Dewi Liana and her duet partner, Anding, pose for a photo-call at Borneo Cultures Museum. — Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (Feb 14): There could not be a better time for Sarawak-born singer and model Dewi Liana Seriestha to release her latest single ‘Cinta Abadi’ (Eternal Love) than on Valentine’s Day.
The song, composed by Dewi herself, is accompanied with a music video featuring her and another Sarawakian – singer, actor and host Anding Indrawani.
Inspired by the legend of Puteri Sejinjang, the music video tells a story of a silat warrior and master (Anding) who was greatly wounded during a battle, where he was found by Puteri Sejinjang (Dewi Liana) unconscious.
The princess proceeded to treat his wounds using her healing powers. The two then fell in love and lived the rest of their lives together, until her death upon reaching old age.
An interesting fact about the song and the video, said Dewi Liana, was that the initial plan was for it to be a solo act.
However, she felt that performing it for the video would be incomplete without Anding, so she invited him for a duet, which he agreed to.
“This all started at the end of 2021 where I played Puteri Sejinjang in a theatre performance at Sarawak Culture Village (SCV), and on stage, the role of my love interest was played by Anding.
“In one of the scenes, we had to do a duet, so I asked SCV whether I could compose a song or use one of my own numbers in that scene, and SCV agreed to it.
“So I changed the lyrics to be in tune with the story.
“The audience loved it so much! We have received very good feedback.
“So I told my parents: ‘Next year, I’m going to make this song as my next single’.”
However, it was not an easy undertaking for Dewi Liana.
“It took me almost a year to make this happen. There were many challenges – from music production to video production; me being busy with my Masters study for my final year; and this being the first time that I had ever handled everything myself.
“I learned a lot from this project. With the song performed mainly solo, I felt that it was incomplete, so I asked Anding whether he would want to sing with me.
“So Anding, being a humble person that he is, was like: ‘I dah lamak sik belagu (I haven’t been singing for a long time). I don’t know if I can do it’.
“But eventually, he agreed, so thank you, Anding,” said Dewi Liana at the launch in Borneo Cultures Museum here today.
Back on the music video, she said the intention was also about highlightings Sejinjang as ‘a good princess’, in contrast to the storyline in the well-known lore and also the song ‘Puteri Santubong, Puteri Sejinjang’, in which the latter was often portrayed as ‘unkind’.
“We’ve heard so many stories about Puteri Santubong and there’s even a song about her, but no one has yet to tell the story of Puteri Sejinjang.
“The story that I’ve heard since I was small is about the two princesses fighting over one man, and Sejinjang being portrayed as the evil princess.
“Although we’re not sure about Sejinjang’s story, my purpose is to portray her as a good princess,” she explained.
That said, the whole project was very heritage-focused.
As homage to her Bidayuh ancestry, the song has incorporated the gongs – one of the traditional musical instruments of the Bidayuhs. The music video also features other Sarawakian traditional arts such as the ‘songket’, the ‘keringkam’ and ‘Silat Sarawak’.