Huguan Siou (Paramount Chief) Joseph Pairin Kitingan is on a mission among the Kadazan, Dusun and Murut (KDM) community of Sabah to bring back the real significance of traditional rice wine.

He concedes that the increasing incidence of alcoholism has not helped the image of the Dusun and Murut in holding their own in the workplace, where they are losing out to undocumented foreign workers especially in the timber and oil palm sectors.

joseph pairin kitingan 010706 “We cannot deny that traditional (rice-wine) drinks such as tapai and sipon linutau have been associated (negatively) with our community,” said Pairin.

“ Tapai has its own meaning and role among our Dusun, Kadazan (urban Dusuns) and Murut. It is also a special drink that is only served during weddings, family gatherings and the Ka’amatan festival.”

Tapai drinking, Pairin explained, was originally a symbolic ritual offering of gratitude to Kinoingan (God) for sacrificing his only daughter Huminodun when the rice harvest failed badly once and the people were on the verge of starvation.

Huminodun’s sacrifice spirit is said to have infused the land and since then the rice harvest has never failed. Her sacrificial body also sprouted other crops like maize.

“The KDM community needs to be aware of the dangers and effects of alcohol if they want to succeed (in life). The KDM community needs to change its attitude (on alcohol).

kadazandusun harvest 090606 sumazau “The Ka’amatan celebration is an achievement that we should be proud of. That is why we need to get away from the image that the festival means hard drinking as well.”

Pairin is particularly concerned that drunken youths are prone to involvement in crime and accidents

The Ka’amatan celebrations began over the weekend in the villages and will culminate in a national-level cultural celebration on June 7 in Kota Kinabalu.

No threat to ‘1Sabah’

Tadau Ka’amatan (day after harvest) was originally a small thanksgiving ceremony held in the spirit of mitatabang (working together) after the harvest was gathered every mid-year.

It has now come of age at the state and national level as the Pesta Ka’amatan. The harvest festival was first celebrated at state-level in June 1982 by the banks of the Sungei Pegalan in Tambunan.

kadazandusun harvest 090606 rice padi Pairin said he is confident that the elevation of the Ka’amatan to a national-level celebration will not erode the meaning of the festivities.

However, cultural purists see the ‘nationalisation’ of the festival as a new threat to the home-grown and long-cherished but unstated notion of ‘1Sabah’.

Their fear is that the originality of KDM cultural programmes and activities will be watered down in the euphoria over the ‘1Malaysia’ slogan espoused by premier Najib Abdul Razak.

“Ka’amatan is a unique platform to unite our multiracial people,” added Pairin in dismissing the fears of the cultural purists.

“Sabah is a good example if we want to see the concept of ‘1Malaysia’ in the context of unity among the people in the state and the nation. Under one roof, in Sabah, we have siblings of different religions all living in harmony.”