Kitingan stands up for honour of Kaamatan harvest queen

The Unduk Ngadau, given in conjunction with the annual Sabah harvest festival, is inspired by Huminodun, who sacrificed herself to end famine in the land.

KOTA KINABALU:The chairperson of this year’s Unduk Ngadau beauty pageant in Sabah has called for people not to dishonour the memory of the legendary Huminodun by making disparaging remarks against the contestants on social media.

Joanna Kitingan told Free Malaysia Today that casting doubts on the intention of the contestants in wanting to be the Harvest Queen of the annual Kaamatan festival, mocks the legend behind the harvest celebration.

“’Unduk’, the shoot of a plant, symbolises youth and ‘Ngadau’ means the sun,” Kitingan said.

“The words combined stand for the total beauty of the heart, mind and body of the ideal indigenous woman, inspired by Huminodun. She’s the daughter sacrificed, at her request, by her father, who is the God Kinoingan, to end a famine in the land,” she added.

Kitingan doubted parents were pushing their daughters, these days, to participate in the Unduk Ngadau competition in the hope of getting a “big dowry” when a rich “Datuk” marries her, or at least makes her his mistress.

“In the old days, parents could push their children into marrying a person of their choice,” she said, adding: “It is no longer the case.”

“These days you can’t tell the girls whom they should marry. The parents too will not push their daughters into marrying someone they may not like.”

She said that the question was put to the contestants and so far none have touched on the dowry issue.

Social media has been rife with comments that many poor parents push their daughters to take part in the Unduk Ngadau competition although the cost of the traditional attire may be steep, supposedly amounting to thousands of ringgit per set.

“The girls have their managers for the competition,” Kitingan said. “If they win, they have to reimburse their managers from their winnings.”

“If they don’t win, they have to reimburse their managers on their own. It’s a risk they have to take. The managers take care of the traditional costume, evening gown and make-up.”

Kitingan agreed that once the Unduk Ngadau contestants are “out there”, no one can be sure “what will happen”. “They are out there to face life and we don’t know what will happen,” she said.

“It’s not fair to generalise. If the Unduk Ngadau are not behaving as they should, we can’t be judgmental.”

Taking her cue from social media, Kitingan noted that many stories being played up may have originated from an “unhappy party”.

“For example, a girl may have been engaged, and then broken up. So, the other party may make up stories that she was not behaving as she should,” Kitingan said.

Sherry Ann Laujang, who was crowned this year’s Unduk Ngadau, has taken to social media to plead for pride in culture and tradition.

“The main focus should be on promoting our culture and traditions,” Laujang is reported to have said on her Facebook page. “It’s not right to judge the Unduk Ngadau as participating in the traditional contests for other reasons.”

“There are so many charity events to attend and environmental issues to take up. Contestants go on to pursue their higher education and carve out a career for themselves in their own right.”