by This is the second time I went to the Pesta Gambus in Papar on Jul 29, to see one of the oldest stringed instrument played by Brunei-Malay people lives in south-east Sabah. I stayed there for 3 hours only to watch their Gambus competition. I wish to be there for 2 days, but I needed to work on last Saturday. It is so inhuman that nowadays still got companies want employees to work on weekend.
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Whatever, being far away from the busy city life on off-day is a happy thing to me. Papar is 50 KM away from KK city, so that shall do it. The Gambus performance is a very entertaining cultural show. Usually it starts by a team of musicians playing Gambus. Then another group of people, dressed in bright-color traditional Brunei costum, come out and dance. After a while, a singer will join the play. During the show, you would see a “silent” drama going on, which tells the life of village, a legend, or a love story. At the end, you would see more than 15 people (now a mix of musicians, dancers, singer and “actors”) busy performing on the stage.
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For sure you will see the Adai-Adai dance. This is the most famous traditional dance of Orang Brunei, which pictures the life of fishing village. The men go fishing, and their women collect and process the caught they bring home. Every year there are players from Papar, Kimanis, Bongawan, Weston towns to take part in Gambus competition. They also had Silat performance (Malay Martial Art) by kids. Look like Karate Kid or not, cute huh? They were so serious on the stage.
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Personally I think the teams last year played better and created more fun overall. I am plainly judging on the “entertainment” element. Below is the group photo of the champion team of Gambus competition this year:
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Photos taken in Papar, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo
I think Sabah state has the most celebrated festivals i.e. Gambus laaa, Kulintangan laaaa, rumbia laaaa, pesta Koko laaaa…
Are they part of STPC calendar events? Just wondering.
Nevertheless, these sort of entries are really an eye opener. 🙂 Keep up the good work man.
Kelly.
kell, i think they try to make each district to have their own unique festival, to promote local economy n tourism. ya, most of the events are listed on the stpc calendar. that’s where i found out all the events.