Borneo Perantis Co-Research Intiative-Episode 1
This is a presentation is supported by the Goethe-Institute in Malaysia as part of the Borneo Perantis Co-Research Initiative.
The Borneo Perantis Co-Research Initiative is a project that focuses on collaborative research where we welcome and encourage dialogue and exchange from interdisciplinary research partners in various discipline of knowledge.
The word ‘Perantis’ embodies the process of acquiring knowledge, as well as a journey of growth and development. The word also evokes a sense of tradition, reflecting the generational passing down of knowledge and also signifies respect of our culture and a virtue of humbleness in Sabah.
This aligns well with our shared and common values in the research in the history, cultures and traditions of Sabah.
At this moment in time, many academics, researchers and story tellers have come together in both Sabah and Sarawak and are collaborating with one another in the sharing information, discoveries and knowledge on Borneo history so we can better understand our past and how inter-twined Sabah and Sarawak history is.
Our values in this research initiative also serves to remind us that we may not be the experts but instead, that we are on an equal footing, and that we are here to learn from one another and to share our discoveries, so we can better understand our shared past.
I look forward to sharing with you today stories of culture and history of Sabah and Borneo and I hope you find my presentation insightful, thought provoking, but most importantly, an aspect of Sabah you may not have known before.
Sabah's population is made up thirty-three indigenous ethnic groups that communicate in over 50 languages and 80 ethic dialects. Whilst the Kadazan-Dusun-Murut-Rungus or ‘KDMR’ comprise as being the largest of all ethnic groups in Sabah that make up over 40% of the Sabah population, we have many others you may not have heard of: the Kedayans, the Tidungs, the Brunieans, the Lundayeh, the Idaahan, the Tatana's and so forth.
Whilst Sabah has been a land of migration for over a thousand years, it is today also comprising of many different ethnic groups and peoples who make up the people of Sabah through great culture diversity, spread far and wide across the state, where inter-marriages are very common and sharing a harmonious relationship of tradition and festivals is a norm.
We also have a sizeable population from neighbouring territories such as Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Java, Timor and the Philippines along-side the Hakka’s and Indian’s. Historically, the first Indian to have arrived in Sabah did so in 1868 whilst the Hakka’s began migrating into Sabah significantly earlier as Sabah has long-term ties with China going back 1500 years or more.
Some indigenous ethnic groups still retain their original cultures, traditions and remember their history annually and this is celebrated as our annual Harvest Festival for the entire month of May.
The Harvest Festival in Sabah is an annual month-long celebration ending in a carnival-like party on the 30th and 31st May every year; which has deep cultural roots going back centuries as a time of celebration and dance, and gathering of communities during the annual ‘Pesta Kaamatan.’
It is tied directly to early rice cultivation and in both legends and folklore.
Animist indigenous groups once believed everything in the world around us had a spirit and so, offerings were made to show gratitude after a successful harvest.
This included certain rocks, rivers, trees and anything abnormal that was different from the norm. As indigenous groups transitioned from being purely hunter-gatherers or nomadic hunters thousands of years ago to having learned to farm and plant rice, this may have led to the early beginnings of the ‘Kaamatan’ celebrations.
The people feared that if they didn’t fulfil their obligations, the spirits would be angry and might leave and this in turn would lead to communities facing great hardships including great famines and drought or endless monsoon rains that would flood their crops.
As crops were only harvested once a year and then stockpiled as surplus to last for the rest of the year, one period of famine and drought or extreme rain and flooding would mean no rice for the rest of the year which may have led to starvation as rice was and still is an essential part of our daily staple diet, as is the case throughout South East Asia.
Narration: Avtar Singh Sandhu
Production & Editing: Avtar Singh Sandhu
Video Footage with kind consent & courtesy of Amazing Sabah
Original video footage: Sabah Harvest Festival / Tadau Kaamatan / Pesta Kaamatan/ Pesta Menuai, Sabah, Malaysia
To view original video footage by Amazing Sabah, kindly visit link below:
Link: • Sabah Harvest Festival...
Негізгі бет SABAH: LAND OF CULTURES, TRADITIONS & PEOPLES EP-1
No video
Пікірлер