particular, corporate funders and bodies might find this work a wonderful way to contribute towards their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goals, making this a sustainable way of making art that then helps a greater cause.
It has been amazing to learn about the unique role art can play in weaving together diverse conservation narratives in unusual spaces, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The monkey puppets are now the property of Roots and Shoots Malaysia, and I have to say it feels a little odd to give up my creations. But I know they, and their protected counterparts, are in very good hands, in a place of safety.
Thank you to Bright Ong for talking to us. You can follow him on Instagram @bright.ong or check out his website: www.brightong.net to learn more about this amazing project.
