Bario Food Festival at the Tribal Stove a huge success

http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/05/03/bario-food-festival-at-the-tribal-stove-a-huge-success/

Posted on May 3, 2013, Friday

FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE: Sabrina trying out the ‘sape’ with members of ‘Anak Adi’.

KUCHING: The Bario Food Festival held recently at the Tribal Stove, the only Kelabit restaurant in Kuching was a success.

Hundreds of people donated generously by purchasing coupons in exchange for a traditionally cooked meal.

Long lines formed during lunch and dinner hours and the response to the food was certainly encouraging.

Organised by the Women’s wing of Rurum Kelabit Sarawak, members of the community presented a smorgasbord of delicious organic food from the Kelabit Highlands which included dishes such as ‘busak keluduh’ and ‘ubud tubu buen’ which is ginger flower and wild ginger pith salad and ‘launau’ which is local asparagus grown in the highlands.

For many of the guests, this was a first-time experience in savouring Kelabit cuisine.

Among them were Adeline Ong, from Singapore who came with her husband, Eugene Chin and a host of friends.

“I think the food is just incredible.

“This is my first time savouring food from the Kelabit highlands and I just can’t get over how fresh and organic everything is. The whole environment felt so authentic with traditional music and dancing in the background,” she enthused.

Also enjoying the unique culinary and cultural experience was Sabrina Bujang who came with Jiman, a guest from Kuala Lumpur.

“The event was really fun and unique. I enjoyed the food tremendously and we stayed on for quite a while to enjoy the performances and meeting people from all over. I think we overstayed and we had so much fun that unfortunately my friend missed his flight. He has no regrets though as we all had a great time.”

Apart from food, the event also showcased the wonderful dance and music from the Kelabit highlands, featuring cultural dances by ‘Anak Adi’, a griup of young members of the community accompanied by the amazing sounds of live sape’ music played by accomplished musicians such as Julian Cottet from Paris who gave a wonderful rendition of contemporary ‘sape’ music and Desmond Junek who gave an equally awesome rendition of traditional Orang Ulu music.

The food fair was organised to raise awareness of the Bario and Kelabit Food and Cultural Festival or Pesta Nukenan, which is a yearly event, held in Bario, organised by the Women’s Group (Kaum Ibu).

Now in its eighth year, the event will be held from July 25 – 27.

Rurum Kelabit Sarawak president Datuk Isaac Lugun was on hand to greet the guests.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/05/03/bario-food-festival-at-the-tribal-stove-a-huge-success/#ixzz2Xo6XEFtc

Sarawak Highland Folk Music Festival expects a big crowd

http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/10/09/sarawak-highland-folk-music-festival-expects-a-big-crowd/

by Jenifer Laeng, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on October 9, 2012, Tuesday

COMMITTEE MEETING: Dennis (seated, centre), Penan chief Temenggong Datuk Hasan Sui (seated, third right) in a photo call with the organising committee after their meeting at the Resident Office yesterday.

MIRI: The second Sarawak Highland Folk Music Festival which will be held from Nov 9 to 11 this year in Long Bedian, Tutoh Apoh, is expected to draw thousands and also foreign media coverage.

The organiser’s president Dennis Ngau said the festival, held first in 2003, would be a grand event that would not only attract tourists to Long Bedian and other villages in Tutoh Apoh, but would also be used as a platform to introduce traditional music to the younger generation.

“Apart from that, this festival will also be used as a medium to promote unity among the people and also the use of traditional music instruments, especially among the young,” Dennis, who is also Telang Usan assemblyman, said after the organiser’s meeting at the Resident Office here yesterday.

This years’ festival will see various traditional music instruments such as Sape, Satung, Tung But, Sanang, Tawak, Jatung Lutang, Atui and Oreng being used in performances.

“So far, we have about 12 ethnic groups that have confirmed their participation,” Dennis said.

They comprise Petipun Penan Sarawak, Federation of Miri Chinese Association (Long Lama), Dayak Bidayuh National Association Miri (DBNA), Miri Kadayan Association, Sarawak Bisaya Association, Sarawak Kayan Association, Sarawak National Kenyah Association, Miri Rurum Kelabit, Sarawak Lakiput Association, Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Marudi) and Miri Berawan Association.

“If there is anyone or any associations who want to perform during this festival and have yet to register, they are urged to come forward and submit their applications before the deadline on Oct 15,” he said.

The festival is a joint effort between Ministry of Tourism and Long Bedian Village Security and Development Committee (JKKK).

‘Heart of Borneo’ communities linked by traditional music

http://www.theborneopost.com/2011/07/16/%E2%80%98heart-of-borneo%E2%80%99-communities-linked-by-traditional-music/

Posted on July 16, 2011, Saturday


FOR LOVE OF MUSIC: Elyas (centre) shows Ipoi (right) how to play the keng.

KUCHING: When Elyas Yesaya from East Kalimantan started knocking on a ‘tubong’ to create a series of harmonies, the handful of music enthusiasts and historians at the Sarawak Museum broke into cheers as the bamboo instrument, not more than two feet long, is proof that the communities living in the ‘Heart of Borneo’ share common roots.

Geographically located in the middle of Borneo, the name ‘Heart of Borneo’ was given due to the several ecological wonders of the place among them, the huge network of rivers which brought and sustained lives in both Malaysia and Indonesia.

Even though separated by borders, the cultures and traditions of the communities living on the highlands have created a bond shared for generations.

In 2003, the late Datuk Dr Judson Sakai Tagal, former state assemblyman for Ba’ Kelalan, mooted the idea to form a forum to bring both countries under one roof as a stronghold to sustain cultures and traditions without borders.

It took a year to realise the dream, when the Borneo Highlands Community and Culture Forum (Forum Masyarakat Adat Dataran Tinggi Borneo, Formadat) was formed in October 2004 among the communities of Sarawak, Sabah and East Kalimantan.

For the Sarawak side, it was formed from the Lun Dayeh, Kelabit, Lun Bawang and Sa’ban from Bario, Ba Kelalan and Long Semadoh while East Kalimantan was made up of the Krayan Induk and Krayan Selatan communities.

Sabah completed the forum with her communities living in Long Pasia, Long Mio and Ulu Padas.

“This musical instrument is unique as it sounds quite similar to the gongs of the Orang Ulu in Sarawak,” said Elyas who handcrafted the musical instruments with skills he picked up at a young age.

Among the bamboo musical instruments Elyas handed to the Sarawak Museum director Ipoi Dantan were the agung bulu, kelinang, sanang, keng, telingut and ruding.

“These instruments are made from several types of bamboo,” said Elyas who explained that some of the musical instruments are actually everyday items in their community such as the keng which is used to pluck fruits.

“The handle of the keng is cut short and a hole is drilled into the sides to produce a louder sound,” said Elyas who can speak the Lun Bawang dialect.

Each instrument, Elyas explained, can be played either in a solo routine or in a group, especially during a full moon.

The telingut is usually accompanied by the sape in a dance which can be rather seductive.

Elyas hoped more NGOs or private companies from both countries would give their support to Formadat and create awareness of the forum.

“This is to ensure that the relationship among the communities live on for future generations with continuation of their cultures and traditions,” he enthused.

Among the initiatives taken by Formadat was the setting up of a cultural fused school in East Kalimantan where workshops for traditional music were slotted in as co-curricular subjects, said Elyas.

Also making their presentation yesterday were representatives from the Brunei Museum who discovered beads in Sungai Manis on March 2002.

Sustaining Borneo Highland’s cultural heritage through music

http://tribune.my/prime/804-sustaining-borneo-highlands-cultural-heritage-through-music.html

Sustaining Borneo Highland’s cultural heritage through music

Sunday, 11 July 2010 09:00

Grace Balan

The annual Rainforest World Music Festival held at the Sarawak Cultural Village is now in full swing with festival goers flocking to the Sarawak Cultural Village. Many are here to enjoy not only the music and workshops but also to visit the various exhibition booths scattered around the village.

One of the booths features Central Borneo’s indigenous cultural traditions with the participation of FORMADAT (Forum Masyarakat Adat Dataran Tinggi Borneo or Forum of the Indigenous Peoples of the Highlands of Borneo) a grass-root, cross-border, organisation representing the Indigenous Peoples of the Highlands, in the Heart of Borneo (HoB).

FORMADAT is a trans-boundary community forum established by the main ethnic groups in the area – the Lun Dayeh/Lun Bawang, Sa’ban and Kelabit. They number around 25,000 people of whom 75 percent are on the Indonesian side of the border. The highlands of Borneo, which comprise the sub districts of Krayan Selatan and Krayan in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Bario, Ba’Kelalan and Long Semado in Sarawak, and Long Pasia in Sabah, constitute one geographic, environmental and cultural land inhabited by people who share a common origin.

The FORMADAT exhibition booth presents an opportunity to promote local products using the ‘Green and Fair Products’ branding, a new initiative supported by WWFIndonesia and WWF-Malaysia to grant fair recognition to local products and support sustainable livelihoods.

According to Cristina Eghenter, WWF - Indonesia’s Social Development Advisor, a range of high quality highland products, such as Adan rice, mountain salt, wild cinnamon, indigenous handicrafts and musical instruments are on display and sold at the festival.

“Cultural performances and poster exhibitions in and around the booth captures the beautiful landscape and culture of the land of FORMADAT as well as promote eco-tourism destinations in the highlands,” she said.

“Music and lyrics have the capacity to bind people together with a shared understanding or vision.

In many ways, this is exactly what FORMADAT represents. It hopes to raise awareness of its existence within the community and its vision and commitment to protect and sustainably develop the common cultural heritage of the land that lies within both Malaysia and Indonesia in the Heart of Borneo.” John Terawe, FORMADAT’s Malaysian Coordinator, said that another objective of FORMADAT is the preservation and conservation of the ethnic culture and identity of the groups it represents.

“The idea of coming to the Rainforest World Music Festival is to publicise and promote our beliefs and to create awareness of the ‘Heart of Borneo’.” The Heart of Borneo (HoB) is the only remaining place in South East Asia that still holds huge tracts of continuous pristine forest. It straddles the transboundary highlands of Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia that reaches out through the foothills into the adjacent lowlands.

Meanwhile, FORMADAT legal advisor Gerawat Gala said that it is a network amongst all the ethnic communities who are coming together. They share a common interest being the communities who are living in the Heart of Borneo (HoB). “These communities, the Dayak, Kelabit, Saban, Lun Dayeh and those from the Kalimantan side all share similar heritage and culture. It is important for them to ensure they share the heritage of the highlands through preservation and conservation. FORMADAT brings these communities together for the common good as we are of the same stock, same origin with a common aim of promoting Borneo highlands.” “This is the first time we’ve had a booth at the festival. It is to get a feel for all the participants who came from different areas such as Ba’ Kelalan, Long Semadoh, Bario and Kalimantan. They have all looked forward to being here. Hopefully, we can continue to participate in the festival on a bigger scale perhaps in a year or two on the musical stage because we have a rich musical heritage,” he said.

Sharon has many talents, and is showing it a step at a time

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/27/sarawak/6338706&sec=sarawak

Thursday May 27, 2010

Sharon has many talents, and is showing it a step at a time

By STEPHEN COLLIN
sarawakstar@thestar.com.my

SHARON Jit Lugun was born in Kuala Lumpur in September 1994 to a Punjabi mother and a Kelabit father. After approximately two years, she and her family relocated to Kuching where she has been living ever since. She is currently doing her level one of the International General Certificate of Secondary Education at Tunku Putra School.

This 16-year-old comes from a family that has a rich music background.

Her grandmother on her mother’s side is a prolific singer who sang at temples while her father is an amazing singer who taught Sharon to sing from a young age.

PHOTO: Versatile singer: Sharon performing on stage

She cited the latter as a cultural talent among members of the Kelabit ethnic group, a talent that gets passed on from one generation to the other.

Coming from a family that puts emphasis on education, she has Business Studies and English as her favourite subjects.

She started performing at the early age of seven. She started singing in Kelabit with a group of 13 girls called Kan’id, which means cousins, as the group was comprised of cousins.

With the group, she performed at the Rainforest World Music Festival for three years. She sang, danced and co-wrote the songs the group performed. She has also performed at different local gigs and functions.

PHOTO: Supportive family: Sharon (second from left) posing with (from left) her mother Nikki Lugun, her sister Karen and father Isaac Lugun.

In 2008, the group released a ten-song first album in Kelabit named Kan’id featuring the songs they had performed at the Rainforest Festival.

“I also play the sape (an Orang Ulu lute),” she said.

She started playing the instrument at the age of seven.

On her own now, she is working on a new album that will be released at the end of the year.

However, the first song in the album, No Intentions, produced by influential Malaysian producer Audi Mok, is currently getting airplay.

The song not only speaks of her talents but also about how her experiences are the greatest inspiration when it comes to song-writing.

Inspiration hit her while she was on an airplane from South Korea and thinking about the situation she had faced a few weeks earlier. She grabbed her pen and wrote the song at the back of the boarding pass since she had no paper.

When she got home, she played the song on her guitar and this is how the song came to be.

It speaks about falling in love with no intentions and directions, and its repercussions. The video of this song, that was written in ten minutes, is expected to come out at the end of the month.

The way she learned to play the guitar is also fascinating. Last year, she taught herself to play the guitar within a week, as a result of boredom. Prior to this, she had other guitarists to strum for her. Playing the guitar has helped her in music creation and performing without depending on others.

Prior to recording No Intentions, she did covers of songs like I Am Yours by Jason Mraz and Hating On the Club by Rihanna.

She has also done covers like Stand by Me by Ben E. King and Summertime composed by George Gershwin for Porgy and Bess.

“I also performed at the Green International Festival last year, the launch of The Star, Night of Expressions at Inti College and other local functions,” said Sharon.

She listens to a wide range of genres like R&B, pop, folk and jazz.

Singing in alto, she said her rich background and passion for music helped her develop her talents.

She collaborated with the African group Sound Circus in their album Something About You where she contributed background vocals.

Apart from singing, Sharon is a debater. She is a two-time semi-finalist at the World School Debating Championship organised by Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak.

Last year, she won the second-best speaker title and her team won the most promising team title after making it to the semi-finals in their first attempt at the competition.

Although she loves singing, she wants to pursue a career in law. She likes standing up for herself and others and human rights is closest to her heart.

Currently, she is in the cast of Making a Difference, a production that is part of the Sarawak Youth Rally to be held at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching on July 23.

She is also an avid reader and her favourite novels are Kite Runner and The Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It made her cry, she said.

She is also engrossed in the work of Enid Blyton.

Her guiding principle is to strive to do the best.

Her biggest contradiction, she said, is that people think she’s shy and reserved while she’s really outgoing and light-hearted.

The future holds good things for her and she is taking it a step at time to reach her goals.