Sabah Charity Cultural Festival’s webblog

 

 

Murut

a) Background

The Murut are the third largest indigenous ethnic group inhabiting northern inland regions of Borneo. The Muruts, literally meaning ‘hill people’ and mainly found in the southwest interior of Sabah , east Malaysia such as Tenom, Keningau and Pensiangan, along the Sapulut and Padas Rivers. The Muruts are for the most part shifting cultivator, living in the more remote areas. They live in communal longhouses, usually near rivers. They plant hill padi and topioca, hunt and fish for a living and were the last of Sabah’s ethnic groups to renounce head hunting.

b) Culture, Dance, Costume & Music

In the by-gone era, collecting heads of enemies served a very precise function in Murut society. A man can only get married after he has presented at least one head that he has hunted to the family of the desired girl. Heads also play a very important role in spiritual beliefs.

The essence of Murut tradition of feasts is distinctive. No merrymaking will end at least until sunrise and can last up to seven days later. This is especially the case with weddings or funerals. Through modernization, no more heads must be furnished for weddings but jars along with cloth, beads, gold and ivory bracelets have taken its place. All these dowry items will be proudly displayed at the ceremony. Jars or “sampa” holds a prominent status in their customs. The Murut know the age of sampa and treat them will due respect. Jars are also a place of spirits. Beads play an integral role in Murut life. Wedding beads must be presented in the form of belts, necklaces, headgear and decoration. The wedding ceremony must be held in the bride’s longhouse, tapai or rice wine must be served and all the meat has to be pickled.

The Murut keep the bodies of their deceased in a jar and place them in colorful and elaborately decorated grave-huts along with the deceased’s belongings. The body will be placed in the foetal position inside the jar and a gong will be placed over the mouth of the jar to close it. However this custom of burial is becoming rare with the availability of wooden coffins.

 

Magunatip, is an East Malaysian dance that is very strongly influenced by the Philippines. Performed by the young men and women of the Kwijau, community in Keningau and many of the Murut groups in Sabah. The dance involves jumping steps and the dance is a display of the skill of the dancers that maneuver their feet in and out so as not to get their feet trapped by the bamboo. The 2 bamboo poles are usually approximately 6 feet long and are held by 2 dancers that beat them together and over a shorter length of wood or bamboo creating an interesting rhythm. Sometimes there are even 4 poles that are held by 4 dancers. The tempo can be increased to further display the skill of the dancers. Among the musical instruments used are the gong and bamboo. Both are percussion instruments that provide the rhythm for the performance.

 

Kadazan

a) Background

The Kadazan, the largest ethnic group in Sabah, is the one of the representative indigenous groups in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. Their location is the area of Penampang and Papar near Kota Kinabalu. The word ‘Kadazan ’ by explanation of the Bobolian or Bobohizan (priestesses) means is ‘tulun’ or ‘tuhun’ —people.

The Kadazans are descended from a second wave of migration of Indo-Malayan food-raisers which about 3000 years ago, moved from south China and North Vietnam through Taiwan and Philippines to northern Borneo and Sulawesi (Indonesia). Kadazan groups consists of Penampang Kadazan and Papar Kadazan.

Kadazan language is an Austronesian language primarily spoken in Sabah. The language as adopted other indigenous language and Malay now is mostly used during the traditional ceremonies, such as keamatan festival, wedding, funeral and religious ceremony.

b) Culture, Dance, Costume & Music

The well known festival is the ‘Pesta Keamatan’ or harvest festival in May. People gather in villages to thank God and the spirits for a good harvest and pray for blessing for an even better harvest in the following year. It came from a legend that the Almighty Creator (Kinoingan) sacrified his only daughter (Huminodun) and from her body parts, padi (rice) grew. So his people repay the deed by conducting various ceremonies so as to honour Bambaazon, the spirit of Huminodun as embodied in rice. During the harvest festival, Sumazau dance is performed by the groups of couples. This unique dance accompanied bronze gongs (tagung‘) and sometime they also use kulintang ensembles (ensembles with an horizontal-type melodic instrument).

i) Penampang Kadazan

They were traditionally farmers practicing rice cultivation, hunting and some riverine fishing. Generally, the trimmings and embroidery on the Penampang Kadazan costume are simple and dignified in comparison with other ethnic groups. The men’s jacket and trousers bear some Chinese influence. Unmarried ladies usually put on a sleeveless blouse called sinuangga with full-length sarong (tapi). Several rows of silver coins and brass ring belts worn around the hip complete the outfit are called himpogot. For men, they wear long-sleeved shirt called gaung and black trousers which called souva with wide indigo-blue waistband. The headcover (siga) of hand woven kain daster, folded or twisted in a number of distinctive ways.

Sumazau Penampang start with a rhythmic movement on slightly bent knees and arms swinging by the sides. Male dancer will lift his arms like wings outstretched and change his step to alternating ‘sole and toe’ movement with the women following suit.

ii) Papar Kadazan

Papar Kadazan, one can easily know the marriage status of the female from their costumes. If there are feathers of any colour on the wearer’s conical hat (suing), it means she is still single. Flowers means she is married while a widow, grandmother or any senior women wears a hat without any decoration. Their dress is a black velvet long-sleeved blouse (siya) with gold lace and sequins stiched along the cuffs and neckline. The outfit is completed by black velvet, knee-length sarong (gonob). For men, their costume is almost same with Penampang kadazan except they wear a Long-sleeved jacket (sia) with gold trimming.

For Sumazau Papar, the unique movements of the feet of the women – heel meeting heel, toe meeting toe – makes this dance a delight to watch. The men dance with their arms outstretched in front if them, turning their wrists about.

 

Bajau

a) Background

The Bajau, are an indigenous ethnic group the Philippines and in parts of Sabah, Brunei and Sarawak. The Bajau is the second largest ethnic group in Sabah. For most of their history the Bajau has been a nomadic, seafaring people, living off the produce of the sea, whether for trade or subsistence. They are skilled fishermen, originating from the Philippines-Celebes coasts (although some believe they originated from Johor) who settled along the east coast of Borneo. In Sabah, sub-ethnic groups of the Bajau consist of East Coast Bajau and West Coast Bajau.

b) Culture, Dance, Costume & Music

For instance, the east coast Bajau are synonymous with the Regatta Lepa Semporna, an annual celebration that highlights and commemorates the tradition of boatbuilding. Smaller-scale markets, called tamu, where the Bajaus trade their wares, are held too at various locations all over the West coast

A sea-going Bajau community can also be found on the island of Mabul, near to Sipadan which is famous as a scuba-diving destination. Many of the Mabul Island Bajau still lives on their boats, although some have built houses on stilts. However, many Bajau have now chosen to leave behind their seafaring ways, and live entirely on land. They are primarily found on the west coast of Borneo around the Kota Kinabalu to Kota Belud areas. The west coast Bajau took to farming and cattle-rearing for a living, and have the nickname of “Cowboys of the East”, in tribute to their equestrian skills.

Kota Belud has an annual Tamu Besar festival where the much-touted horsemanship of the Bajau is on display. The largest tamu is at Kota Belud, held weekly on Sundays. Unlike the Tamu Besar, there are no pony games or such grand exhibitions of skill, though you may still find horsemen, dressed in the Bajau horseman’s ceremonial regalia, stationed behind the main site.

The Bajau people are well known for the weaving and needlework skills. The Bajau women of Kota Belud make embroidered panels sewn into their long black wrap-skirt. The Bajau and Iranun of Kota Belud weave the traditional headgear called kain dastar which is also worn by almost every indigenous group in Sabah.

Limbai Dance, is an original traditional dance of the Bajau. The Limbai dance is performed during a wedding ceremony. It is an act of welcoming the bridegroom and his entourage and to invite them to the bride’s house. The melody and rhythmic movements of the dancer will accompany the bridegroom to the bride’s house and would preceed the “ijab-qabul” or wedding ceremony. The graceful movement of the dancers’ wrists will sway their shawls to express their warm welcome to the party concerned.

 

Suluk

a) Background

Historically, the dominant group of Muslim coastal and island-dweling people of north and north-eastern Borneo were the Suluk, who refer to themselves as Tau Sug. The Suluks or Sulu, as they are sometimes known originate from Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines. It is the chain of islands of Mindanao. Some of the islands are Tawi-tawi, Ubian and Skobong. Suluks have been in Sabah for the past 200 years as like their relations, the Bajaus and Illanus, settled mainly in seaside villages along Sabah’s east coast. Another group, the orang Sungei are said to have Suluks blood.

Rather different from other Filipino groups, the Suluks are said to be of very mixed ancestry, with a lot of Arab and Chinese blood in them. In the 19^th century, they were described as an independent, turbulent, restless and fierce people. Besides that, they and other Muslim tribes known as Moros were the last to be subdued by the Spanish. They were also fierce pirates, with settlements along the Tempasak and Pandasan Rivers and on Marudu Bay.

b) Culture, Dance, Costume & Music

Daling – Daling, a popular graceful but lively courtship dance of the Bajau and Suluk people from Semporna District. This traditional dance was brought over from the Mindanao archipelago by the Suluks and does not originate from Bajau tribe in the Semporna district. The intermingling relationship between the Bajau and Suluk in those early days resulted in the dance becoming a living heritage of the Bajau community residing in Semporna. The phrase “daling daling” actually originated from the English word “darling”. The main characteristic of the dance is the interchange of quatrains between the male and female dancers and is usually performed as an entertainment in various occasions.

Pairs of men and women usually perform this jovial dance at weddings and social gatherings. The theme of the dance: A Queen sitting on the bamboo poles carried by her guards while her beauty is admired. The dance has some special movements: Distinct backward-wave finger movements by women. Stamping and clapping, signs of Spanish influence from the period of Philippines under the Spanish Rule. Dancers nimbly jumping while the bamboos are clapped. This is rarely seen in Sabah.

A soloist or a group of four or more sings cheerful poetry about love, life or happiness with music played to accompany the dance. The music is played using violin, viola and the traditional wooden xylophone “Gabang”.

 

Malay

a) Background

The Malay community in Sabah originate from people in nearby Indonesia (such as Bugis and Javanese) and also from Brunei. They are Muslims, this faith being passed down from generation to generation since the empires of the Malaccan Sultanate and Brunei Sultanate. They have their own dialects or languages but can speak Malay (now Bahasa Malaysia) which was the lingua Franca used in inter ethnic communication since the early establishment of settlements in areas around Sabah.

b) Culture, Dance, Costume & Music

Inang dance is a modernized version of the traditional mak inang folk dance. It is performed at social functions.This dance moves at fast tempo set by the rebana, biola and gendang. The Mak Inang song and dance originated during the period of the Malacca Sultanate. The song is said to have been composed by the order of Sultan Mahmud Shah possibly as a lullaby to help him go to sleep. The dance is very graceful and has all the qualities of a palace performance. This dance is also called Tarian Si Kembang Cina as it has a strong Chinese flavour in the music. Sometimes the dancers hold long scarves during the performance.

Joget, this is Malaysia’s most popular traditional dance, is a lively dance with an upbeat tempo. Performed by couples who combine fast, graceful movements with playful humour, the Joget has its origins in Portuguese folk dance, which was introduced to Malacca during the era of the spice trade.

Zapin, is a symbol of Islamic influence on Malaysian traditional dance. Introduced by Muslim missionaries from the Middle East, the original dance was performed to Islamic devotional chanting to spread knowledge about the history of the Islamic civilization. There are no hard and fast rules as to the number of dancers that perform. However because of the very interactive nature of this dance, it is usually performed in pairs. The music for Zapin comes from an ensemble of traditional instruments which include the lute (gambus), gypsy-type bongos (marwas) and the violin.

 

 

 

 

 

Gymnastics

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