Regatta Lepa Semporna

End of April

Every year in April there is a water festival held in Semporna, a small town in the eastern
coast of Sabah, called The Regatta Lepa, one of the major important events in our
National Tourism Calendar.

Last year, the 20
th
Regatta Lepa will be held from 26
th
28
th
of April 2013 and the event
attracted thousands each year. Lepa means boat is believed to be originated from the
Paalau Bajau people who live in Bum Bum Island and used by fishermen along the
coast of Semporna.

The unique lifestyle and festival is celebrated by the Bajau Laut ethnic community, the
major dwellers in Semporna. The Bajau Laut people are seafarers at heart and well
known for their Lepa, which is the traditional single-mast sailing boat used in their daily
lives.


Nowadays, the practice of this traditional lifestyle is slowly dispersing with modernity.
Few modern Bajaus use the Lepa today as many of them migrated to the mainland.
Nonetheless, Lepa remains a symbol of tradition and a precious legacy for the
Semporna Bajau community.

With the change of time, the Lepa might not be used in the same way as it used to be
but the Lepas will never be forgotten for yet another year as the symbol of pride of the
Bajau people and a cultural heritage.

The Bajau seafarers proud maritime heritage came alive in this annual festival of
Regatta Lepa, featuring their boats, the Lepa with participants dancing at the helm of
their boats, decorated with bright colour sails known as sambulayang and tapis (small
triangular flags).

The sleepy Semporna town comes to life as the colourful sails take to the sea to
compete for the prize of the most beautiful Lepa! The highlight of the event is the sail-
past of the Lepa, each boat decked with smiling dancers and lively musicians, hoping to
be crowned `Most Beautiful Lepa the grand prize of this much-anticipated water
festival.

Every Lepa family has their own or daughter beautiful girl welcoming visitors with
graceful igal-igal dance, a traditional dance of the Bajau.

The Regatta Lepa is not just a water festival, in fact the whole town of Semporna has a
carnival atmosphere, what with the various concerts staged, and so many stalls set up to
promote or sell products and services to the population, visitors and tourists that have
certainly swelled manifold.

Pesta Kaamatan
May

Tadau Kaamatan or Pesta Kaamatan is the harvest festival of the Kadazandusun and
Murut tribes of Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo. As with most
traditional agricultural communities, the early beliefs and practices of these two ancient
tribes have given rise to a colourful annual thanksgiving celebration laden with meaning,
symbols and rituals.

A Story of Sacrifice and Redemption

The Kaamatan harvest festival has its roots in the ancient Momolian belief system of the
Kadazandusun. Interestingly, religious syncretism has been at work and some of the
legends of the Kadazandusun tribe, a majority of whom have now embraced Christianity,
will strike a chord with followers of the latter religion.

One account of the Kaamatan tradition even begins with "Kinoingan so loved the world
that He sacrificed His only beloved Daughter, Ponompuan".

Kinoingan was the Almighty God of the Kadazandusun. He and his wife Sumundu, who
jointly created the earth and everything on it, had one son, Ponompulan, and one
daughter, Ponompuan. Ponompulan, who was jealous of his father's power, rebelled
against him and formed an evil kingdom of his own. There came a time when mankind
was swayed by the evil deity. In retaliation, Kinoingan inflicted the Seven Scourges upon
the people of the earth, the last of which was famine.

Here is where the story of Kaamatan begins. The famine caused by Kinoingan brought
great calamity to the land. Ponompuan felt sympathy for her father's people and begged
him for mercy on their behalf. In an act of redemption, Kinoingan sacrificed his daughter.
He planted parts of her body over the barren fields of the Kadazandusun and his wife
Sumundu transformed them into food crops and fruit trees. Ponompuan thus became
Huminodun - the transformed sacrifice - and the Kadazandusun believe her various body
parts turned into soul-spirits which reside in all crops.

Of particular significance is Bambaazon or Bambarayon, the Rice Spirit, since rice is a
staple food of the Kadazandusun. Kaamatan, which means "after the harvest", is a
festival of thanksgiving in honour of Bambarayon, Huminodun and Kinoingan for that
ancient sacrifice, as well as the continued success of the rice harvests of today's farmers
in Sabah.

The Rituals of Kaamatan

Travellers visiting the state of Sabah will have the chance to observe the rituals of
Kaamatan throughout the month of May in the villages of not only the Kadazandusun
and Murut peoples, but the other tribes who have embraced this tradition of thanksgiving.
These rites culminate in a state-wide celebration at the end of the month, which has now
evolved into a huge national event.

To experience this historical tribal practice at its most emphatic, head for the villages of
the Kadazandusun in the Penampang-Papar area.

Kaamatan in Penampang kicks off with the Kumogos ceremony, in which a Bobohizan (a
high priest or priestess) chooses seven stalks of rice and scatters them all over the
paddy field. This is done to appease any spirits that might be lingering in the field and
keep them from disrupting the harvest.

This is followed by the Kumotob ritual, in which another seven stalks are selected from
an unharvested area of the field and stored in a rice basket to be used as seed for the
next planting season.

During the Posisip rites which happen next, the Bobohizan recites chants over these
latter stalks, entreating the Rice Spirit to remain in the rice barn till the following season.
In the Poiib ceremony, harvested rice is poured into a tangkob, a container for storing
rice, after which the Bobohizan sing chants inviting the Rice Spirit to protect the harvest.

Magavau - Salvaging the Rice Spirit

For visitors, the highlight of Kaamatan is the Magavau ritual - the homecoming of
Bambarayon, the Rice Spirit. A Bobohizan performs an elaborate dance, accompanied
by chanting and instances of falling into trances, to search for the lost portions of the
Bambarayon, carelessly dropped or "hurt" during the harvest.

Historically the Magavau rites were carried out at night, during the first full moon
following the harvest, with armed male Bobohizan leading a procession of female
Bobohizan through the rice fields. In these modern times, the Bobohizan conduct this
stage of the rituals in the house of the paddy field owner.

Humabot - Celebrating the harvest

Now, with all the hard toil for the year behind them, and the important rituals to appease,
cajole and restore the Rice Spirit taken care of, it is time for Kadazandusun to rest and
make merry.

The Humabot ceremony, the Kaamatan finale, has evolved over the years and is
celebrated on a huge scale across the state of Sabah on May 30 and 31 annually.
The main event is the Unduk Ngadau beauty pageant - the crowning of the harvest
festival queen - which is based on the legend of Huminodun. The young girl selected as
the Unduk Ngadau, ("zenith of the sun") should have all the virtuous qualities
Huminodun is supposed to have possessed - courage, beauty, strength, kindness.

Tapai, the potent traditional rice wine of the region, flows freely during the Humabot
stage of Kaamatan, imbibed by locals decked out in their traditional gear. The colourful
festivities include buffalo races, blow pipe shooting, bamboo rafting and dance and
singing competitions.

With all this going on, the best time to visit the state of Sabah in Malaysia is without a
doubt during the mystical harvest festival of Kaamatan.