Silat: Observations from Stong (Kelantan) and from Kuala Penyu (Sabah) Gisa Jähnichen In this paper, I want to present two cases of silat music. They can help to understand the great variety of silat performances carried out by different communities in Malaysia. The observations took place during several field trips between December 2007 and March 2009. Over a time span of three generations, timber production brought Malay workers to Stong (Kelantan), a small settlement near the highest waterfalls of Southeast Asia. Later on, their families followed from various places. Experiences from the east coast and from Pahang merged with local practice. One example is the performance of silat as wedding entertainment. Some details about musical structuring and ensemble coordination will be analysed. In Kuala Penyu (Sabah), the Brunei minority performs silat with an ensemble of gulintangan, 3 large gongs and one drum. Music practices as well as functional understanding are very different from the case in Stong although the performance purpose remains similar. Both examples and questions related to them can contribute to the discussion about the philosophical background and actual cultural reality of pencak silat in the Malay Archipelago. First case: Kampung Stong The tradition of silat in the small village of Stong, where it is performed as a wedding performance, is not as strong as in some other places, where certain silat schools dominate. Strong silat schools usually have an indicative repertoire of special movements, music and an individual ideological mindset which are often added to the general interpretation of silat as an art of attack and self defence. In Kampung Stong, a village that was created in1966, all musicians migrated from the coastal area of Kelantan. They could gain their knowledge from different teachers through contact and observations of various silat schools which performed in that area. Nevertheless, they are able to re-define their role in the interior village, to fulfil their duties and to develop their own style. Although some of the young men and women who perform silat aim to reach a different level of knowledge on techniques to compete with East coast groups from Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang, the musicians are not in a competitive mood. They strongly prefer “Seni Silat Cantik”, silat as “beau art”. To them, other qualities such as the creation of a pleasant whole performance and a satisfying perception of the performance by a well educated audience are more important than sportive effectiveness and competitive strength.