KOTA KINABALU: The Christmas air always blows in early into the Sabah capital. Some urbanites plan their parties several weeks ahead and one can sometimes see shops decorating Christmas trees even as early as October.
On Christmas day itself, Christians in Kota Kinabalu and many other places flock to their churches to celebrate the morning mass, after which they’ll rush home to celebrate with family and friends, exchanging gifts and enjoying plenty of food.
But far away from the cities and towns, there is a community of Roman Catholics whose members celebrate in a much more modest fashion. They attend a simple prayer service led by a local catechist. They don’t have ostentatious decorations in their homes and they rarely have fancy gifts to exchange or pricey cakes to serve.
There is no road access to their village, Kampung Longkogungan, which lies in a jungle in Penampang. The eight-hour trek into the village from the closest main road would take travellers through jungle trails, hills and rivers. Carrying heavy Christmas trees, gifts and other fancy stuff would probably come last on the list of things to take when visiting this community.
However, according to Felicia Martin, who heads Longkogungan’s Village Community Management Council, the villagers are content with what they have.
“Sure, we don’t have decorations or fireworks or even the fancy food,” she said. “But Christmas is still Christmas without them.”
The mother of three said Christmas in the village had always been a community affair, celebrated together in the humble community hall or, sometimes, at someone’s house.
“We’ve never had Christmas Mass, not that I remember,” she said. “Priests come only once or twice a year. This year, a priest visited us last month before the start of the Advent season. If I remember correctly, that was the second visit this year.
“But on Christmas Day, we still go to our church as it is an obligation for Catholics to attend the prayer service.”
Longkogungan is one of nine villages in the area. Officially, it has a total population of 269 people. But only 68 people are currently living and working there.
The main economic outputs are tobacco and freshwater fish, which the villagers sell at the weekly market in Donggongon.
Although there are several rubber trees in the village, the villagers don’t tap for latex because it would be too difficult to transport out of the village.
There is one primary school, and there are only 12 pupils this year.
Next to the school is the St Andrew Catholic Church, which has a small space for the villagers to gather for a meal after each prayer service. The meal would normally feature wild boar, freshwater fish and vegetables gathered from the jungle. Sometimes, someone might bring some other kind of food from town.
“As for Christmas meals, we are not particular about it,” said Felecia. “The whole community will bring food to share with one another.”
This year, the village has welcomed more relatives and friends than usual for Christmas because there’s a wedding tomorrow.
According to Felecia, many of the village’s youths who work in the towns rarely return to visit their families, even during Christmas. She said this was perhaps due to their work commitments and the difficulty of travelling into the jungle.
“But it’s okay,” she said. “Christmas is not just about celebrating and merrymaking anyway. It is a religious occasion, not a commercial event.
“We celebrate the significance of this day, when our Lord was born. That is enough. The Christmas trees, decorations, food and wine, fireworks and presents are nice, but these are not necessary for us.” - Mkini
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