By MANSUR TUN ABDUL AZIZ
Society‘s movers and shakers are, well, moving and shaking to an addictive Indonesian import.
THE first time I witnessed it was at buddy Sherry K‘s wedding a few years ago. Emcee Mahadzir Lokman deftly created a line of guests behind him, guiding them along with his smooth baritone voice into doing a dance that I had never seen before.
I was very much a society neophyte then, unaware of the mores and norms of post-dessert dinner rituals.
The line behind Mahadzir soon grew into a mile-long row of serious society types – both men and women – moving in unison to some ethnic-sounding dance ditty. Amazingly, most had their steps down pat, while fledgling hoofers did their best to follow suit.
Fast forward a few (hundred) functions later, and I witnessed the same phenomenon at Sarawak society darling Elia Geneid‘s engagement – this time done barefooted but bedecked in more estate jewellery than Van Cleef & Arpels has.
Meanwhile, at Negri Sembilan princess Tunku Munirah‘s anniversary shindig, she had half of the Malaysian Tatler‘s Top 100 society list doing the same repetitive jiggling on a dance floor the size of a postage stamp.
What on earth is this ritual all about? What possessed them to participate in it? More importantly, who started the whole hullabaloo?
No one is actually sure how pocho-pocho, a highly addictive Indonesian export, factored itself into Malaysian society circles.
Urban legend has it that it was brought in by the wives of Malaysian army generals stationed in Jakarta and Borneo.
That‘s not true, says retired general Datuk Nordin Yusof, once the military attaché to Jakarta. I did not witness it at the official events then. I believe it‘s a recent trend – probably five to 10 years ago – spun off by the infiltration of Indonesian pop-culture like ‘goyang-gerudi‘ and dangdut, he adds.
(I was silently relieved the former has not caught on with local high society – the sight of a hefty, bouffant Datin dangerously gyrating her pendulous proportions might be a little too much for this fragile mind to handle.)
If there is one regal personality who can claim to have pushed the trend to its current levels, it is our previous Raja Permaisuri Agong, Her Majesty Tuanku Tengku Fauziah Almarhum Tengku Abdul Rashid. A royal of many talents yet few words, Her Majesty has been known to do the pocho-pocho for hours on end.
It initially began as an exercise, says a palace aide. It improved her stamina tremendously as well.
Her Majesty has always been loved for her maternally regal ways that are totally devoid of airs. At the many functions thrown in her honour as the Raja Perempuan Perlis, a pocho-pocho session became a part of the agenda and her adoring subjects, young and old, would make a beeline for the dance floor as soon as she began her first steps.
But her legacy does not stop there.
The Regent of Perlis and his gracious wife seem to have inherited Her Majesty‘s passion and taken it to the next level.
They began a group back in Perlis known as A-Team GTK that meets weekly to concoct contemporary moves and creative manoeuvres. Once, the royal couple had 23,000 fans of all ages and nationalities out in a field doing the pocho-pocho. Quite an impressive sight as it made it into the Guinness Book of World Records! adds the aide.
During her reign as Queen, Her Majesty often danced the pocho-pocho on her trips abroad, giving the term diplomatic duty a refreshing new dimension. She would gently convert shy, waning wallflowers into line-dancing addicts.
Yours truly was no exception. A recent dinner at the Shangri-la hotel Kuala Lumpur saw me – a macho, hardcore non-believer – nimbly cavorting along with her.
Struggling to deal with perspiration while trying to look sophisticated, I came to realise the aerobic significance mentioned earlier.
Not to be left behind, the burly royal bodyguards effortlessly got into the groove.
There are several levels to the dance, says petite powerhouse Tina Fazlita, secretary of the royal Perlis foundation, Yayasan Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin.
Level One means basic to and fro steps with a few simple manoeuvres. By Level Three, the movement is very creative, even almost acrobatic.
I remember witnessing a member of Her Majesty‘s entourage – an anaesthetist – who could create new ambulations as he went along. Without hesitation, his charges – royal or otherwise – instantly followed suit.
The persuasive powers of pocho-pocho shine through when I see members of opposing political parties happily oscillating together at a function, obviously pushing aside the heated differences aired during the televised parliamentary proceedings earlier in the day.
It is downright surprising to see how people of such diversity can be so united in one cause. Maybe the Government should introduce line dancing as an optional teambuilding activity.
Oh, wait a minute, they have. The current national service curriculum includes several credit hours of pocho-pocho, it seems.
So the hotfooting hoedown is transparently an imported feature. Big deal – we have embraced cosseted Klang Valley children speaking with a Filipino lilt, so there.
Besides, I can‘t think of a better way to add a little Eastern appeal to our Western vacuumed-packed social rituals then with this politically-correct, gender-friendly aerobic jiggling that offers infinite wardrobe opportunities.
And of the many legacies bequeathed to us by our beloved rulers – past and present – I‘m proud this one has Her Royal Highness‘s glossy thumbprints all over it.
Mansor Tun Abdul Aziz – born with two left feet but still game to try the pocho-pocho – enjoys sharing his observations of the beauty and the irony of KL society in his fortnightly column.
Source: www.thestar.com (6 Agustus 2007)
