“Sayang Kinabalu” is probably the most popular song of all time in Sabah.

It won the the Most Popular Song category of Pertisa’s inaugural awards, beating other excellent songs like Clarice J Matha’s “Adaa”, Danny Malinggi’s “Kada Oku Sindualai”, Reno’s “Milangad-langad Toh”, Hain Jasli’s “Nokuro”, Ateng’s “Norubat Piginawaan”.

Earlier at the end of November 2008 it was chosen as Sabah Tourism’s promotional theme song for a period of 10 years.

Written in 1992 by Asmin Mudin, it was originally released in 1997 under Roslan Aziz Productions in KL but due to “some internal squabble” it “did not turn out well.” In 2001, it was re-released through his brother, Kimin Mudin’s album and immediately became popular. It helped the album to sell 15,000 copies to date.

A sign of any song’s popularity is the number of versions it spawned – currently there are “at least 5 versions”: DJ remix, hip-hop, acapella, bamboo orchestra and in Dusun lyrics.

Back to the Pertisa Awards Night on 6th December 2008.

Yes, it was performed not once but twice.

First at the end of the official programme:

Then later at a karaoke joint next to the hall he sang it again with practically the whole room on backing vocals (including some prominent local vocalists). It was too dark for my video recorder, so I only managed to record the audio, but I think this captures perfectly the camarderie and relaxed atmosphere :-) Enjoy…

Source
Daily Express, 29th Nov 2008

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That night, Papier Mache opened Pertisa’s (Local Artistes’ Association of Sabah) inaugural awards night with gritty versions of Nung Olingan Oku Dia and Stream.

Their show’s intro was dubbed “Dream Theatre”, as James Sami who stood in for Ebert (he’s away in Indonesia) and Nond engaged in a guitar duel before Dennis Umin (who stood in for Ben Francis) hit the skins and Kuak emerged, greeting the audience.

The following amateur video would never do justice to the performance, still it’s hoped you get the idea:

Papier Mache‘s song Nung Olingan Oku Dia was nominated in the Most Popular Song category.

In the end, the category was deservedly won by Kimin Mudin’s Sayang Kinabalu.

Still, being asked to open the evening’s show was a great honour, and needless to say a great promotion opportunity.

They were the only live band who performed that night.

The show was at KDCA Hall, Penampang in front of a crowd of several thousand; the VIPs in the audience included Datuk Masidi Manjun, Minister of Tourism, Culture & Environment.

Having said that, perhaps an even greater honour was the opportunity to perform in front of their peers, the who’s who of Sabah’s music industry (artistes and producers), including:

- Abdul Hassan Angkee (one time lead vocalist of legendary Sabahan band Atomic Power, he did an amazingly powerful vocal performance later)
- Asmin Mudin (probably the greatest Kadus songwriter who ever lived)
- Atama
- Abu Bakar Ellah
- Evaristus Gungkit (the greatest Kadus vocalist ever)
- Hain Jasli
- Fhillix Don
- Opok (Bili Bili Do)
- Ateng
- Kimin Mudin
- Clarice J Matha
- Ivye Alexandra
- Lydia Kalidin
- Benn S Bukag
- Danny Malinggi
- many others

The 2 songs performed are available in their debut album released September 2008 and slated to be officially launched 17th December 2008.

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I attended the inaugural PERTISA (Local Artistes’ Association of Sabah) Awards Night on the 6th of December 2008 and ran into many local celebrities, some of whom I’ve enjoyed their music for literally decades before finally meeting them.

So unmissable photo opportunities came up again, among them with Asmin Mudin (Umbut), one of the greatest Kadazandusun songwriter ever, and his brother Kimin Mudin, the voice behind the destined-to-be-an-all-time-favourite “Sayang Kinabalu“. Umbut composed that song and many many more, including Man Bai’s “Kau Ilhamku” and the lyrics to Jacqueline Victor’s “Gemilang” which won Juara Lagu (a national level award) some time ago.

The following is part of Papier Mache’s entourage with Hain Jasli (3rd from right), legendary Kadazandusun singer. I’ve been a fan of him since 1984! His best song is I think “Nobolou Nangku Tupusku” released 2003.

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I’ve always been intrigued by the name of the American record label Death By Karaoke, now it has really happened right here in our backyard. Beware, Karaoke Rage has struck.

The late Abdul Sani Doli, who was 23 when he died is probably the most famous Sabahan in the world right now. Possibly even the Chief Minister never made the same news in so many countries & languages at the same time.

He’s made the news globally for the strange motive for his murder: stabbed to death for not letting other eager singers of a coffeeshop-karaoke joint take to the mike at Lebuh Tiga, Sandakan. He was reportedly assaulted by 3 people outside the premises.

In a demonstration that news travels extreme quickly nowadays, he was reported to have died almost midnight on Wednesday the 3rd of December 2008, then in a few hours, he’s been featured on mainstream news publications (not mentioning blogs), amongst others:

The BBC, United Kingdom

Click here to read more

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User “bubueme” of sabahforum.com, probably the most popular Sabah-focused online forum in the world asked this question yesterday, in Sabahan-style Bahasa Malaysia no less:

sia buka ni tajuk yang macam siuk sia rasa…mau tau jam brapa kamurang birak ari2…sia ari2 kerja jam 5, jam 430 bangun…kira2 445 tu birak la tu….siuk birak pagi2…cuma taim mencuci tu aduh…sajukkkkk……

Translation: I started this topic because I think it’s interesting – I want to know at what time do you all usually take a dump. I start work at 5am daily, I wake up at 4.30am and I take a dump at 4.45am. It’s a nice feeling taking a dump at such an early hour, but then it’s mighty cold when it’s time to wash it [with water].

Check out how other users responded to the thread.

Strange, that thread reminded me of probably 2008′s blog post of the year.

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I happened to borrow a karaoke VCD of a Timorese pop star, Johan Lama Kuma, belonging to one of the Timorese workers staying near us.

However, try searching for this person on the internet – I didn’t find any reference to him.

Viewing the videos, I made the following observations:

- Have you ever wondered what their place looks like? I have never heard travel agencies offering tours to where they come from i.e. the Eastern Flores islands (Nusa Tenggara Timur), hence a good way to have an inkling of what a Timorese village/town looks like is via one of their karaoke VCDs.

- They definitely can play music, with a sound that’s surprisingly good.

- The subject of their songs, apart from the usual love songs, are singing about real-life tragedies, with footage of the subject made into videos. For example, there was an incident where 5 people drowned at sea, and amazingly, footage showing the bodies was used as video backdrop for the karaoke!

- They have a penchant for sitting down anywhere while singing: among flowers, on stones, etc

- This is the first album sleeve I’ve seen where a picture of the producer (Floren Lewo Muda) is prominently displayed at the back.

Check out the following videos:

Click here to see some videos

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It was reported in a local paper on 1st December 2008 that Michael Rumadson, 37, a Dusun ex-fishmonger from Kota Marudu is probably Sabah’s first non-Chinese to operate a chu cheong fun stall side-by-side with Chinese hawkers in Kota Kinabalu.

His stall is located at the hawker area in Damai Plaza Phase 4, Luyang.

He has been operating it for 3 months.

Chu Cheong Fun is made of steamed rice flour rolls and a mixture of fillings inside.

He learnt all about the Cantonese dish from a master chef from Hong Kong when he worked for 4 years at a Chinese restaurant in Kuala Lumpur more than 4 years ago,

He was reported to have said:
- business is good;
- capital: RM3,000+
- He starts his day at 5pm.
- He can sell 70-100 servings a day.
- He currently serves 5 types: BBQ pork, prawn, shrimp, minced chicken & Chinese sausage filling.

Apparently his chu cheong fun tastes “as good as those prepared by the Chinese, if not better.”

Going to try it soon!

…but need to remind self to keep to a limit, otherwise Fentraphen beckons…

Source
The New Sabah Times, 1st December 2008

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