Kadazan Bishop to comment on this in spiritual terms

Too much focus on Unduk Ngadau Published on: Friday, May 29, 2015 Email to a friend Printer Friendly Kota Kinabalu: A life member of the Kadazan Society of Sabah (KSS) feels there is too much emphasis on the Unduk Ngadau or beauty pageant rather than the true meaning of the Kaamatan (harvest) celebration. "If you look in KDCA, it's all about the Unduk Ngadau and nothing else. The focus is not there. What is the story of Huminodun? How was she sacrificed? For what was she sacrificed? Why is the Unduk Ngadau there?" asked Datuk Seri Dr Ghulam Mohd Sayeed. "Many of the Unduk Ngadau do not even know the Kadazan language," said Ghulam, who is of Turkish-Kadazan parentage. Speaking at the Sayfol International School Sabah's Harvest Festival celebration, Thursday, he said the Unduk Ngadau was to remember Huminodun every year and to thank the god of paddy for the harvest and thus celebrate it in Huminodun's memory. "Instead, the festival is about the Magavau ceremony where bobohizans (priestesses) gather together to chant in a ritual that lasts for seven days. "That ceremony of the bobohizan is the ceremony of the cracking of the paddy, that's what it's all about. "And to me the ancestors are watching what we are doing, the spirits are watching. So it is a respect to the ancestors and upkeep of the Kadazan traditions." He said the bobohizans would begin chanting after sunset and no words chanted would be repeated adding that the chants were used to evoke the spirits. Ghulam also said that many Kadazans now do not even know what the Sumazau, the Kadazan traditional dance, is about while many also have forgotten its sanctity and religious value. He said the dance arose from how the Kadazan people would thrash the paddy during the harvest where the movement of the feet signifies how one foot would hold the stalk while the other foot would crush the paddy to separate the paddy. "And then when you're doing that, there are many birds that come in to take away the paddy to eat, so what they do is put out their hands giving the feeling that they themselves are birds. "So when the birds see a bigger bird, they won't disturb and the pangkis (a war cry) they do is to drive the birds away. "That is the essence of the Sumazau dance. It's not just a dance that came from nowhere … it is the thrashing of the paddy that became a dance." He also said in the olden days, the Kadazan costume was made from the leaf of the sago plant due to the smoothness. The leaves, he said, allow the spirits to touch the wearer when they pass through the festival ceremony. Kadazan costumes now are made of velvet which he said also gives the same smooth feeling. "Of course, some people have taken to using batik (but) I protested at KSS, I also protested that at KDCA. "I said look, you're killing the tradition by getting into the batik style thing and not only are you killing the tradition; you're also killing people's income." Ghulam also said he has done a lot of research on Kadazan culture and belief and wholly believes that the Harvest Festival is the one and only religious ceremony of the Kadazan people. He said other celebrations such as Christmas and Hari Raya were adopted celebrations that came in due to intermarriages but the Harvest Festival is the festival of the Kadazan people and was the most sacred festival of the Kadazan. He said that the festival was not just for celebration but to appease the people's ancestors and not to forget their roots, beliefs and culture. Ghulam urged Kadazans to revive the language so that the culture and traditions may also be preserved. "What does a Kadazan father or mother in the house speak to their children now? Malay. That is not the language. You speak to them in Malay (outside) but you speak to them in Kadazan in the house (to) let them learn. "(Because) when that language is forgotten, everything goes, especially now with intermarriages." He said parents need to make their children aware of what the Kadazan culture is all about before teaching them other cultures. They should also ensure their children are fluent in English as it is very lacking among children, he said, adding that English was a neutral language that can be used to teach Kadazan culture and beliefs. He said he had begun efforts to help the Kadazan children five years ago by sending some of the English teachers from Sayfol to teach in the villages for free. To date, he said, the effort had helped over 600 children. The Sayfol Harvest Festival celebration had a variety of activities among of which were a Sumazau dance performance and Magavau performance by invited guests.