Members of Hedy Anduha’s Hula Class, members of Da’ Hawaii Seniors Club, and guests, gathered at the Cerritos Senior Center on Thursday, November 7, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. to celebrate Angklung Day with Director Ann Kho’s Angklung Group.
The Angklung is a traditional Indonesian musical instrument made from bamboo. The word Angklung comes from the Sudanese words angka and lung, which means “tone” and “broken” respectively. Angklung then means, “broken tone.”
The Angklung instrument originated in the West Java and Banten provinces of Indonesia and has been played by the Sudanese people for centuries. The instrument is made up of a bamboo frame with varying number of bamboo tubes attached to it and is played by group members shaking it simultaneously to create a melody. Each person in the group has an instrument that has a number of a single note in a scale of eight, or more notes, and plays that note following the director’s pointing to it on a board with the complete melody.
Ann Kho is the Director of the Angklung Group of Cerritos. She said she moved to the United States in 1971 and became a citizen of the United States in 2000. She had purchased an Angklung set of 2 ½ octaves about eight or nine years ago, for which she paid $2,000. She started her Angklung Group in 2021 during the Covid 19 Pandemic, virtually on Zoom. She was able to receive four free sets of instruments, each with one octave of notes, from the Indonesian Embassy in Washington D.C.
On November 16, 2010, UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organization) recognized the Angklung as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. It encouraged the Indonesian government and people to promote the Angklung’s craftsmanship and performances. Ann said they did do just that by giving her the free instruments that she uses each week with her Angklung Group.
On November 7, 2024, Ann presented a video that showed how bamboo was selected and prepared every year in Indonesia, and how craftsmen carefully made bamboo into Angklung instruments. It also showed Indonesians celebrating a harvest by playing their Angklungs, and students of different ages playing their Angklungs. Playing the Angklung seemed to promote teamwork, mutual respect, and harmony among participants.
As part of her Power Point Presentation, Ann showed some of the benefits of playing the Angklung. Some of the benefits she listed were an increase in oxytocin hormone, visual and auditory stimuli, improved emotional and cognitive functions. Ann said that group members enjoyed playing the
Angklungs. Group member Aida Kull verified her statement saying that she enjoyed learning how to play the Angklung and having a group of friends to share events with and support each other when needed. Members were happy when they played melodies following Ann’s direction.
After the video presentation, Ann led the Angklung Group in playing two Indonesian songs, Rayuan Pulau Kelapa and Bubuy Bulan. She then invited members of the audience to come and learn how to play songs using the Angklungs. The stage was filled with volunteers who took turns playing the notes on Angklungs to the melody of “Joy to the World.” People seemed happy and proud that they had learned to play their Angklungs.
After people finished playing the Angklungs, everyone was invited to sample the different Indonesian snacks and refreshments that were ready on tables at the back of the meeting room. They could select a gift bag that including an Indonesian food called lemper, which was made of sweet rice with chicken curry sauce inside, sweet potato treats with sweet rice, and coffee candies called Kopiko, that was produced in Indonesia. There were also cold drinks of bottled water, soursap, coconut water, and snacks of Cassava chips and Indonesian peanuts.
While people were having refreshments, Ann had a contest for people to win prizes by finding all the words listed about Indonesia. People who found all the listed words had an opportunity to win a raffle prize, such as clothing from Indonesia, candies, and other items.
Ann and her husband Benny Kho donated all the raffle prizes, gift bags, and refreshments that were provided on Angklung Day on November 7. They also provided the sarongs, kebaya blouse tops and necklaces for the 16 members of the Angklung Group.Mahalo to Ann and Benny Kho for their generosity in sharing of all the information about the benefits of playing the Angklung, for all the Indonesian refreshments, gift bags, and all the surprise raffle gifts!