Sabah

Sabah is a Malaysian state located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in Malaysia after Sarawak, which it borders with on its south-west. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south. Sabah used to be part of the Sultanate of Sulu until Spanish colonization of the Philippines and later a British crown colony known as North Borneo, prior to partnership with Federation of Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore to form the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. Its state capital is Kota Kinabalu, formerly known as Jesselton. Sabah is known as Sabah, negeri di bawah bayu, which means 'Sabah, land below the wind', because of its location being just south of the typhoon prone region around the Philippines.

History Sabah

1500s-1800s
Sabah or North Borneo was part of the Sultanate of Brunei around the early 16th century. This was during the period when the Sultanate's influence was at its peak. In 1658 the Sultanate of Brunei ceded the north-east portion of Borneo to the Sultan of Sulu in compensation for the latter's help in settling a civil war in the Brunei Sultanate. In 1761 an officer of the British East India Company, Alexander Dalrymple, concluded an agreement with the Sultan of Sulu to allow him to set up a trading post in the region. This together with other attempts to build a settlement and a military station centering around Pulau Balambangan proved to be a failure. There was minimal foreign interest in this region afterward and control over most parts of north Borneo seems to have remained under the Sultanate of Brunei.

In 1865 the American Consul of Brunei, Claude Lee Moses, obtained a 10-year lease over North Borneo from the Sultan of Brunei. Ownership was then passed to an American trading company owned by J.W. Torrey, T.B. Harris and some Chinese merchants. They set up a base and settlement in Kimanis but this too failed due to financial reasons. The rights of the trading company were then sold to Baron Von Overbeck, the Austrian Consul in Hong Kong, and he later obtained another 10-year renewal of the lease. The rights were subsequently transferred to Alfred Dent, whom in 1881 formed the British North Borneo Provisional Association Ltd.

In the following year, the British North Borneo Company was formed and Kudat was made its capital. In 1883 the capital was moved to Sandakan to capitalise on its potential of vast timber resources. In 1888 North Borneo became a protectorate of Great Britain. Administration and control over North Borneo remained in the hands of the Company despite being a protectorate and they effectively ruled until 1942. Their rule had been generally peaceful except for some rebellions, including one led by the Suluk-Bajau leader Mat Salleh from 1894 to 1900,[1] and another led by the Muruts which is known as the Rundum resistance in 1915.[2]


[edit] Second World War and the road to independence
From 1942 to 1945 during the Second World War, Japanese forces occupied North Borneo. The Japanese forces landed in Labuan on January 1, 1942 and continued to invade the rest of North Borneo. Bombings by the allied forces devastated of most towns including Sandakan, which was totally razed to the ground. Resistance against Japanese occupation were concentrated on the west and north coast of North Borneo. The resistance in Jesselton was led by Albert Kwok and Jules Stephens of the Kinabalu Guerillas. Another resistance was led by Panglima Alli from Sulug Island, off the coast of Jesselton. In Kudat, there were also some resistance led by Tun Datu Mustapha. On October 10, 1943, the Kinabalu Guerrilas together with followers of Panglima Alli staged a surprise attack on the Japanese. The attack however was foiled. The 324 local residents who participated in the attacks, including Albert Kwok and Panglima Alli, were detained in Petagas and later executed on January 21, 1944.[3] The site of the execution is today known as the Petagas War Memorial.

When Japan surrendered at the end of the war, North Borneo was administered by the British Military Administration and in 1946 it became a British Crown Colony. Jesselton was chosen to replace Sandakan as the capital. The Crown continued to rule North Borneo until 1963. On August 31, 1963 North Borneo attained self-government. There was a call for complete independence on that date by it was denied by the British Governor whom remained in power until Malaysia Day.[4] The intention had been to form Malaysia on August 31 but due to objection from the Philippines and Indonesia, the formation had to be postponed to September 16.[citation needed] On September 16, 1963, North Borneo together with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore formed the Federation of Malaysia and from then on, it became known as Sabah and declared independent from British sovereignty.[2][5] To safeguard the interest of North Borneo in the new federation, a 20-point agreement was entered between the federal and the state government.


[edit] Philippine claim
Main article: Sabah dispute
The Sultanate of Sulu was granted the territory as a prize for helping the Sultan of Brunei against his enemies and from then on that part of Borneo is recognized as part of the Sultan of Sulu's sovereignty. In 1878, Baron Von Overbeck, an Austrian partner representing The British North Borneo Co. and his partner British Alfred Dent, leased the territory of Sabah. In return, the company will provide arms to the Sultan to resist the Spaniards and 5,000 Malaysian ringgits annual rental based on the Mexican dollars value at that time or its equivalent in gold. This lease have been continued until the independence and formation of the Malaysian federation in 1963 together with Singapore, Sarawak and Malaysia.

Despite the supply of arms, the Sultanate of Sulu came under the control of Spain. In 1885, Spain relinquished all of its claim to Borneo to the British in the Madrid Protocol of 1885.

While the claim still being exist, the present situation of illegal immigrant from Philippine entering causing much social problem for Sabah will only put the people of Sabah more fearful of this claim. In event this claim brought forward to International Court Of Justice, most people in Sabah will reject and current Malaysia Federal Government has feel the pressure from the people of Sabah.

See also: History of Malaysia and History of Brunei

Geography Sabah

The western part of Sabah is generally mountainous, containing the three highest mountains in Malaysia. The most prominent range is the Crocker Range which houses several mountains of varying height from about 1,000 metres to 4,000 metres. At the height of 4,095 metres, Mount Kinabalu is the highest mountain in Malaysia and the second highest in Southeast Asia after Puncak Jaya in Indonesia. While the government of Malaysia officially considers it the highest mountain in Southeast Asia, there are counterclaims that Puncak Jaya is the highest mountain. The argument centres around whether New Guinea could be considered a part of Southeast Asia. So far there is no precise consensus on this, and the view that Mount Kinabalu is indeed the tallest mountain in Southeast Asia is more prevalent. The jungles of Sabah are classified as rainforests and host a diverse array of plant and animal species. Kinabalu National Park was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2000 because of its richness in plant diversity combined with its unique geological, topographical, and climatic conditions.[6]

Lying nearby Mount Kinabalu is Mount Tambuyukon. At a height of 2,579 metres, it is the third highest peak in the country. Adjacent to the Crocker Range is the Trus Madi Range which houses the second highest peak in the country, Mount Trus Madi, at a height of 2,642 metres. There are lower ranges of hills extending towards the western coasts, southern plains, and the interior or central part of Sabah. These mountains and hills are traversed by an extensive network of river valleys and are in most cases covered with dense rainforest.

The central and eastern portion of Sabah are generally lower mountain ranges and plains with occasional hills. Kinabatangan River begins from the western ranges and snakes its way through the central region towards the east coast out into the Sulu Sea. It is the second longest river in Malaysia after Rejang River at a length of 560 kilometres. The forests surrounding the river valley also contains an array of wildlife habitats, and is the largest forest-covered floodplain in Malaysia.[7]

Other important wildlife regions in Sabah include Maliau Basin, Danum Valley, Tabin, and Sepilok. These places are either designated as national parks, wildlife reserves, virgin jungle reserves, or protection forest reserve.

Over three quarters of the human population inhabit the coastal plains. Major towns and urban centers have sprouted along the coasts of Sabah. The interior region remains sparsely populated with only villages, and the occasional small towns or townships.

Beyond the coasts of Sabah lies a number of islands and coral reefs, including the largest island in Malaysia, Pulau Banggi. Other larger islands include, Pulau Jambongan, Pulau Balambangan, Pulau Timbun Mata, Pulau Bumbun, and Pulau Sebatik. Other popular island mainly for tourism are, Pulau Sipadan, Pulau Selingan, Pulau Gaya, Pulau Tiga, Pulau Layang-Layang, and many more.

Catch the Jazz Festival at 1Borneo on Saturday

KOTA KINABALU: The 2nd KK Jazz Festival will be held at the newly-opened 1Borneo Hypermall on Saturday.

From 6pm to midnight that evening, audiences can look forward to a thrilling night with fantastic performances by a range of talented musicians, such as SIA Jazz Syndicate, Gravity, Ian Baxter and Friends, Jazzmatazz, Greg Lyons, the ASEANA Percussion Unit, Xion Gi, and Paul Ponnudurai.

The SIA Jazz Syndicate is made up of students from Sabah Institute of Art, who was the 2nd runner up in the Jimmy Boyle’s Young Jazz Band competition held in Penang back in 2007.
Ian Baxter and Friends are a veteran 5-piece band who delivers melodic sounds. A new generation of young musicians, Gravity, is an 8-piece band from Kota Kinabalu.
Jazzmatazz is the new band formed by Asif, the former Son-2-nos band leader who played at last year’s festival.

The ASEANA Percussion Unit will wow fans with their fusion of sounds created by various instruments from different cultures.
British born Greg Lyons will be serenading the crowd with his saxophone; Xion Gi will play his Brazilian-influenced music whereas Paul Ponnudurai is the one-man band.
The KK Jazz Festival is sponsored by 1Borneo and is organised by the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu and the Society for Performing Arts Kota Kinabalu Sabah (SPArKS), and supported by Dewan Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu (DBKK).

Organising Chairman, Frankie Fu of the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu explained that proceeds from the Jazz Fest will be used to finance the club’s various community projects, such as the Avoidable Blindness programme, a free medical camp in outlying villages, a 12km water gravity project at Kg Teringai Laut, Matunggong, and a $30,000 building extension for the Sabah Centre of the National Stroke Association of Malaysia at Mile 2, Jalan Tuaran.
Meanwhile, SPArks president and co-organising chairman, Datuk Adeline Leong said the KK Theatre Group will hold the Street Theatre show at 1Borneo from 1pm to 4pm on June 29.
Tickets to the festival are priced at $50 and $100 and can be obtained from all Coffee Bean outlets. For enquiries, call Sri Pelancongan at 088-232121. Tickets will also be on sale on Saturday at 1Borneo.

Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan 2008 "RESULTS"

Miss Leonie Lawrence Gontuni (Penampang)

Congratulations to all the winners!
Unduk Ngadau: Miss Leonie Lawrence Gontuni (Penampang)

1st Runner Up: Miss Florence Masimbin (Kinabatangan)

2nd Runner Up: Miss Emily Majil (Tambunan)

3rd Runner Up: Miss Petronella Cherrybernard(papar)

4th Runner Up: Miss Verone Lansu (Keningau)

5th Runner Up: Miss Aloysia Thecla Philip (Kota Belud)

6th Runner Up: Miss AnneMary T Khan (Klang Valley)

"STACY" Gets Royal Welcome

KOTA KINABALU: Akademi Fantasia 6 winner Stracie Angie Anam was given a rousing welcome home yesterday.

Over a hundred fans, family members and friends turned up at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport to welcome the 18-year-old, the first Sabahan to win the popular Astro talent search reality show."My goodness, I didn't expect such a big welcome. I'm surprised and very thankful," beamed the part-time singer.She was mobbed by fans, who were kept back by her entourage, and posed for pictures and signed autographs before being ushered into a car to be taken to a hotel in the city centre.Fans were at the airport as early as 9am, and they waited for more than an hour before she emerged.Among the throng who greeted Stracie, better known as Stacy, were her former band mates from the group Rimba."I can't wait to go home and spend time with my family. I missed Sabah. There's just no place like home," she said.Her mother Agnes said she expected life at home would change now. Stacy, the fifth of her six children, will be far busier because of her newfound stardom."But I don't mind. I'm so happy she has achieved what she has set her heart on. She worked hard," Agnes said.
The first thing the family plans to do with Stacy's winnings is to renovate the family home in Kampung Tuavon, Penampang.Her parents are retirees.Stacy beat finalist Mohammed Idris Mohd Zaizizi (Riz) for the AF6 title.She received prizes worth RM733,734, including a four-room bungalow in A Famosa, Malacca, a Peugeot 307 XS from Naza Motors, RM25,000 cash from Hotlink, holiday packages, a Sony Playstation sponsored by Astro and the AF6 trophy.

The Origins of "KADAZAN" and "DUSUN"

There are many explanations and theories about the origins and meanings of the word ‘Kadazan’. In this short article, the writer shall try to explore the more popular meanings and origins put forward to explain the word ‘Kadazan’. Some of the more popular explanations put forward to explain the origins and meanings of the word ‘Kadazan’ are: Firstly, it is believed that the word came from ‘kakadazan’, which means ‘towns’. Secondly, it is believed that the word came from ‘kedaian’, derived from the word ‘kedai’ and supposedly to mean, people of the town. Thirdly, it is believed that the word came from ‘Kedayan’, the name of an ethnic group, residing mainly in Brunei and Labuan and not identified as part of the so-called ‘Dusunic’ peoples. Fourthly, it is believed that ‘Kadazan’ means ‘the people’. And fifthly, that the term was coined by politicians.Let us examine the first explanation that ‘Kadazan’ came from ‘kakadazan’. ‘Kakadazan’ in the Tangaa’ dialect means ‘towns’. Did the Penampang and Papar Kadazan really name themselves after the word ‘town’? If so, why? Presumably, part of this view is the belief that the word ‘Kadazan’ was coined in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. To judge the merits of this explanation, we have to consider the historical background of urban development in the Penampang District. In the fifties, there were only two towns, namely Donggongon and Kasigui. Donggongon had about 20 shops arranged in two rows on each side of the road, and Kasigui had about 10 shops built on one side of the road. Except for one shop, all the other shops in both Donggongon and Kasigui were owned by Chinese. The Penampang Kadazans were scattered in numerous villages in the Penampang District and they still are. How come these people, who never stayed in a town, suddenly decided to call themselves after ‘town’? Those who proposed this view have not come up with answers as to why these people––who did not live in a town––had decided to call themselves ‘people of the town’. The second explanation for the origin of the word ‘Kadazan’ was that it was derived from the word ‘kedaian’ from the Malay word ‘kedai’. The writer looked for the word ‘kedaian’ in the Kamus Dewan, a Malay dictionary but failed to find such a word. Why would a group of people look for a non-existent foreign word to call themselves? Again those who espouse this explanation have not come up with valid reasons why the people of Penampang and Papar called themselves after a shop.The third explanation is that the word ‘Kadazan’ came from the word ‘Kedayan’, which is the name of an ethnic group living mainly in Brunei and Labuan. In this explanation, it is not clear as to when this so-called change was made. As the Kedayan people are not part of the so-called ‘Dusunic’ group, there was and is very little contact between the two groups. In pre-Chartered Company days, any contact between disparate groups usually means war, and the Kedayans were residing too far away from Penampang to have any significant relationships with them and to have influenced them to adopt their ethnic name. Those who put forward this explanation have not given any reasons why the Kadazans of Papar and Penampang had decided to call themselves after the Kedayans. Moreover, the word ‘Kedayan’ is pronounced as [kĕdayan], therefore the sound [ĕ] need to have undergone a big change to become [a] in the word ‘Kadazan’, also the sound [d] in ‘Kedayan’ is plosive (“hard d”) whereas the sound [d] in ‘Kadazan’ is implosive (“soft d”). Linguistically, this phenomenon seldom happens, what more when the sound [ĕ] does not exist in the sound system of the Kadazan language.The fourth explanation is that the word ‘Kadazan’ means ‘the people’. The Bobolian or Bobohizan (priestesses) say that the meaning of ‘Kadazan’ is ‘tulun’ or ‘tuhun’––people. This is not surprising as native peoples of the world seem to refer to themselves as ‘the people’ when calling themselves by name. For instance, the people living in Greenland and northern Canada are often referred to by outsiders as Eskimos. But these indigenous peoples, according to Priit J. Vesilind in his article, “Hunters Of The Lost Spirit” published in the National Geographic, vol. 163, No. 2, February 1983, pp.151-196––depending on where they lived and what ethnic group they belong to––call themselves ‘the people’. He wrote, “…The peoples of the Arctic, only 200,000 in the west, have stopped apologizing for themselves. They are not merely unfinished products of the civilisation process. They are the Yupiks and the Inupiat and the Athapaskans in Alaska, the Dene and the Inuit in Canada, the Inuit in Greenland, and the Saami in Scandinavia. These names mean roughly the same thing––‘the people’.” (page 155). Closer to home in Vietnam, we have a similar situation where outsiders call the indigenous people by different names but these people also refer to themselves as ‘the people’. Peter T. White in his article, “Mosaic Of Cultures” published in the National Geographic, vol. 139, No. 3, March 1971, when referring to the minority ethnic groups in Vietnam, wrote, “…These minorities often do not like what other people call them. When the South Vietnamese want to be polite they lump them together as ‘Montagnards’, French for ‘mountain men’, but more often they call them ‘moi’, Vietnamese for ‘savage’. Their own name for themselves may be ‘People of the Forest’ or simply ‘the people’ (page 323). The Chinese people often refer to themselves also as ‘the people’ and call others ‘kui’ or devil. So when the indigenous people of Penampang and Papar call themselves ‘Kadazan’ meaning ‘the people’, then it is perfectly logical as other indigenous peoples of the world also call themselves ‘the people’. As to how long the word ‘Kadazan’ has existed, it is logical to assume that it existed simultaneously with the beginning of the indigenous people of Penampang and Papar.There have also been claims that word ‘Kadazan’ had been coined by politicians in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. According to this view, the late Datuk Peter J. Mojuntin and the late Tun Fuad Stephens invented the word for political purposes.Most of the explanations of the meanings and origins of the word ‘Kadazan’ assumed that the word was of recent origin––specifically in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s––as assumed in the explanations for its origin from ‘kakadazan’ (towns), ‘kedai’ (shops), and from the claim that Kadazan politicians such as the late Datuk Peter J. Mojuntin coined the term. Is it true that the word ‘Kadazan’ was of recent origin? In fact, the word ‘Kadazan’ is not of recent origin. Owen Rutter, in his book, “The Pagans Of North Borneo”, published in 1929, wrote: “The Dusun usually describes himself generically as a tulun tindal (landsman) or, on the West Coast, particularly at Papar, as a Kadazan.” (page 31). Owen Rutter worked in Sabah for five years as District Officer in all five residencies and left Sabah with the onset of the First World War. This means that he started working in Sabah from 1910 and left Sabah in 1914. We can therefore safely say that the word ‘Kadazan’ was already in existence before any towns or shops were built in the Penampang District and that Kadazan politicians did not invent the word in the late fifties and early sixties. Thus, the most likely explanation for the term ‘Kadazan’ is that it means ‘the people’.With regard to the word ‘Dusun’ and how it came to be applied to these people, Owen Rutter in his book, “The Pagans Of North Borneo”, offers us the explanation as to how the word ‘Dusun’ came to be applied to the most largest ethnic group in Sabah. On the origins of the words ‘Dusun’ and ‘Murut’, he wrote: “The pagans are usually divided into two main tribes, to which are given the distinguishing names of Murut and Dusun. These names are, however, never used by the tribes themselves, but appear to have been applied to them by the Mohammedan invaders. The word ‘Murut’ is derived from the Bajau ‘belud’ ‘hill’ and ‘Dusun’ from the Malay ‘dusun’ ‘orchard’. So that ‘orang Murut’ and ‘Dusun’ [respectively] meant ‘men of the hills’ and ‘men of the orchards’ or ‘gardens’.” (page 30).The above account by Owen Rutter seems to suggest that the word ‘dusun’ was used by the Bajaus of the coastal areas of the West Coast in referring to the native people of Penampang and Papar. When the first white men came to the shores of Sabah, the first people to meet them were the Bajaus or Malays, and when the white men asked, “Who are the natives living in the Penampang and Papar areas?”, they would have replied, “Orang dusun”, meaning ‘villagers’ or ‘orchard people’. The white men not knowing the real meaning of the word ‘dusun’ believed that these people were called ‘Dusun’. This was how ‘Dusun’ came to be applied to the largest indigenous ethnic group of Sabah.The writer hopes that this article will in some way make the blurred picture of the ongoing question on the origins and meanings of the terms/words ‘Kadazan’ and ‘Dusun’ clearer.

Written by:Richard F. Tunggolou
Member of the Committee of Management
Kadazandusun Language Foundation (KLF)
Feb. 21, 1999

Traditional Musical Instruments of The Indigenous Tribes of North Borneo

The music of Sabah is intimately bound up with the daily lives and cultural traditions of the diverse ethnic cultures of Sabah. It can be found in many forms like ritual music (for birth, marriages, harvest festivals, deaths) love music, battle songs, story telling songs, among others.For example, the Kadazandusun Bobohizan or Bobolian (or high priestess) engages in ritual chanting to appease the spirit in times disaster like floods or droughts. Also, music and dancing are closely linked: the festive dances like the Limbai of the Bajaus and Sumazau of the Penampang Kadazans have distinctive wedding music. In fact, in most Sabahan ethnic groups, song, dance and the accompanying music are, in the main, inseperable as each element is a part of an organic whole, which permeates the lives of the natives.This is reflected in the music’s significance to festive and commemorative occasions and as a means of personal expression and entertainment. Experience, then, the intensifying power of the gong ensembles, the rhythmic tung, tung, tung harmonies of the togunggak, the healing musical balm of the suling.The following traditional musical instruments of the various Sabahan ethnic groups are divided according to the way in which they work:

IDIOPHONES: Instruments made with materials which produce sounds when scraped, rubbed, hit and without further intervention of other materials.

GONG ENSEMBLES: Are the most prevalent of Sabah’s indiophones, found throughout most parts of Sabah especially amongst the Kadazan Dusuns and muruts.The gongs are made of brass or bronze and were originally traded in from Brunei in earlier times. Usually they are thick with a broad rim. They produce a muffled sound of a deep tone.The sopogandangan from the enterior (of the Tambunan Kadazan Dusuns) accompanies the magarang, usually in commemoration of harvest festival and weddings though traditionally the magarang was associated with headhunting.The sopogandangan has more instruments (nine-eight gongs and one drum) than the sompogogungan (seven-six gongs and one drum) from coastal Penampang and used by the Kadazan Dusuns there.(This does not include the popular kulintangan).The sompogogungan accompanies the sumazau, a festive and ritual dance like the magarang but slower in tempo. The Kadazan Dusuns also play dunsai, a type of gong music, at funerals.

KULINTANGAN: Is frequently included amongst coastal gong ensembles though it is also found amongst interior natives like the Labuk-Kinabatangan Kadazans and the Paitanic peoples (both from the eastern Sabah) who have come into contract with the coastal natives. These idiophones produce predominantly ritual Music:The Tatana Dusun of Kuala Penyu (Southwestern Sabah) employ kulintangan music, and sumayau dancing, as well as unaccompanied by ritual chanting in Moginum rites to welcome the spirits.The Lotud-Dusun of Tuaran (west Coast of Sabah) use gong ensembles in the slow sedate mongigol dance for the seven-day Rumaha rites which honour the spirits of sacred skulls and the five-day Mangahau rites which honour possessed jars.

TOGUNGGAK: (Interior Dusuns)TOGUNGGU (Penampang Kadazan dusun) &TAGUNGGAK (Muruts).In older times before gongs were traded into Sabah, the togunggak was used to accompany dancing and in procession. It was and still is made of bamboo, which flourishes in most parts of Sabah. Bamboo is a great source of raw materials for Sabah’s musical instruments.The togunggak consists of a series of hollowed out bamboo tubes of varying sizes of the gongs. The music produced is a hollow and rhythmic tung, tung, tung sound of different pitches in each of the different sizes. The togunggak is played by a troupe of a dozen or so people in lieu of the gong ensemble.

MEMBRANOPHONES: Instruments where a membrane is stretched across a hallow body (the ‘resonator’) and then made to vibrate by rubbing/hitting.

DRUMS: Usually found in gong ensemble. They produce a distinctive rhythmic musical pattern, leading to the festive dances which they accompany an air of urgency or heightened sense of excitement as the case may be.Single-headed drums come mainly from the interior. For example, the tontog of the Rungus or the karatung of the Tambunan Kadazan Dusuns.Double headed drums are found in coastal areas as well as the interior, for example, the gandang of the bajau. The membranes covering the drumheads used to be made of goat or deer skin, or cowhide.

CHORDOPHONES: Consist of Chord and Resonator. Vibrations are produced when the chord is scraped by a bow or plucked with fingers and amplified by a resonator (unsually a hollow compartment).

TONGKUNGON: Prevalent mainly amongst the Kadazan Dusun in Tambunan, Penampang and Tuaran. It is made from a large bamboo tube with thin strips cut in its surface to form its strings, which can be tuned with tiny pieces of wood/ cane at each end of the tongkungon. The names and number of this string correspond to the main gongs.Though it is mainly played solo and for personal entertainment, its music can accompany dance in the absence of gong ensembles.

SUNDATANG: A long-necked strummed lute found amongst Dusunic peoples. It is made of jackfruit wood two or three brass strings. The sundatang of the Penampang Kadazan Dusun, the Lotud-Dusun (who call it gagayan) and the Rungus are more widely played than that of the Kadazan Dusuns of Tambunan. The Tambunan sundatang has a small body and a neck over one metre long.It can be played for personal entertainment or as a dance accompaniment (in the Tambunan magarang and in Tuaran where it is sometimes played in pairs).

AEROPHONES: Instruments with a column of air within a cylinder or cone. The sound is produced when this air is vibrate by the player’s lips or nose or a single/double reed or by air passing across the top of the tube. Sabah’s aerophones are mainly played solo and for personal pleasure.

SULING: Short bamboo mouth flute brown from the end with fives holes ( Tambunan ) or six holes (Penampang). The sound produced is soothing.

TURALI: Bamboo Nose fluteThis is common to Dusunic communities. The Tambunan Kadazan Dusuns call it turali or turahi whilst in Penampang, it is called tuahi. It is widely played for personal entertainment, except in Penampang and the central part of Tambunan where it expresses grief after a death.The story behind the origin of the turali is that once upon a time there was a man who had 7 sons and no daughters. When both parents died due to some illness, the sons were very grieved. However, as men and warriors, they could not cry. To express their great sorrow and grief for the death of their parents, they made and played the turali.

BUNGKAU: Bungkau Jew’s Harp (Uriding, Lotud-Dusuns) is widely found throughout Sabah. Made from polod palm wood. It is small and is held between the teeth. Its central lamella vibrates when the end of the instrument is hit. The sound is then resonated by the mouth to produce a wide spectrum of sounds. It is versalite as a device to attract edible lizards, in farewell and battle songs, for post rice harvesting celebrations and to imitate gong ensemble music.

SOMPOTON: Traditional this was from Kampung Tikolod, Tambunan. It is now prevalent among Dusuns and some Muruts.It is made of a double raft of eight bamboo pipes inserted into a gourd. Inside the gourd seven of the pipes have small polod palm lamellae or sodi inserted into their sides and kept in place by beeswax ofr sopinit. The eighth soundless pipe is stopped up with sopinit. The player blows and sucks air through the gourd mouthpiece to activate the sodi. The musical sound produced can be likened to a cross between the sounds from a conventional mouth organ and a bagpipe, minus the latters’ shrillness. Often it is played solo, for personal expression.

The Kadazandusun Community Needs Intelligent and Hardworking Youth

In view of the onslaught of modern capitalism and globalization, the Kadazandusun community needs to be able to stand tall as with the other communities around the world. The community certainly needs young, intelligent and hardworking people who possess innovation, creativity and knowledge to propel the country to greater heights. Both the State and Federal governments have always encouraged the teaching of science and technology in local universities and colleges in an effort to build a knowledge economy.
The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been playing an important role to enhance the knowledge of students in this respect through the use of various media. Today’s youth must equip themselves with extra skills such as communication, soft and social skills to secure jobs after graduation. In a nutshell, every individual youth must acquire sufficient IQ, EQ and SQ in order to remain competitive in this rat race society.
Estimated number of Kadazandusun Professionals:
Medical doctors: 50
Lawyers: 200
Accountants: 1000
Architect: 50
ICT Experts: 1,500
Business professionals: 4,000
Academicians/Scholars with Ph.D: 40
MBA Graduates: 1000
Academicians/Scholars/Professionals with Masters degree: 2,500
University graduates with Bachelor degree: 10,000
Percentage local graduates vs Overseas graduates: 80%: 20%
Literacy rate: 65%
English Proficiency among Kadazandusuns: 45% able to communicate well.
Districts with high number of university graduates:
1.Ranau
2.Tambunan
3.Penampang
4.Keningau
5.Kota Belud
6.Kota Marudu
7. Papar
8. Kuala Penyu
9. Tenom
10. Kudat
11. Kinabatangan/Telupid/Beluran
12. Nabawan/Sook
(to be continued)

*Sigh* it's Spring

“It's spring fever.... You don't quite know what it is you DO want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” - Mark Twain

*Sigh* This is a good blog to send out a sigh into the world of the web. This is a well needed and good sigh though. I went for a walk yesterday morning just as the sun was on the horizon. The world was bathed in a orange glow. It was awakening, shaking off the long cold sleep of winter. I just wanted to stay in that moment. That moment of renewal; the beginning of a new seasonIt is finally spring! The world is finally coming out from it's hiding underneath it's blanket of snow. I do love the winter, but there is something beautiful and magical about the spring. It is the time when it seems as if the world takes off the mask of winter and steps out into becoming what is it meant to be. It blooms into life again. It starts to reveal it's beauty and it's as if the world puts on a smile, well not quite a smile more like a grin, a joyous, yet mysterious grin. It's like the quote by Mark Twain, there is something about spring that makes you long for something, something you can't quite figure out. There comes a sense of adventure. You are journeying into the unknown! You want to grow right along with the rest of the world; you no longer want to stay in within your comfort zone. You want to break free. Just like the butterfly sheading it cuccoon or the flower bursting forth from the bud. It may be painful at times and you may feel that you are not getting anywhere, but one day you realize that you have become something different, something beautiful, you have left the winter behind you. You have changed right along with nature. And you feel that you have grasped what it is your heart longed and ached for, you may still be unsure of what it really was, but your heart is at peace. I encourage you to experience the spring and grow with the world. Stretch yourself, expand your abilities and possibilities. Allow God to shape you into the person that He wants you to be. It may be hard sometimes, but one day you will look back as see how far you've come and perhaps long to go even further. Seasons do change andevery one is worthwhile; they all can become an opportunity for you to experience something new.

The Winds of Change

~May you see what you see through different eyes, may you hear with different ears, may you taste what you have never tasted and go further than yourself~ (Maasai saying)

Well it's been almost three months that I have been home from college. It's been an interesting two months! It's weird being home because things are so different, yet they are the same. I'm not sure that makes sense, but what I mean is that everything and everyone seems to be the same as when I left, but something has changed. I know that things in my little home town have changed significantly in the past year; people have grown, new stores have sprung up, time has taken it's toll on my surrounding, but what I really noticed is that I have changed significantly during this past year. Over these last few weeks of pondering I have realized that the major change that has taken place has been in me. I have been seeing my life through different eyes.I have stepped out of my comfort zone these past few months and I see this as a good thing. I have been placed back into some situations that I have encountered before, but I have been facing them differently, taking them on in a better way. There are things that are new to me this summer and I feel that things would have turned out differently if I had encountered them just one year ago. It just astounds me.All in all it has been quite the year of growth for me. Not all of it has been pretty in fact there have been some pretty tough times. But I trudged on down the path that the Lord had laid for me. I may have drifted off a bit at times, but I know in my heart that I am at a place in my life where God wants me to be. I am in no way finished my little expedition of growing up and I look forward to not just my destination, but the journey.As I grow I hope that I am able to see not only my world but also myself clearer through these new eyes that God is giving me.

Have u seen Her??

Warga KE yang dihormati… This is our friend’s, Bobby. missing sister. Please read the news article below. If anyone has seen her or know about her whereabout, please call the number u see below. TQ Very Much in Advance.

From New Sabah Times Yesterday:http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/18461

Me and My Friends

This is Emily from Tambunan Sabah,

she very cute..

This is Me and Kelly'z from Keningau Sabah.
she very funny..hehehe




My friend choose blue T-shirt is Esther, and the one more girl is Elisabeth or Elcy.
both this my friends from Tambunan Sabah.
All my friends very Friendly u know,..hehee