A Night at 2011 Sabah Fest

Tuesday, May 24, 2011 - - 0 Comments

I’m back!!! From a long time vanish from blogging...I have been gone through the semester with a lot of memorable moments, happy, sad, entertaining and also boring. However, anything happens I’m glad that all have passed.. I have been to the Sabah Fest 2011 recently, and it was the first time I been to the event. Well, what is it all about then?This year, Sabah Fest took the theme from a folk tale “Pa’pakang : The Odyssey of Seven Brothers”, a tale that depicts seven brothers found themselves a magical stone, the Pa’pakang while bathing at the Liwagu River nearby their village. They were fighting and arguing to possess the stone for himself. Then the father intervened, so he decided to throw the stone and it divided into seven pieces, one each for the brothers. Their father said that each piece is a legacy and told them to keep it safely, to prove their identity as siblings and as a reminder of their place of origin, Nunuk Ragang.As Nunuk Ragang faced famine, plague and increasing population, all of the brothers fled except the youngest, named Aki Lintobon become the headman of Nunuk Ragang after his father died.One night, Aki Lintobon dreamt of the calamities that befallen on his village, and separation of his brothers. When he woke up in the morning, he felt an overwhelming sense of sadness and burning desire to find his brothers. So he told the villagers about this and decided to find his brothers, brought along his piece of the Pa’pakang stone.One by one, he found his brothers, according to the chronology, Aki Tomui of Pitas (Orang Sungei), Aki Runsud of Kudat (Dusun Rungus), Aki Datoo’ Garudin of Kota Belud (Dusun Tindal), Aki Tinggoron of Lahad Datu (Dusun Subpan), Aki Longguwai of Penampang (Kadazan) and lastly Aki Turumpok of Keningau (Murut), but Aki Turumpok somehow vanished into the supernatural world so the Murut headman named Ampal united all of them with the Pa’pakang stone on behalf of Aki Turumpok.It was a very colourful and cultural extravaganza that almost 2000 people packed the Sutera Magellan Resort ballroom that night, which was graced by His Excellency The Tuan Yang Terutama Yang Di Pertua Negeri Sabah. The story of Pa’pakang was told in a very special way, where the odyssey of the brothers reveals almost all cultures of Sabah.Well, it’s worth of having a pass to the event anyway. . .