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Hello and assalamualaikum. My name is Anis Balqis binti Abdul Zaha. I am currently studying for Bachelor of Applied Language Studies (Hons.) English for Intercultural Communication in UiTM Shah Alam.

For this assignment, I have chosen Festivities for the cultural element and the five ethnics are Bajau laut, Rungus, Malaysian siamese, Melanau, and Chinese peranakan.

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Rungus people can be found in Beluran, Kota Marudu, Kudat, and Pitas in Sabah. They have a lot dialects depending on the place that they are staying such as Gandahon, Gonsomon, Nuluw, and Pilapazan.

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Chinese peranakan also known as Baba Nyonya origins come from centuries ago where the Chinese migrate to the British Straits Settlement of Melaka and Penang from China. After they have settled in here, the Chinese entered into intermarriage with the locals and 'peranakan' people were born from mixed marriage of the Chinese and Malays.

Baba is another term for male peranakan while Nyonya is another term for female peranakan. Other than that, Chinese peranakan people are also known as Straits-born Chinese.

Like Chinese community, Chinese peranakan also celebrate Chinese New Year, Lantern Festival, Moon Cake Festival and other Chinese festival. However, there is a festival that is specifically for Chinese peranakan which is Baba Nyonya Festival Taiping 2015.

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Bajau Laut also known as Sea Gypsies live a nomad life. They are usually seafaring on the ocean and generally live in Mabul, Bohey Dulang, Sibuan, Maiga, Mantabuan, Selakan and Omadal. They are known for their diving skills and the ability to hold breath longer than other people.

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Bajau Laut: Sea Gypsies | Aerial Malaysia | CNA Insider

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- Introduction
- Table of Content
- Bajau Laut
- Rungus
- Malaysian Siamese
- Melanau
- Chinese Peranakan
- Reflection
- References

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Melanau people also called as A-Likou, which means people of the river in Mukah dialect. They are commonly fishermen and farmers as well as skilled in building boat and trade local products. Melanau people used to be animists but nowadays, most of them are muslims.

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The Melanaus are mostly :
1. Muslim
2. Christian
3. Pagan

Traditionally malay muslim have a 'Bin' (son of) and 'Binti' (daughter of) in their names. Hence from the name alone one can guess that the person is a muslim. However all the Melanaus have a 'Bin' (son of) and 'Binti' (daughter of) in their names similar to the Malays regardless of their religion.

There are 2 theories why this has happened:

1. The registrar office

The Brooke's administration having trouble to differentiate between etnic groups with just their names. During that time some etnic groups like the kayans will change their names after marriage. Hence it is important to know which etnic group one belongs to avoid confusion.

2. Rebellion by the Melanau chieftain Sharif Masahor

Sharif Masahor was strongly opposed to the Sultan of Brunei's granting of Sarawak to British private colonialist Sir James Brooke in 1842. Sharif Masahor united the Melanau people against the extension of British rule, centred in Kuching City, to the Rejang River region.

Sharif Masahor, under pressure from their patron the Brunei monarch, eventually surrendered to Sir Jame Brooke. In order to prevent the melanau forming another rebellion, Sir James Brooke suppressed Melanau identity by assimilating them with the malays. Hence the compulsory "Bin" and "Binti".

Different from their counterpart in west Malaysia the word bin and binti have no religious connotations. The non muslim Melanau still use the word bin and binti and even proud of it. Despite their different beliefs and religions, the Melanaus, like the rest of East Malaysians (Sabah and Sarawak) are very tolerant of each other and they rightly feel proud of their tolerance. We would still come across a Melanau family with different child family members embracing Christianity and Islam while their parents still have strong animist belief

Learn Melanau by Nativeglot.com provides insider information about melanau unique cultures and language

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Why Melanau use Bin and Binti in their names

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The Melanaus are mostly : 1. Muslim 2. Christian 3. Pagan Traditionally malay muslim have a 'Bin' (son of) and 'Binti' (daughter of) in their names. Hence from the name alone one can guess that the person is a muslim.

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Malaysian Siamese community is a minority group of Bumiputera commonly lives in Kedah, Kelantan, or Perlis that have embrace Malaysia's cultures and traditions. Most of Siamese people are buddhists and some are muslims.

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Magahau, which means joy and happiness is an annual festival celebrated by Rungus community that lives in North of Sabah to thank for the plentiful of food and festivities. The Magahau of Rungus Festival also known as Pongohungkadanan is to advertise the culture and traditions of Rungus community.

This festival has been officially held from 2005 and since 2016, seven zones in North of Sabah where people from villages of Rungus community will be celebrating the festival in sequence. The seven zones are Pitas, Peninsula, Kota Marudu, Kudat, Beluran, Kota Kinabalu, and Matunggong.

Some of the activites that will be conducted including singing competition which is Monurizak (Rungus modern songs), Mitarab Gimpuhut Momogun (beauty pageant), Hontira (traditional game competition), Mobpiri (starting fire competition), Mongingivit (ritual that will be led by Bobolizan, high priestesses), Mongigol Sumundai perfomance (traditional dance), and other activities.

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PESTA MAGAHAU RUNGUS BORNEO SABAH MALAYSIA

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This festival started with displays of artefacts, cloth designs, Baba and Nyonya lifestyle in centuries ago, Best Nyonya Dish, followed by the main event which is Nyonya Queen contest. The 20 female contestants wore kebaya and sarongs with adornments from their mothers and ancestors as well as beads that are sewed on the shoes. The winners of the Nyonya Queen Taiping 2015 would received cash prizes and certificates.

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Ipoh Echo | Baba Nyonya Festival Taiping 2015

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The Baba Nyonya Festival Taiping 2015, held in conjunction with Malaysia Fest 2015 and jointly organised by the Taiping Heritage Society and Taiping Tourist Association, was held at the Perdana Hotel, Taiping recently to a sold-out crowd of over 400 people.
The festival began with a Peranakan Exhibi…

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Regetta lepa is an annual tradition celebration in Semporna, Sabah since 1994 to commemorate the long history of Bajau Laut ethnic that has a long connection and skilled at building single masted boats. Since lepa are no longer used widely like it used to be, this festival is to remember the importance of lepa to Bajau Laut ethnic.

This festival has been proclaimed a national festival in 2003 on the 10th anniversary of Regatta Lepa. The activities are including to exhibit decorated single masted sail, lepa tug of war, kelleh-kelleh (dugout canoe), and catching duck competition, igal-igal dance perfomance, Lepa Beauty Pageant.

This festival is usually held for two or three days. The boats will be decorated by contestants to compete for the title "Most Beautiful Lepa". During the festival, there will be stalls that are selling food, drink, and handicraft souvenirs.

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Pesta Regatta Lepa Bajau Laut Semporna Sabah Malaysia Borneo Culture 2019 婆罗洲马来西亚沙巴仙本那巴瑶民族彩船节传统文化

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Bajau Laut people have a good woodboat handmade craft skill to craft Lepa, which means boat, is a Bajau word origin.

Winning factor for the competition will be on the decorations, local ethnic music, dances performed on board, sambulayang (sails), and tipas-tipas (small flags). Each boat representing their village will have a musician perfoming traditional dance music for a dancer who is perfoming igal-igal dance wearing bajau traditional clothes.
The winner of the competition will be awarded prize money, speedboat, boat components, certifications, and trophies.

The carvings on the sailboat are excerpts from al-Quran that are usually on tombstones in Muslims grave and pulpit (minbar) in mosques, used to spread Islam to others.

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Igal-igal dance is a well known dance among Bajau community. The word 'igal' comes from the word 'eagle' because of the dance movement that is similar tu eagles with smooth motion.

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TARIAN IGAL-IGAL SUKU KAUM BAJAU | REGATA LEPA 2019 SEMPORNA

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Mitarab Gimpuhut Momogun is a beauty pageant for females participants from 18-25 years old to advertise traditional costume and adornments of Rungus. 21 participants will be competing for the title of Gimpuhut. This event will be held during the Sodop Papak Tavasi (gala night) for the participants to showcase their appearances.

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Singing competition including Mitarab Monurizak (Rungus modern songs) and Mitarab dot Band.

Monurizak participants will be required to sing two songs, one Rungus song and the other one is up to the participants to sing song in other language at the finals.

Like Mitarab Monurizak, Mitarab dot Band is where the band members will be performing two songs. The two songs can be performed with songs that have vocals and instrumental or using vocals only. The band members also must mix Rungus traditional musical instruments with modern musical instruments.

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FINALIST MONURIZAK MAGAHAU ZON MATUNGGONG 2019

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Kaul is a religious ceremony for the Melanau to commemorate and conciliate the spirits of sea, land, jungle, and farm for the rich harvest before Islam and Christian arrived.

Nowadays most Melanaus are Muslims which cause this ceremony to become a cultural festival to promote Melanau traditional clothing, dances, games, handicrafts and food. This festival is also a cultural identity where the Melanaus return to their native land to reunite with their heritage and relatives.

The Melanau people that are unable to return to Mukah will receive traditional foods through Miteang tradition (asking someone to send something). It first started as a benchmark that rain season has ended and to celebrate the fishing season.

This festival starts on the third week of April annually and begins with serahang, Melanau traditional food. The festival will be held near Mukah River bank.

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Songkran, a water festival is an annually celebration in mid April on 15th day of fifth month based on lunar calendar that marks Thai New Year. Songkran means 'Sankranti', a word from Sanskrit word that means going to a new beginning.

The event will be in Tumpat, at the Sukhontharam temple where there are activities that will be held such as traditional dance perfomance and Miss Songkran parade. Locals and visitors will drench themselves with water, which signify cleansing sins and washing misfortunes away.

This festival is commonly celebrated by people from states of north which are Kedah and Kelantan.

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PASIR MAS, Oct 13 ― The Loy Krathong and Songkran festivals celebrated by the Siamese community needed to be preserved and reinforced to enhance the diversity of arts and culture in the country.

Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said these festivals were being promoted by his ministry as annual events to ensure these continued to flourish among the younger generation.

"The Siamese community in Malaysia numbered about 60,000 and they are bumiputera, as the minister in charge of culture, I feel it is necessary to preserve this culture to ensure the customs of this small community is not lost," he told reporters after opening the Kelantan state level Loy Krathong Festival at Wat Uttamaram, Kampung Teresek here last night.

Apart from highlighting the uniqueness of the Siamese community's culture, Mohamed Nazri said the country's plural society should respect the customs of any races in the country as it is a recipe for national unity and harmony.

He hoped the Siamese festival would contribute to the anticipated tourist arrivals of 31.8 million to the country with an estimated revenue of RM118 billion this year.

The highlight of the Loy Krathong festival is the floating of lotus on the river with lighted candles placed on them while other events organised to enliven the festival included lotus floral arrangement, Loy Krathong queen contest, wayang kulit show and Siamese cultural performances.

The annual festival is celebrated on the 15th day of December in accordance with the Siamese lunar calendar. ― Bernama

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Tourism minister: Loy Krathong, Sonkran festivals need to be preserved | Malay Mail

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PASIR MAS, Oct 13 ― The Loy Krathong and Songkran festivals celebrated by the Siamese community needed to be preserved and reinforced to enhance the diversity of arts and culture in the country. Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said these festivals were being...

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Loi (float) Krathong (lotus shaped leaf cup) has lighted candles and incense sticks that normally has a small coin in the krathong. There are times where the locals, trim their hair or cut their fingernails and put it in the krathong. Then, they will float the krathong on the water and let it follow the flow to the sea.

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The beginning of the festival starts with Melanau traditional food that will be put inside Serahang, a unique round basket made from sago leaf lifted by a bamboo pole, procession lead by Melanau community elders. Other than that, there are stalls that will be selling Melanau traditional food and games.

One of the activities is Tibau (giant swing) where the will be young men that will swing on Tibau one by one until there are eight young men on the Tibau.