Gawai Celebration: Part II

The first photo is my son (yellow shirt far right) and his new-found friends. This was taken during 3rd day of Gawai at my Auntie's house in Kampung Ampungan. The second is a photo of mums, dads, wife & kid and other family members having a rather late lunch on the same day.

Good food, lots of drinks and pretty nice cool weather, the day ended well for all of us.

Gawai Celebration for the Dayak Community of Sarawak

svajtcoIt has been 6 months since I last wrote. Man, so much has happened.

Ok I'll start with the recent Gawai Dayak celebration that's just passed. Gawai festival is celebrated by the dayak community of Sarawak every 1st of June. It's done to acknowledge the end of the harvesting season (harvesting of paddy that is) and is the most celebrated event of the dayak community of Sarawak Traditionally in tle old days, you'd have lots of events going on, such as cultural shows, longboat races, telematch competitions (for some dayak communities), and of course the inevitable "drinking of rice wine and merry-making". Rice wine has now become a bit scarce due to the considerable effort needed to produce it in time for the celebration, so the dayaks (including myself) have resorted to more convenient sources of intoxication, i.e. white man's brew in the likes of beer or the more formidable whisky. Yes, folks, Gawai is a great way to meet new friends and see / visit new communities especially in the rural areas. Don't just focus on the drinking, lads. Gawai is more of a time to get families and friends together as well as inviting new friends over for a cuppa to share joy and happiness and foster lasting friendship.

I'll post some of my Gawai pics in my next entry.

Selamat Ari Gawai ngagai bala-bala ti ngelala aku.

Welcoming the New Year

Well, Xmas has come and gone even before I can say "cheese!" The weather has been a sporadic mixture of wet and dry in Kuching, can't say it's the same for the rest of the state and Borneo island since Kuching region is known to be the wettest region of all. It was nice and warm in Kuching on Xmas day, so I guess it was a pretty good Xmas. But let's not forget those who were traumatised and made homeless by the floods in the state of Johore (south of Peninsular M'sia), about 90,000 people the last time I read the news, and the Taiwanese population affected by the very recent earthquake on Tue 26 Dec. And before that of course the landslides in the Philliphines and the quakes/tsunami in Sumatra. Ok plenty more across the world. My point is - be thankful for what you have, folks. I'm typing this right now in the comfort of my s.o.h.o. with semi-torrential rainfall serving as my background symphony for the evening, it's 6 minutes past 10pm and, yes, I'm pretty much thankful.

Happy New Year 2007 to all. May the new year provides a more positive outlook to life here in the Island and the rest of the Planet. Enjoy the photo, I took this November this year while the haze was still around. A nice, idyllic view of Sarawak River.

Christmas in Borneo

And what would Christmas be like in Borneo you might ask? Not any different from the rest of the world I would think. After all, it's about being around people who matter most to you. What people in general here love doing during a festive season such as this is to do house visits. Yep, to go to friends' houses for a Xmas visit, enjoy some food (rather sumptuous meals for some people), indulge in some small talk (mostly catching up with the entire 11 months in half an hour) and of course the inevitable question, what's your new year resolution? Even though it's still a good 5 days to the New Year.

Whatever it may be for you, let this Xmas be one of happiness and joy with your loved ones wherever you are.