by Datu Aloysius Dris :
I was invited to the official launching of the Gawai Carnival Redeems 2009 held on 4th July which took place at the Redeems Centre, Jalan Apar-Segong, Singai, Bau. To me it was an event worthy of the name Gawai Carnival which the organizers have adopted to call the occasion. I was highly impressed by what I saw and the event was in many ways quite special from the point of view of the variety of programmes be they traditional, popular or modern. Apart from the Bisingai themselves the participations were from a variety of people including foreigners and tourists.
Among the wide range of interesting attractions at the Festival was a specially recreated Bidayuh Longhouse of natural authentic materials and decorations with handicrafts and artifacts to give the appropriate atmosphere and the feel of a traditional Gawai with the longhouse folks donning their bright and beautiful traditional attire and most importantly, with friendly and smiling faces, ready to receive and entertain their guests.
The organizers, the Bisingai leaders, with the strong support of their people deserve congratulations and accolades for what they shared among their members and presented to the visitors at the Carnival. The presentations were educational in many ways, fun and entertaining in some respects and serious in other ways.
Surely the visitors can feel the strong sense of fellowship and friendliness among the community members and guests at the Carnival. There was something for everyone to enjoy and experience, from entertainment to foods both the traditional and authentic Bidayuh food including the fusion delicacies.
From the traditional games in competitions and demonstrations and from handicrafts sales and exhibitions to the various selected development exhibitions to enhance awareness among visitors on Sarawak’s rich biodiversity, agriculture modernization and others, they were all intended to be informative and educational.
The festival itself was well conceived and sensitively organized with emphasis on authenticity and cultural highlights. The event has clearly been successful in bringing people together to enjoy, appreciate and savor the hospitality and the Culture of the Bisingai people presented together with the guest performers.
As in most Fairs and Festivals, food is a serious business especially among Malaysians. In this Carnival the food and beverage outlets were especially cozy and attractive village-style eateries built mainly from natural materials of wood and whole and split bamboo fastened by split rattan as floorings. These materials were mostly obtainable locally and from the surrounding areas.
It was obvious that the Bisingai has demonstrated their preparedness to work together to move their Community with time and accept the challenges of change expected of them in order to be able to achieve greater things together with other Communities. The Carnival has actually brought together through its programmes groups of performers, singers and dancers to perform together on the main stages managed and choreographed into a beautiful cultural presentation. The festival has indeed gained significant grounds in many areas of both intra and inter-community relationships in the process of organizing the Carnival.
An interesting remark by YB Dato Peter Nansian, the President of Redeems, in his welcoming address that evening was the fact that some concepts adopted and adapted by the Organizing Committee at the Carnival were based on what they observed carried out at the Kaul Festival in Mukah when they were invited as guests. He admitted that some of the activities at the Kaul Festival inspired them to do the same at their Gawai Carnival.
Reflecting on this remark there must have been many occasions in Sarawak where the beautiful confluence of thoughts and ideas shared quietly but surely in our multi-ethnic and diverse Community Festivals and Events in Sarawak and with a lot of opportunity to observe and learn from one another within the potpourri of our beautiful multi-cultural and harmonious Sarawak life-style.
One of the most notable occasions that come to mind when such major confluence of thoughts and ideas on our multi-cultural interactions and settings in Sarawak was surely the Sarawak Cultural Symposium series of Conferences, Seminars and Workshops which have been consistently organized once in every five years since its inception 21 years ago, in 1988. I believe the Symposium Series have impacted and influenced many of the concepts and directions of many cultural events in a positive manner. In these particular instances the organizing of the Gawai Carnival Redeems and the Kaul Festivals over the last few years.
Congratulations, Redeems. May your success and that of many others in this commendable endeavor pave the way to bigger and better confluences among our multi-ethnic Communities of Sarawak.