World Harvest Festival cultural showcase

The Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV) hosted the World Harvest Festival (WHF) for the third consecutive year recently.

Besides experiencing the rich cultural heritage of the state’s multiracial communities, visitors were entertained by international groups from Uzbekistan and Lithuania. The latter’s participation further enlivened the celebration in the spirit of brotherhood and friendship.

One of the highlights of the WHF was the highly anticipated re-enactment of the Orang Ulu legend, ‘Belawan Bureing – Hercules of the Keliman River’.

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Memorable end to Sabah's Kaamatan

FOR a whole month, Sabahans celebrated the Kaamatan festival with pomp and splendour. And the merry-making ended with a big bang in another memorable year.

The grand finale was the Unduk Ngadau or beauty queen contest held at the Hongkod Koisaan hall in Penampang near Kota Kinabalu last Thursday.

The event saw 18-year-old Joanna Sue Henly Rampas beat 36 other contestants to clinch the title.

Joanna, a Universiti Tun Abdul Razak student, impressed the judges in the question and answer session and her ability to converse in English, Bahasa Melayu and Kadazandusun.

Continue reading (incl. pics) at: Memorable end to Sabah's Kaamatan

Miri’s first oil well stands stately at museum

THE “Grand Old Lady” is no stranger to Miri folk, but for visitors a trip to this oil city in northern Sarawak would not be complete without stopping by to see her.

This “lady” is actually the first oil well to be sunk in Miri.

Located on top of Canada Hill, it provides stunning views over Miri and the sea.

The well was dug on August 10, 1910, and completed on Dec 22 the same year, the first of 624 wells to be commissioned in Miri’s oilfield.

After a remarkable record of 62 years in service and produced over 650,000 barrels of oil, the “Grand Old Lady” was finally decommissioned in Oct 31 1972.

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Spectacular Weston

WESTON: The craving for the best fishing ground was what first led Eric Tan and friends to Weston, an old laid-back town nestled in mangrove, riverine and gymnostoma swamp forest some miles south of Beaufort.

Fish talk led them to one Haji Jaafar, and soon the group hired a boat for a ride along the Si Jam Jam river.

“I felt the serenity and tranquillity and I knew that there was no turning back,” said Eric, a fishing enthusiast and businessman.

The Weston Association is extensive in bays and estuaries and with it hundreds of proboscis monkeys, various other types of monkeys like the macaque and silver langours, monitor lizards, giant mudskippers, smooth otters, flying foxes and snakes, crocodiles, kingfishers, egrets, eagles, and a whole range of birds and other wildlife.

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Kaamatan, Korean style

KOTA KINABALU: Yongho High School, in Gyeonggido Province of South Korea, plans to celebrate the Kaamatan Festival as an annual affair through a youth cultural exchange programme with students in Sabah.

The Koreans, who made their maiden visit here last year, are back this year with 38 students aged between 10-17 years, said Jasmine Lee, an English teacher in the school, which is located about an hour’s drive from the capital of Seoul.

The primary, middle and high school students participated yesterday at the culmination of the month-long Kaamatan celebrations at Hongkod Koisaan by setting up a food stall.

Continue reading (Incl. pic) at: Kaamatan, Korean style