Tag - Culture

KOTA KINABALU: Former Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan 2013, Immaculate Lojuki, added another pageant title to her name after winning Miss Earth Sabah 2014 on Saturday night. She went home with RM2,000 cash, a crown, a trophy, a return air ticket to Kuala Lumpur and a sash. Second place went to Natasha Jalius Benggon who took home RM1,500 cash, a crown, a trophy, a return air ticket to Kuala Lumpur and a sash. In third place was Gurjit Kaur Sandhu who received RM1,000 cash prize while Valentina Eddie Galing took home the consolation prize of RM700 cash. The top three winners will represent Sabah at the national level Miss Malaysia Earth 2014 which will be held in Ipoh on July 20. The finale was held at Pacific Sutera ballroom on Saturday, where winners of other subsidiary titles were also announced. The Miss Sabah Earth Best In Eco Wear category was won by Kong Sue Mei while Janet Fabian and Lojuki were in second and third places respectively. Taking the Miss Sabah Earth Best In Evening Dress category was Galing with Lojuki and Aiwen Tsen Oi Wen in second and third places respectively. The other subsidiary titles went to Ranjani Rajamanickam (Miss Sabah Earth Most Photogenic), Adriani Durahim (Miss Sabah Earth Body Beautiful), Sandhu (Most Popular via Online Choice) and Genevie Epen (Most Popular Finalist By Audience Choice). Organizing chairman Victor Bryan in his welcoming address said with the theme ‘Beauty for A Good Cause’, Miss Sabah Earth is a pageant that not only showcases the beautiful young Sabahan ladies but also aims to educate and impart the knowledge of environmental protection and conservation that are crucially needed by our society. “Contestants will become the ambassador for Mother Earth in advocating environmental issues that have to be addressed by all of us. “Other than strongly emphasizing on environmental protection programs, the pageant also aims to showcase and promote tourism destinations. It is indeed setting a legacy of beauty and responsibility,” he said, adding that this is the second year that his team from Asia Pro Entertainment has been entrusted with the important mission to search for Miss Sabah Earth. During the event, all the 15 finalists went through four rounds of competition, in which they wore casual attire in the first and second rounds, while finalists paraded eco wear which were designed by themselves. In the third round, the finalists put on their beach wear, while in the final round, the contestants wore evening dresses prepared by themselves, with the theme ‘Miss Earth Evening Dress Inspired’. Source: Borneo Post

KOTA KINABALU: Dance teams from 12 countries took part in the two-day International Folk Dance Competition which ended last night at the Tun Ahmad Raffae Auditorium of Tun Mustapha Tower in Likas. The 9th Sabah International Folklore Festival (SIFF) made a comeback as it was not featured last year. South Korea, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Russia, India, Ghana, Egypt, Indonesia and Kazakhstan featured their respective unique folk dances and wooed the crowd on the first day of competition on Friday night. The competition began with the first contestant from South Korea with its team from the Honam Sanjo Chum Research Center. Bangladesh presented its Nitto Rong Org, a well-known team in their country, followed by the Dance Troupe of Tarlac State University Performing Arts representing the Philippines which came in third in 2012. Sri Lanka also sent a colourful team from Ranranga Dance Academy for the competition, followed by Russia and India with teams from ROS and Charu Castle Foundation respectively. Ghana amused the audiences that night with its team from NKRABEA Dance Ensemble’s foot-tapping and body-jigging folk dance, followed by another unforgettable team from Egypt, the El Sharkeia Folk Troupe showing its famous spinning skills. Indonesia’s team from the Sanggar Kesenian Aceh Universitas Gadjah Mada was adorable with petite girls synchronizing every hand movement in a seated position while singing live. The crowd was also excited to see the last team competing that night, the Exemplary Choreographic Ensemble ‘Sholpan’ from Kazakhstan, with its famous tall and beautiful ladies dancing the country’s folk dance which resembled the beauty and movement of swans. Among the audience were guest of honour, Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun, who is Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment cum the organizing committee chairman of SIFF. Day two of the competition continued last night while the winner of the competition will be determined by twelve juries from the respective countries, and three guest judges. Source: Borneo Post