Author - Trainee STB/KePKAS

KUALA PENYU: The Harvest Festival, or Kaamatan, is related to rice harvest and may have always been celebrated by the Tatana people in Kuala Penyu but many youngsters particularly those below 15 years of age may never have seen how rice is cultivated. This is because rice cultivation in the district has ceased for around 10 years, with many rice fields having been turned into residential areas or left for buffalo grazing. So when a rare showcase of paddy processing methods was shown at the inaugural Tatana Culture Carnival (Karnival Budaya Tatana) in Kampung Bundu, here, last week, many in the audience thought it was a ‘strange’ ritual. The process, known as tumutu (pounding of paddy grains to turn them into rice) was one of the competitions held during the carnival, intended to ‘educate’ the young of how their elders derived their rice from before the advent of machines. Tumutu became obsolete long before farmers abandoned rice farming. The other interesting competition was mantangon which is Tatana Folklore story telling by school children. The contestants’ mastery of the language surprised many ‘old folks’ as it was believed that Tatana language in its purest form has gone extinct as less and less people can speak it and those who do are in their twilight years. Apart from the competitions, visitors to the Carnival were able to see traditional dance performances and Tatana’s very own beauty pageant ‘Busak Mosongon’. The carnival was organised by the Sabah Tatana Cultural Association (STCA) in its attempt to preserve the ethnic group’s unique cultural traditions and language. Its president, Tan Sri Wences Angang said that they are planning to make the event an annual or at least biennial event depending on funding availability. “Since STCA was established, we managed to make Pesta Bakanjar an annual event that is listed in the state’s tourism calendar. Although bakanjar showcases the Tatana’s traditional beliefs and culture, it does not cover other traditional ways of life such as paddy cultivation and story-telling. “Through the story telling competition in this carnival, we are able to attract the interests of the young to learn the language again, and subsequently preserving it from extinction,” he told New Sabah Times. According to him, the carnival was also supported by political leaders including incumbent Beaufort Member of Parliament, Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun and incumbent Kuala Penyu Assemblyman, Datuk Limus Jury. Source: New Sabah Times