Heritage of Borneo Night Delivers “Padi Spirit”

The Heritage of Borneo was held in Auditorium Kompleks Perdana Siswa (KPS) Universiti of Malaya, with the theme of “Preserving Our Culture and Enhancing Unity”. This collaboration of Persatuan Mahasiswa/i Sabah Universiti Malaya and Persatuan Mahasiswa Sarawak Universiti Malaya too is to bring the “Padi Spirit” in the campus.

Both of the Unions are from the Borneo, so they were helping to make this event a success. This is to celebrate Kaamatan -- the harvest festival which is celebrated annually by the people in Sabah and Sarawak.

There were three competitions that night which were Unduk Ngadau, Miss Gawai for Iban ethnic – a beauty pageant contest and Sada Nyawa – a singing competition.

All the participants dressed up and sang according to their own ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak.

The director of this programme, Onna Mary Benjamin Yanggau said that this is to celebrate Pesta Keamatan in the campus. Besides, it is to promote the culture and as a platform to be the unity icon for others.

“Let the campus experience the Pesta Menuai Padi and Pesta Keamatan. This is to show the people of our cultures from both states in Malaysia,” she added.

The director admitted that the main obstacle was to find the sponsorship. But, with the determination of the committee members, they managed to get enough funding to support the programme.

Dr Laurence John, the Chairman of the Sabah/Sarawak Heritage Association Kuala Lumpur and Selangor said that he hopes this programme can be held annually.

At the same time, Cassandra Devi, Miss Tourism Queen International 2016 who was the judge for Unduk Ngadau competition said “There’s always first time in everything, and there’s more room for improvements”.

It was a great collaboration for Sabah and Sarawak Unions, and there were around 500 people attended the programme although they were charged RM3 entrance fee per person.

There were also audiences from another universities such as Universiti Teknologi (UiTM) and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) too to celebrate this programme.