For the Sabahan’s the greeting would be “Kotobian tadau tagazou kaamatan” basically happy rice festival day… oh yeah you can add in an “aramaiti” to the mix which means party or festival. Well this is much as i remember from my dusun/kadazan heritage…
the bobohizan’s (witch doctors/bomoh for want of a better word) will basically do a ceremony to bless the household and crops and its a time of merriment in which copious amounts of tapai/lihing/montouku etc (rice wine - local home brew preferably, which is allowed in sabah and sarawak for personal consumption under the excuse of being its own cultural heritage preservation. apparently not allowed in west malaysia) and dancing ensues. you should really have a go at an authentic kaamatan celebration with the music and atmosphere. its out of this world.
well thats kaamatan in a nutshell for you. read up on the local folklore for further insights as to the origins significance and et al. cant give you all the answers can i? ;-)
Glad to know that someone outside the malaysian half of borneo knows and acknowledges the day!
i read in today’s papers , in sabah or sarawak, badawi saying that we should not be ashamed of the diversity of our cultures.
what the hell is he talking about? WHO is ashamed?
May 30th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Is it today? Weird. Normally there’d be government TV adverts about it. How come I didn’t notice.
May 31st, 2008 at 9:01 am
[…] a bit belated, thanks to polytikus for the heads-up, i strongly recommend her latest analytical piece, btw :) Tags-little […]
May 31st, 2008 at 9:26 am
For the Sabahan’s the greeting would be “Kotobian tadau tagazou kaamatan” basically happy rice festival day… oh yeah you can add in an “aramaiti” to the mix which means party or festival. Well this is much as i remember from my dusun/kadazan heritage…
the bobohizan’s (witch doctors/bomoh for want of a better word) will basically do a ceremony to bless the household and crops and its a time of merriment in which copious amounts of tapai/lihing/montouku etc (rice wine - local home brew preferably, which is allowed in sabah and sarawak for personal consumption under the excuse of being its own cultural heritage preservation. apparently not allowed in west malaysia) and dancing ensues. you should really have a go at an authentic kaamatan celebration with the music and atmosphere. its out of this world.
well thats kaamatan in a nutshell for you. read up on the local folklore for further insights as to the origins significance and et al. cant give you all the answers can i? ;-)
Glad to know that someone outside the malaysian half of borneo knows and acknowledges the day!
June 1st, 2008 at 12:06 am
thanks, li tsin! kotobian tadau tagazo do kaamatan. greetings from sabah! aramaiti.
June 1st, 2008 at 7:45 pm
i read in today’s papers , in sabah or sarawak, badawi saying that we should not be ashamed of the diversity of our cultures.
what the hell is he talking about? WHO is ashamed?
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Hi,
It’s Public Holiday’s in sarawak & Sabah on Monday and Tuesday. Happy working, my dear…..Take care and cheers. “:)”