Ka'amatan is over!

Check the silver balls!

The last day of the harvest celebration of Ka'amatan is nearly over
and apparently there are fires burning as I write. The culmination of the month of celebrations was held at the Cultural Village near Kota Kinabalu and of course we had 30 and 31 st May as public holidays so I decided to make an effort to go and see what was going on. The closing ceremony was held in a huge hall and fortunately I knew someone on the Ranau committee who got me a place behind all the VIP's. The First Minister was there and he was seated on a throne and then the VVIP's like Ambassadors and Consulates were on the cane sofas until eventually the public were sitting on benches! The speeches were very long but the rituals and the dancing were well worth waiting for. Every region did their own dance and all the costumes were very different with some amazing head gear. There was a dance/ drama and singing and at the end of the show they decided to do the bird dance and since I seemed to be the only white person apart from the Romanian Ambassador I ended up at the front dancing with all the VIP's! I don't think anyone knew me so it didn't matter and they thought for a tourist that I danced reasonably well. I did not tell them that I am becoming an expert of bird dances in Ranau! Outside the hall there were traditional houses with people doing crafts, singing, playing musical instruments, eating and drinking. The final of the beauty pageant was in the afternoon and I didn't stay but I think you'll agree there are some beautiful women in Sabah. I love the way that Ka'amatan is embraced with such enthusiasm. Of course it is a pagan festival, that involves alcohol and women showing off their arms and legs but what the hell - it is only one month of every year. Here's to next Ka'amatan as I have another glass of lihing! I took so many photos it was very difficult to choose so this is only a small selection.

A 4 year old doing a bird dance!

A bamboo saxophone

The Prime Minister cutting the rice

Kuching again!

      As my camera has returned from its holiday in Kuching and is safely back in Ranau with its owner I thought I would share some of the photographs that I very hurriedly took on my short visit last week. Kuching is the capital of Sarawak and until 1942 with the Japanese invasion, was under the rule of the Brooke family for a hundred years. The first Rajah, as he anointed himself, was James Brooke who was an adventurer with an inflated ego who was determined to have his own personal kingdom. He managed to be given Sarawak as a reward from the Sultanate of Brunei for helping with an uprising. He then proceeded to attempt to control piracy and head-hunting with great difficulty but eventually did bring law and order to Sarawak as well as celebrating the culture and heritage of the many ethnic groups.

 Kuching which means "cat" in Malay, gets its name from the stream that came from "Cat's Eye Hill"  where there was an abundance of Green Longan fruit which is commonly known as "Cat's eye". I do intend to go back at some stage so I will find out more later.
  I have been attending the Mid Year review this week before the school holidays. Patrick will be arriving next Sunday!

A Christian wedding I was invited to yesterday

Lost and Found in Kuching

Pulau Manukan near Kota Kinabalu

Another of my recent roles that I've failed to tell you about is becoming Mentor rep. for the Sabah Interior Group of mentors. This entails a rep. meeting once a year with all the reps from Sarawak and Sabah and I'm not sure what else for the moment. Anyway the meeting was to be in Kuching and never having visited Sarawak before I was quite excited about my visit despite its very short length. I stayed the night with a friend on Tuesday so that I wouldn't be too rushed getting to the airport in the morning. The taxi came at 8 a.m and much to my horror I only had one shoe outside the house. We had a frantic search and found the other one completely chewed by the puppy at her neighbour"s house. I had no other shoes and no time to buy a pair so off I went in my friend's pair that was only half a size too small!

Descending into Kuching in our small plane

  We got to the meeting at the Hilton, ( I know I have to pinch myself) just in time but sadly didn't benefit from the free lunch, however afternoon tea, scones and sandwiches were on offer. The meeting finished at 5.30 pm and I just had an hour to wander along the waterfront before dusk fell. It is very charming with the sampan boats crossing the river, colonial buildings and an historical Chinatown. It certainly gave me a taste to return again soon All of us reps ate in a lovely restaurant in the evening and in the morning we had an early start back to the airport. I think it was somewhere between Kuching and Kota Kinabalu that I realised that I hadn't my new camera with me. Was it in the hotel room? Yes probably, so I phoned the hotel immediately when I landed. After several phone calls we established that it wasn't there so then I realised that I must have left it in the taxi. Did I know the company, registration? No. I phoned a taxi hotline and I explained my dilemma and in broken English he said he would ask around. By that time I had given up hope and was just trying to come to terms with it.
   This morning I was woken at 6.30 by the taxi driver to tell me that he had my camera. I didn't even think to leave my telephone number so thank goodness for call registers. He left it at the Hilton , then someone from the British Council offices went to collect it and my lovely camera will be returned to me next Wednesday by the Director of projects flying into Kota Kinabalu. I would very sincerely like to thank the dear taxi driver for his honesty - not sure how yet - and talk about the "luck of the Irish"!! The lovely photos of Kuching will be shown next week.

Three gorgeous girls from Preschool

Buddha's Birthday

I feel so ignorant not to know that we were celebrating Buddha's birthday yesterday, which is the most important celebration for Mahayana Buddhists in many countries. The date appears to be flexible due to Chinese and Gregorian calendars and respect of the lunar cycle. I think Ranau's celebrations were flexible due to the weekend and to cater for our visitors from Taiwan and Korea! On Friday night the Chinese Temple offered a huge free meal to everyone which I didn't feel comfortable going to but on Saturday evening Emily and I went to see the wonderful parades through the streets which reminded me of the Fete de Livarot in many ways but I have to say this was more dramatic and colourful.

 I have been trying to find out about the various themes we saw last night but not with much success. If anyone can "enlighten" me ( couldn't resist!) I would be grateful. There seemed to be three men walking with each float and they were either wearing a snake around their necks are whipping the ground or brandishing a knife and looking very fierce. A sort of carriage with a little Buddha inside known as a hanamatsuri (thank goodness for Wikipedia) was carried by several men and  rocked quite violently . The only reason we were told  was to make people laugh, however I suspect there is some other more meaningful reason. The lanterns, flags, lion dances, gongs and aroma of incense made it  a memorable evening and again one shared by everyone regardless of religion.

The Legend of Huminodun

The Bobohizans

       A long, long time ago  there was only Konoigan and Sumundu and together they made the universe and all that was is in it. Everything was beautiful and perfect until their son Ponumpulan rebelled against his parents and corrupted the hearts and minds of the people. His parents were so upset they banished him from the heavens and sent him to Koningud. Then to punish mankind for their evil ways they sent seven plagues to earth. The last plague was a very severe drought and famine threatened to destroy every living thing.

The sacrificing of Hunodunumi

A  dance/ drama performed by secondary school  students

 The people turned  back to Kinoingan, to ask for forgiveness. Their only daughter begged her father to show his mercy and forgive the people of the world. In order for the universe to become at peace he would have to sacrifice his daughter as a symbol of the greatest love of all. His beautiful pure and lovely daughter known as Huminodun agreed and she was sacrificed so that the people could have food. Parts of her body were planted and became rice and the most sacred rice of all is the red rice because it is from the flesh of Huminodun.
  Huminodun is the soul of the padi and is the seven-in-one spirit known as Bambaazon (rice spirit) When the harvest is over it is up to the Bobohizans (spiritual experts) to perform all the rituals to gather up the rice spirit who has been dispersed during the year. It is of the utmost importance that they are all brought home, rescued and healed ready for the next harvest. When peace and harmony are restored then it is the time to give thanks and  the people can dance and sing to celebrate the harvest.

In remembrance of the pure and beautiful  Huminodun and Kinoingan's sacrifice of his only daughter,  there is a Harvest Beauty Queen - Unduk Ngadau- which literally means the zenith of the sun.

The Beauty Contest Ranau

Selling Like Hot Chocolate!

I'm slightly early this week as there is going to be lots going on in Ranau this weekend that I feel sure I will want to tell you about - an International (??) Buddhist festival and in the hall just beside the Chinese Temple there will be the Ka'amatan singing and beauty contest. So hold your breathe until the next post!
 Meantime I will keep this brief about the week's events. Firstly the good news is that the CD and songbook are selling like hot chocolate ( as one of my teachers said). We will go into the first reprint next week as I think we will have sold 250 copies by then. My computer is now rebelling and only agreeing to copy a few a day so I have had to ask other teachers to help.

The "homes" of my previous neighbours.

     For a few days the construction site that is close to my house has been very quiet. I learnt yesterday from my landlady that the police raided it last week and arrested all the illegal immigrant workers and families. The boss will have a hefty fine to pay but I do wonder why the police took so long to work out that they were illegal immigrants as I knew and Ranau is a small place. I feel sad for the families and although our exchanges were limited to smiles, they seemed  good, hard working people. The living conditions they were expected to live in were probably not acceptable to Malaysians and the children weren't allowed to attend school. It's the same old story the world over.

Walking through the padi fields on Sunday before the rain

   Despite the rainy season being " over" , torrential downpours happen daily and last Sunday there was a huge 50 metre long landslide across the only road down the mountain. It took them 13 hours to clear a way through and some teachers turned back to Kota Kinabalu while others waited patiently and on Monday morning the schools seemed to be working with a skeleton staff until everyone got through. Before the rain on Sunday it had been gorgeous weather and a few mentors had come up to Ranau for a yoga and walking weekend and we'd had a very enjoyable time. J'espere que tous mes amis en France sont contents avec le nouveau President?!

Bundles and Harvest Time

         The bundles tamu (market) is the big monthly event of Ranau. It is always on the last day of the month and the first morning of the new month . By 2 p.m. they have all packed away leaving only the debris behind. The first time Andrew and I went, we wondered why everyone was so excited about bundles of second hand clothes. However when one starts to look more closely and scan over the rubbish you can find some really lovely clothes. The sellers buy these bundles from charity shops all over the world and travel around Sabah on a monthly timetable. The clothes mostly come from Japan, Singapore and Korea but there are American and European rejects too.  In and among everything , a few expensive designer names appear, some interesting vintage clothes, ski wear, children's clothes,toys, leather jackets, underwear, shoes and lots of bedding.... Everyone seems to go and it is as much a meeting place as well as a search for a bargain. As my fellow Foire a Tout enthusiasts know, it is not that we are looking for anything in particular but it is the thrill of finding something that you never knew you wanted until you see it! Now I understand why some of the ladies working in the padi fields seem to be wearing very chic designer gear and as far as I can see everyone seems to benefit in Ranau.

The Bundle challenge

Just watching

   The 1st of May is also a public holiday here and also marks the beginning of the month of the  Dusun harvest festival known as the Pesta ka'amatan. This is a Sabah festival that traditionally begins after the first full moon after the harvest is finished and  each village spends a few days in celebration and thanks of a successful harvest.The joyous thanks to the rice spirit, known as Bambaazon , are led by the Bobohizans, who are the ritual experts and nearly always women. I believe it is a very intricate and meaningful ritual which I have to find out more about.The celebrations include sports, feasts,drinking large quantities of the rice wine (tapai), dancing and singing and there is a a beauty contest held in each village with the final held in Penempang on the 30th and 31st of May ( more public holidays!). I intend to find out as much as I can about the various rituals and traditions. It is a reflection of the very laid back attitude that the Sabahans have to their new religions of Christianity and Islam. The ancient beliefs and traditions still seem to be very strong.

Harvest over! .

I