By my own standards, I was deeply immersed in Kaamatan celebrations this year: I was at KDCA Hall on both 30th and 31st, even wandered into the KDCA Hall for a few minutes during the height of Unduk Ngadaumania, and also attended the Malaysia Open House : Tadau Kaamatan 2008 event at Padang Merdeka.

31st May 2008 (evening)

During that lull in the late afternoon of the 31st of May 2008, between the announcement of the state Level Unduk Ngadau 2008 results at KDCA Hall, Penampang and the start of the Open House, a little bird informed me that:

At 10 this morning, Terminal 1 Airport, Kota Kinabalu, 5,000 people welcomed Stacy AF6 home from KL. At 3 this afternoon, only 300 people were at the same airport to welcome to Prime Minister.

Both made an appearance at the Open House, Stracie / Stracy “Terlebih Sudah” Angie Anam’s maiden public performance in her home state after being crowned Sabah’s first ever AF champion.

Judging from the thunderous roar as she made her appearance singing “Rumandawi” during the parade of the Unduk Ngadau finalists, I guess that’s definite confirmation that it’s the end of normal life for Stacy. No more obscure performances at Q-Ball Donggongon at which I was fortunate enough to witness just before she entered the “academy” earlier this year. Now any photos with her will surely need custom picture framing.

She apparently performed at least 2 other songs:

Unfortunately, I missed those, perhaps because I left just before 11pm when Den Bisa was performing his part.

The event was broadcast live over RTM TV2, but I was told that the 2-hour transmission’s video quality was not up to scratch, as well as, disappointingly for many people, ended just as Stacy was starting her performance.

I was informed in the morning of the 31st that Stacy was going to perform at 6pm accompanied by a bamboo orchestra (Sound of Borneo), of which I know at least one member, and an interesting character at that. So while initially I didn’t fancy the thought of braving the crowds in Kota Kinabalu, my daughter’s constant pestering and the thought of seeing “The Undertaker / Sandboy” live on the big screen finally got the better of me.

I was there by 7, a full hour and a half before the VVIPs made their grand entrances, but no photos because the camera had been destroyed by my son a few weeks ago.

My observations:
- good weather, hence the grass was dry enough to sit on, and not too warm
- the organisers gave away free food starting 6.45pm (an apple, a few biscuits and water), in a plastic container.
- it’s a huge production, and very well done. The highlight of course is the main event, a non-stop 6-segment action, song and dance extravaganza, the set list summary being the following (in Malay):

The whole thing kicked off with a bonfire being lighted outside the main stage and Abu Bakar Ellah (Ampal) being carried to centrestage. The 3rd segment was where I felt truly transported into legendary Kaamatan stuff when Gundohing Dousia Moujing and his band of bobohizans made their entrance. For those not in the know, he’s the 6th direct descendant of the Kadazan’s legendary warrior Monsopiad (by my own calculations, lived probably in the 18th century), and has one of the coolest job titles in the world: Keeper of the Skulls [Penjaga Tengkorak], all 42 of them, which were the result of Monsopiad’s head-hunting activities. I left in the middle of the 5th segment because it was getting a bit late.
- the press, protocols, security made the red carpet path totally jampacked when the PM came in. The maidens lining the path should’ve been taken out by that time.
- there were so many invited guests present that the speeches’ (there were 4 of them) introductions took a very long time
- I swear I saw Loh Gwo Burne, the man who took the infamous VK Lingam videos and now MP for Kelana Jaya coming in via the red carpet path, and paused a few times along the way to pose for pictures among the pretty maidens lining both sides of the path
- Rachel Wesley, 15 of MyStarz LG fame, and a student at Kiulu, was impressive
- As usual my favourite singer, Evaristus Gungkit was asked to perform
- Linda AF2 performed a rather disappointing, karaoke-quality only version of Jambatan Tamparuli. Her expensive-looking wireless mike also stuttered
- Clarice John Matha, performer of my vote for the Kadazandusun 2004 song of the year performed “Salam Do Kaamatan”
- Visuals for the big screens screwed up big time during the performances in between the speeches, causing louds howls of displeasure from the crowd; fortunately it was OK during the main six-segment show
- the technicians seemed to be asleep during the Huguan Siou’s speech – could hardly hear what he was saying.
- in his speech, the PM mentioned that this years’ celebration seemed more orderly and it could be due to the Minister in charge to be a Sabahan
- After announcing the goodies earlier, including that Cabinet Commitee on Illegal Immigrants, I hope the PM saw with his own eyes the many illegal immigrants in attendance at the Open House

31st May 2008 (early afternoon)

A downpour early in the afternoon and the drizzle afterwards didn’t dampen people’s spirits, rather probably it’s more a blessing: a chance to cool down.

With two kids in tow, the only places I could hang around for long was at the back (blow-up playground) and the Murut house, but overly aggressive, intoxicated individuals spoiled the mood somewhat.

I checked out the insides of KDCA Hall just before the announcements of the final seven Unduk Ngadau contestants. Was surprised that it was not really totally packed like sardines and that the aircon was adequate.

Unduk Ngadau results:
1st: Leonie Gontuni (Penampang)

The most difficult part of any pageant is the Q&A session, which she handled very well, that could’ve been the clincher, although some people might still say the judges were mostly bent on ensuring the crown “returned” to Penampang this year:

The moments when the final 4 winners were announced:

Before the winner was announced, I swear I heard the intro to Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra op. 30 playing in the background. Of course if you want suspenseful music, it’s a good choice, being key musical motif of the greatest sci-fi film ever, 1968′s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and also the entrance music of choice for the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley.

I was surprised to hear Evaristus Gungkit’s “Unduk Ngadau” playing the moment the winner was announced. The first time I heard it being played was during the Kota Kinabalu Unduk Ngadau pageant back in 1994! It seems this has become the de facto Unduk Ngadau song.

A question: is there a specific accepted way for an Unduk Ngadau participant to react on being announced as the winner? Is one supposed to show surprise, then cry, which Leonie did not seem to have done?

2nd: Florence Masimbin (Kinabatangan); probably the most popular participant, she also won Tati Tavanus (Miss Popular: SMS votes only, I heard the prize was RM3K) and Tati Topiodo.
3rd: Emily Majil (Tambunan)
4th: Petronella Cherry Bernard (Papar)
5th: Verone Lansu (Keningau)
6th: Aloysia Thecla Philip (Kota Belud)
7th: Anne Mary Tariq Khan (Klang Valley)

The other award, Tati Tosuau (Miss Friendly) went to Nerein Okiun (Kudat).

Unfortunately Tuaran only made the top 15 and finished 2nd for Tati Tavanus. The DBKK participant, probably the tallest ever participant also made it as far as top 15.

30th May 2008 (evening)

After attending a friend’s wedding reception at Dewan Tun Fuad we proceeded to KDCA Hall. I had never attended an evening program at KDCA during the last 2 days of May, so the change was quite interesting. We arrived just in time for a fireworks show.

After about an hour, we made our way home and saw what looked like a fight outside.

An irreverent SMS received during Kaamatan season, obviously a parody of the Chip 666 SMSes from Indonesia:

Jika anda menerima panggilan telefon yg bernombor 4666, 4944 dan nombor itu berwarna seperti warna bahar, lihing, montoku dll, harap jangan dijawab kerana sekumpulan orang Dusun/Kadazan pada masa ini sedang menguji ilmu kekuatan lihing. Sesiapa yang menjawab panggilan akan merasa mulut kebas dan haus, akhirnya momis tiou sampai kalapik.

Popularity: 3% [?]

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