Drum corps is growing in Malaysia

"Again another country has discovered drum corps, this time it's Malaysia! Not that Malaysians never heard of DCI corps but a group of enthusiastic people have taken steps to transform the existing marching bands into drum corps." A report by Wil Bijl.

"Early September 2009 a group of organizers and sponsors decided to form an independent body to hold marching band competitions in Malaysia with the long term goal to establish a Malaysian drum corps organization. Their competition was called Malaysian World Band Competition and held from 5 till 19 December 2009.

Due to the short preparation time some flaws in the program occurred but the competition was a success. Bands and corps from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and South Africa took part in the contests. The judging was done in collaboration with Drum Corps Europe (DCE) who delivered a number of judges and all input on the way the judging should be performed. It's the intention of MWBC to train and certify Asian judges through DCE channels.

Sponsoring was well organized, on the list were not only the manufacturers of musical instruments but also KFC, Bata and ESPN. Especially ESPN made a big showcase of this event, the Grand Finals were aired live over Asia with a potential 3.2 billion spectators!

A number of workshops were held during this competition. The first was to inform the participants and others about the way drum corps contests are judged. This system is completely new in Malaysia and MWBC thought that it should be good to inform the participants and authorities in advance. A good choice, after some discussions everybody was convinced that the DCE system was accurate, honest and transparent.

First show was in Terengganu in North East Malaysia, all officials and members were the guest of the local Sultan who appeared to be a big fan of the marching activities. During a big buffet some members from the South African band began singing on the stage and the official protocol for the Sultan was forgotten, the whole venue turned into a big party where the Queen and the princesses joined dancing! Next night the first contest started in a beautiful indoor stadium, a great venue for the show.

After a great exhibition of the Garuda Flight D&B Corps Color Guard from Jakarta, Indonesia the show could start. First on was Sinar Husni, a real drum corps from Medan, Indonesia. With their good music based on traditional Indonesian songs they turned the arena on! Powerful hornline, good drumline and guard and a total of 115 members. Score 63.20 points, second place.


Sinar Husni was followed by Bahana Swara Seruyan from Kuala Pembuang, Indonesia. This powerful marching band with 100 members is also playing nice arrangements of Indonesian songs. Good drumline, guard and well integrated show. Score 65.50 points, first place.

Third band on the field were the South Africa Marching Showband from Capetown, South Africa. This band has still a lot to learn in drum corps world, they have a nice hornline but the drumline and guard was not performing at all. Score 43.40 points, fifth place Everybody was anxious to see the band of the Methodist Girls' School from Kuantan, Malaysia. This band of 100 girls and 4 boys has a good program with songs from the Pirates of the Caribbean, clean show but a bit too easy! This unit has great potential though, they march with confidence and have fun on the field! Score 62.30 points third place.

Last on the floor came St. Johns Institution Cadet Band from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This all boys band, 90 strong, has been around for a long time but only last year started to be competitive under Indonesian instructors. Nice balanced program with song as Birdland, Carmina Burana and Gael, best guard of the evening but a weak drumline and low General Effect are holding them down. Score 59,10 points, fifth place.

Back to Kuala Lumpur, the organizers had done a great job for the transportation of all corps, equipment and officials. Everybody was housed in four star hotels in Terengganu as well as Kuala Lumpur at the expense of MWBC.

Thursday December 17th was the day of the drumbattle, a concept developed in Indonesia after watching the movie "Drumline" The event starts with a performance of every drumline before the judges in order to receive a ranking. After this the best meets the last for a show-off, every winner goes on for the next round and in the end the best lines go against each other. This format is an absolute crowd pleaser and should be adopted by DCI and DCE, it's not only about good technical skills but also about visuals and moves to impress the opponents!

Visuals as attacks, pointing sticks, sliding sticks over the throat, unexpected moves to challenge the opposite drumline are just great! The spectators love those shows and are ready to shout all units on! It was clear that the Indonesian drumlins had more experience in this kind of battles. The Malaysians defended well but everyone had to bow their head against the drumline of the Norwang Non Marching Band from Nontahbari, Thailand. Their show was a real display of technical skills that awed the judges and the spectators alike! First place Norwang Non, second Garuda Flight, third Sinar Husni, fourth Seruyan, fifth University of Malaysia, sixth St. John and last Methodist Girls' School.

The next day we had critiques, also something that is new to Asian contests! Normally the judges in Asia are not willing to meet instructors after a contest. All instructors were happily surprised by the openness and positive approach of the judging team, they received input to improve their show from specialists!

Before the Grand Finals a streetparade in front of the world famous Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur took place. Except the contenders in the contest there were other marching bands that were not ready to compete on the field. Despite pouring rain it was a good showcase of available quality in Malaysia because some of these bands have the potential to become good corps in the future!

The Grand Finals were held in the new city of Putra Jaya, about 20 miles outside of Kuala Lumpur, Putra Jaya is where the Malaysian government resides. The venue was a square surrounded by new buildings, some of them futuristic and others classical. Because the square was made of marble tiles a kind of plastic floor with an abrasive top layer was applied. Stands were built up for 8000 spectators together with all other facilities like toilets and tents with delicious dinners for guests.


The night of the finals the weather was rainy, therefore the stadium builders had erected a big tent over the stand of the VIPs. Too bad because the tent was in front of the stands for the judges and the decision was taken to move the judges to the open stands. A lower position on the 30 yard line!

Except the corps and bands we had already seen in Kuala Terengganu two other units were present, from Thailand the Anubanratchaburi Drum Corps doing an judged exhibition and the Sultanah Asma School Marching Band from Alor Setah in Malayasia.

Anubanratchaburi is a drum corps from a primary school with loads of funny small kids playing selections from the Sound of Music. Their hornline is impressive with a sound production of a real big corps, what a good education for kids from a primary school! Their uniforms look neat and it's a shame that they don't have a real color guard. In the show they have a percussion feature on Japanese drums and the complete hornline plays flag, well done!

Sultanah Asma are the national champions in Malaysia they are 86 girls strong but no pit ensemble. Their hornline, playing traditional Malaysian songs, is really outstanding and the marching of the hornline is top! Too bad that their guard and field battery are not on the same high standard as the hornline. The drumscores are well executed but simple and the guard does only basic flag work.

All units had improved their shows with the input of the judges, a good evelopment! Despite these shortcomings Sultanah Asma won the Grand Finals of MWBC with a score of 75.70. Bahana Swara Seruyan finished second with a score of 71.50, Methodist Girls' School third with a score of 70.30, Sinar Husni fourth 70.20 points, St. Johns fifth, 66.50 points and the South Africa Marching Band last with a score of 58.90 points.

All performances were aired live by ESPN over the complete Asian continent, a potential of 3.2 billion spectators! After the show nice reactions from other countries like Hongkong, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand were received about the great show and the exposure to the world! This part of the world has great potential for drum corps, their programs are running and more shows are planned.

The South Africans are scheduling a similar event SAWBC in 2010 as do the Indonesians. It should be great to have Thailand and the Philippines on board, they also have quality corps! In the future a South East Asian circuit of contests is planned and the transition from bands to full corps well certainly taken place. Malaysia has a long tradition of marching and concert bands, most of them have been established along British standards and traditions. It's time that they develop their own style and identity but everybody is confident that this first MWBC will become a platform to show their progress and abilities.

A special word of thanks goes to ZI Production Sdn Bhd, the company that proofed to be the driving force behind this MWBC. The accommodation, housing and food was excellent. All units only had to pay for their transportation to Kuala Lumpur, everything else was on the expense of MWBC, great job! ZI Production also found the sponsors and did the coordination with ESPN, a better combination to endorse our activity is not possible!"

Wil Bijl