Tag - Culture

KOTA KINABALU: The 11th Kalimaran Festival, an annual Murut cultural celebration, will be held at the Sabah Murut Cultural Centre in Tenom from April 11 to 13. Kalimaran refers to craftsmanship by the Murut ethnic. The festival celebrates the richness of culture of the Muruts and presents most of their cultural aspects. Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Kamarlin Ombi said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman was expected to officiate at the event at 7pm on April 13 at the Sabah Murut Cultural Centre. The festival is co-organized by the state government through the Sabah Cultural Board and Tenom District Office in collaboration with the Sabah Murut Association. Kamarlin said a new programme was added to the three-day event this year, that is the Tolak Bala ceremony to be held at 2pm on April 11. He said the aim of the ceremony was to fend off any undesirable elements like bad weather to ensure the programme ran smoothly. The 10th Kalimaran Festival held over three days in 2012, attracted 15,000 visitors. “This year, we are targeting 30,000 visitors,” Kamarlin said in a press conference here yesterday, adding that the event was not held last year due to the 13th General Election. “The event not only draws visitors from Keningau, Tenom and Nabwan, but also from Lawas and Sarawak as well.” As of now, hotels in Tenom are reportedly fully booked during the duration of the festival. He also believed that foreign tourists would participate in the festival. The state government has adopted Kalimaran Festival as a state-level event since 2003, the first being held on April 4-5, 2003. The objectives of organizing the event are to preserve the uniqueness and beauty of the Murut ethnic culture in Sabah as well as to elevate Murut arts and culture at district, state, national and international levels. The event also aims to promote Tenom as an attractive tourism destination, in addition to boost local economy through the sale of handicraft, food and traditional tools by the locals. A range of programmes has been lined up for the three-day event, including an exhibition on the eight Murut sub-ethnics, namely Tagol, Timugon, Bookan, Nabai, Kolor, Paluan, Sebakung and Tangala. There are also a contest on traditional hut, sale and exhibition of handicraft, Ralaa Kalimaran competition, cultural parade, drawing contest and more. When asked whether the organizing committee will cut down on entertainment elements due to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Kamarlin said the event was a cultural festival. He said the organizing committee understood the circumstances and thus would tone down the festival. Source: Borneo Post

KOTA KINABALU: Christopher Knowles was only a child when his father, Robert Knowles (O.B.E.), moved their family of four to North Borneo – now Sabah – to assume the position of Assistant Commissioner of Trade and Customs in 1947. Although the Knowles family left for Singapore en route to the United Kingdom months later, Robert returned to North Borneo alone the year after to resume his position in Kota Kinabalu, known then as Jesselton. Forty seven years later, Knowles Jr made a visit to Sabah, this time together with his wife, Angela Knowles, to join Sabahans in honouring his late father, through the ‘North Borneo Sacred Legacy Photographic Exhibition VI: Robert Knowles Collection, at the Sabah Museum, here yesterday. The exhibition was launched yesterday by Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun and will be held from February 18 to May 18. Robert Knowles (O.B.E.) worked for the Customs in North Borneo from 1947 until he retired as the Regional Controller of Trade and Customs in 1963. His work had brought him to many parts of Sabah, during which he put his love for photography to good use. His hobby in photography had enabled North Borneo’s post-war recovery, rehabilitation and growth along with its diverse culture and beauty of nature to be captured and preserved in a photographic documentation that is integral to Sabah’s cultural and heritage preservation. In his launching speech yesterday, Masidi pointed out how the state’s diverse culture and beauty of nature had even then inspired Knowles to capture and document these assets, despite the post-war condition of the state back then. These assets, he said, continue to make Sabah a unique destination and attract tourists from everywhere. He urged the museum fraternity as well as others to utilise their photography skills to immortalise the state’s legacy which will benefit the future generation. Sabah Museum Department director Joanna Kitingan disclosed that Robert Knowles had contributed a total of 2,200 film negatives containing diverse images of North Borneo from 1947 to 1965, taken by Knowles through his lens, which he developed and printed himself at his home. Due to space constraints, only 120 odd photographs covering people, events, places, buildings, boats, locomotives, and various economic activities have been selected for the exhibition at the Sabah Museum. Source: Borneo Post