Sorry it took a long time to report back my review on the KL Gawai Dayak Open House 2008 held at Restoran Pucuk Ubi, TTDI Plaza on June 18th. Life is like that, full of priorities.

The KL Gawai Dayak Open House 2008, organised by Persatuan Warisan Sarawak KL (Pewaris) was officiated by Y.B. Datuk Seri Dr. Muhammad Leo Micheal Toyad Abdullah and Y.B. Tuan Joseph Entulu Anak Belaun. They were joined by Y.B. Dato Sri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Taib and Dato’ Peter Minos.

I was among the first few guests who arrived early i.e at 7pm. Well, that’s because my office is just ten minutes from Restoran Pucuk Ubi..

Foods were readily served, nicely arranged in a few sections waiting for guests to arrive.

All of the foods served for the night were local Sarawakian delicacies. Rice wrapped in buan leaves, steamed kasam ikan (fermented fish), sago and etc.

There were also local dessert and kuihs such as kuih penyaram, kuih peyek, kuih cap, tapioca and many more.

Not forgetting the ceremonial manok pansoh (read: chicken cooked in bamboo) which was the main attraction of the night. I reckoned the manok pansoh was the first dish to be refilled.

There’s also a stage being prepared for the miring ceremony. Later in the evening, YB Joseph Entulu was the guest of honour to head the miring.

Most of the guests arrived at around half past eight which was late actually as the event was supposed to start at 8pm. While waiting for the crowd to settle down, we headed to Waikiki Bar at the other end of the mall for a few rounds of beer.

While we were boozing, the dinner started and since there were many people queuing for the food, we continued our beer session to give opportunities to the elderly, guests with families especially children to start their dinner.

The actual turnout of approx. 500 guests far exceeded the estimated 300 people. The event was well received. In fact those who came were very supportive. Not much on the food but rather to meet fellow Sarawakians dwelling in the Klang Valley I’d say.

The Bidayuhs presented the langgi pingadap (welcoming dance). Click here to see the video.

The representative of the Ibans were joined by the Bidayuh dancers in displaying the ngajat.

The Orang Ulus performed their folklore song followed by dancing. Click here for the video. What impressed me very much is the fact that The Bidayuhs, Ibans and Orang Ulus showcased their traditional dances in such an impromptu manner. There were no rehearsals or preparations.

It was good opportunity to actually catch up with friends and meet new ones. For example, I met with Maclyn from KL Lunyung Club i.e. Iban social community.

It was great to see that there were many Sarawakians actually live in Klang Valley. I was even impressed to see that we were actually joined by non-Dayaks and non-Sarawakians. Such was the spirit and I believed that Pewaris had managed to score their objectives i.e. promoting unity and showcasing Sarawak’s heritage.

The tukang sadong mingled around serving the ritual tuak and liquor in a common glass to the guests, truly a Sarawakian experience for those alien to the customs.

As in any Dayak function, there must also be a tanda (dancing) session. Popular Dayak songs such as from Harry Acid Rain, Mike Rantai as well as Iban version of poco-poco were music of the night. The videos are available here and here.

Even the elders also joined in the dancing, showing the youngs how to do it the right way.

The night was concluded with a group photo. To Agustus Sapen from Pewaris, two thumbs up to you for the successful event. For more review, please visit the official website of Pewaris here.

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