Pantun has been inscribed in 2020 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Excerpt from UNESCO: Pantun is a form of Malay verse used to express intricate ideas and emotions. It is the most widespread oral form in maritime Southeast Asia and has been used in many parts of the region for at least 500 years. Pantuns may be transmitted in music, song and writing. Pantun offers a socially acceptable way to express oneself indirectly in a polite way. It is also an instrument of moral guidance as verses often contain religious and cultural values such as restraint, respect, kindness and humility. Pantun has also been used as a diplomatic form of conflict resolution as it offers a way to gently evoke important issues.
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Example of a pantun:
Tanam selasih di tengah padang,
Sudah bertangkai diurung semut,
Kita kasih orang tak sayang,
Halai-balai tempurung hanyut.
and translation by Katharine Sim:
I planted sweet-basil in mid-field
Grown, it swarmed with ants,
I loved but am not loved,
I am all confused and helpless.
""The pantun is a four-lined verse consisting of alternating, roughly rhyming lines. The first and second lines sometimes appear completely disconnected in meaning from the third and fourth, but there is almost invariably a link of some sort." Katherine Sim
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