I am really poor in portrait photography. I have been taking photos of indigenous people in traditional costumes, but all the while I only focused on their beautiful and colourful dresses. It ends up I don’t like most of the photos coz I feel that something is missing. Now I hope I can add some personalities to the photo. The Cultural Carnival in Tuaran yesterday became my practice ground. Still, I didn’t get any shoot that is really excellent. But I personally like the 4 photos below.
Below is the girl in Bajau costume. Her costume reminds me the little princess in ancient Chinese Ching Dynasty. Her look captured my heart, so I captured her face in return. Haha..
The following is the photo of Bajau boys. Very hard to get this shot. The small boy always wanted to walk and look around.
The photo of a Lotud girl. This booth got too many people and stuffs at the background. Quite difficult to get a “clean” photo. Only this one looks ok.
The photo of a Lotud bride. If you want to marry her after seeing this photo, this is a good photo then. Heheh…
The Christmas Fever didn’t seem to over. Last Saturday everyone was invited to come to the Christmas Open House at Padang Merdeka. I didn’t go to the Christmas Carnival in Gaya Street, so I decided to join this one. Goodness… the Christmas girls are so cute! Cute costume, pretty faces and sweet smile can be all captured in a photo. How could I miss this opportunity?
The event was from 10am to 4.30pm. Though the weather was not so promising and it rained in the afternoon, it didn’t stop the crowd to flow in. No matter they are Kadazan, Murut, Chinese, Malay, muslim, Indians… all joined the celebration. There were cultural exhibition, dance performance, street magic, etc. going on.
Of course one of the happiness things for the children is to get free Christmas present from the Santa Claus. I saw even the children “robbed” the Santa Claus. Lesson: Do not dress like a Santa Claus during Christmas.
The adults got something too. Hundreds of them queued up for the FREE food packages. Sabahans are always hungry for food. Once the giving started, everyone got crazy and everything was gone in minutes. What an ugly scene. It was like hundreds of hungry fishes came after the bread that you throw into the pond. Malu… Tourists would think that we didn’t eat for days. No wonder their children also rob the Santa Claus.
I missed the Merdeka Parade last year coz I was lazy to wake up so early in the morning. This year is quite special as it is our 50th National Day, so I arrived the place before 6am, and the parking space was full! In fact, most of the parade groups, with thousands of participants, were ready and gathered at the Wawasan bus terminal before 7am.
More than 50 groups from government departments, companies, organisations, schools, etc. joined the Merdeka Parade 2007. The weather was good. Everyone was in great mood. When I walked among the parade groups, a lot of them asked me to take their photo and wanted a copy of it. There are also some people who looked really serious.
There were also a few organisations that we never heard of. For example, I thought Pemadam Negeri Sabah was selling eraser (rubber). Actually they are the “Terminator” of drug-abuse.
As usual, the parade was started at 8am at Promenade Boulevard, the road next to Promenade Hotel, Marina Court, and Wawasan Plaza. There were a few shows in between, so it finished at 10:15am. I recorded two cool video clips in my last blog, you may click here to check them out.
The road was expanded recently so its wide was doubled up. Since the crowd was not allowed to stand in the road, that means I could not come very close to take the photos of parade, like in year 2005. And it was more crowded this year, which made photo-shooting difficult. Luckily I brought a small foldable chair with me. Very tired to carry it around, but it let me to stand high and photograph without being blocked by people (and umbrella!). No choice lah, I am so short. Coz I shot from higher level, so I could include more faces and subjects into my photos. The outcome is very rewarding.
However, I got too many photos so I only shared those special ones in my photo album. I used two camera to take pictures. Most of the photos were taken by my new Canon 400D SLR, another one is my old Sony Cybershot DSC-H1, coz it got 12x optical zoom and video recording function. Almost every vehicles with 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 wheels were in the parade that day.
At first I thought I would see many Sabah bloggers around, but surprisingly I saw none ler. Where were you guys? Maybe you were at the other side. Hope to see your blog later. Probably due to the “NegaraKu” news, everyone stood stiff while narional anthem was played. Earlier the government also has warned the photographers not to move around. Suddenly everybody becomes so serious about it.
Though it was morning, the day was getting hot soon. Then the party was over after 10am and thousands of people dispersed. In minute, Promenade Boulevard turned into a quiet place. Overall, I am quite happy with what I got, as they are all stamped with the memory of 50th Hari Merdeka, something of great value.
Actually the show was still on, even though most has left. There was a demo of modern high-speed patrol boats on the sea. I tried to take a few snapshots. The boats were far away, but the waves they created were so strong that they caused big splash once they hit the shore. It caught me by surprise. My pant and camera were wet. Fortunately, the camera was ok.
This is the second time I went to the Pesta Gambus in Papar on Jul 29, to see one of the oldest stringed instrument played by Brunei-Malay people lives in south-east Sabah. I stayed there for 3 hours only to watch their Gambus competition. I wish to be there for 2 days, but I needed to work on last Saturday. It is so inhuman that nowadays still got companies want employees to work on weekend.
Whatever, being far away from the busy city life on off-day is a happy thing to me. Papar is 50 KM away from KK city, so that shall do it. The Gambus performance is a very entertaining cultural show. Usually it starts by a team of musicians playing Gambus. Then another group of people, dressed in bright-color traditional Brunei costum, come out and dance. After a while, a singer will join the play. During the show, you would see a “silent” drama going on, which tells the life of village, a legend, or a love story. At the end, you would see more than 15 people (now a mix of musicians, dancers, singer and “actors”) busy performing on the stage.
For sure you will see the Adai-Adai dance. This is the most famous traditional dance of Orang Brunei, which pictures the life of fishing village. The men go fishing, and their women collect and process the caught they bring home. Every year there are players from Papar, Kimanis, Bongawan, Weston towns to take part in Gambus competition. They also had Silat performance (Malay Martial Art) by kids. Look like Karate Kid or not, cute huh? They were so serious on the stage. Click Here to see more photos of Gambus Festival >>
Personally I think the teams last year played better and created more fun overall. I am plainly judging on the “entertainment” element. Below is the group photo of the champion team of Gambus competition this year: Click Here to see more photos of Gambus Festival >>
Last Sunday I was taking the free transport, provided by Sabah Tourism, to visit Beaufort. Same as other festivals, they have cultural performance. I was quite disappointed coz there were not many show went on. Most of the fun had happened on Saturday, where the VIPs came to launch the festival. Anyway, it is a good chance to experiment my new toy, Canon D400. The picture at the left above is the Beaufort pineapple tower. Visitors can guess how many pineapples in it, to win a prize.
The ground was so wet and muddy. I can plant paddy on it already. But this didn’t stop visitors coming in. There were some exhibition going on too.
The main event of this festival is Kulintangan competition. I estimated there were more than 10 teams participated. Kulintangan is a traditional musical instrument of Sabah. I have introduced it in my previous blog.
However, the most interesting part was a song performance by a small boy. He is probably the coolest kid singer that I’ve ever seen. His song and expression were packed with so much emotion and sorrow that made me thought we adult not the only one with issues. So funny…
Horray!!! I was so happy with the coming of Pesta Kaamatan (Harvest Festival) grand finale, the biggest cultural and tourism event at KDCA Penampang, from May 30 to 31 annually. In fact, Pesta Kaamatan 2005 is the FIRST photo gallery of MySabah.com. That time I was a total newbie on photography, so most photos turned out blur. However, my excitement never cool down. Normally, I would stay there from 8am to 5pm for 2 days, just to take pictures. I was so dedicated that last year I almost got sun stroke. I sat under a shaded area for hour and could feel that my blood was boiling and restless. The theme this year is “Harmony in Cultural Diversity.” But I think it should be “Cuteness in Cultural Diversity” coz I found many “cute” traditional costumes this year.
Usually I started taking photos early in the morning, when there were less people and the sunlight was soft. As I am getting more demanding on the photo quality, I would not be pleased to see the background of the subject is full of people, commercial banners, cars, and other unwanted objects. I would also request them to remove their name tag and bring them to a place with “cleaner” background for photo-shooting. Many other photographers there also tried to shoot at very low angle to avoid the crowded and cluttered background.
The two new ethnic groups came here this year are Makiang people from Tongod and Kolobuan from Penangah. These places are so remote that you can’t find them on common Sabah map. Basically, these places are right in the middle of Sabah (above Maliau and Imbak). Many of them came to Kota Kinabalu city the first time, and they were surprised to see so many fans (photographers) interested in them.
Every year I would visit all the exhibition huts, go to house to house, to take pictures. You also can try the local food / wine, see the hand-made handicraft, listening to traditional music, and even dance with the cultural dance performers. Sadly, due to pouring rain in the 1st day afternoon and Unduk Ngadau pageant in the 2nd day afternoon, I took very few photos this year (SIGH~ SIGH~ SIGH~).
To be honest, I think the Pesta Kaamatan 2007 showed little or no improvement compared to last year. In year 2005, we had 6 exhibition huts for 6 different ethnic groups, now we have 3 only. This year is Visit Malaysia Year 2007 leh, how come it displayed so few promotion banners on the street this year? Except the two big Sompoton at KDCA entrance, I didn’t see anything new. Why the budget seems to “shrink” year after year, when government says this event is getting more and more important each year?
After doing the extensive photo coverage for Miss Sabah 2007 in early May, I didn’t plan to make any big photo album for Unduk Ngadau 2007 this year. Somehow I was involved coz they needed someone to document their activities and happening. It is silly to decline such a great opportunity to get closer to 36 beauties (Unduk Ngadau) from all over Sabah, so… why not? Lucky lah you, this year can see them in 3D (= casual Dress + evening Dress + traditional Dress), 288 photos of both their classic and modern look.
Unduk Ngadau (Harvest Queen) pageant is one of the most important highlight of Pesta Kaamatan (Harvest Festival). Starting from early May every year, over 30 Sabah districts will organise their local Unduk Ngadau pageant to choose their beauties to compete again in State-Level Unduk Ngadau pageant, which is usually held annually on May 31 at HK (“Hongkod Koisaan” of KDCA Penampang, not Hong Kong lah). After 40 years (since 1967), this competition has become a KadazanDusun + Murut cultural heritage, as well as tourism event. This year they have 36 contestants (there should be more coz they disqualified those who are under 18 or over 25 years old). To help you to see which region they come from, I create the map below. The numbering order is based on the number of the contestants. Pagalungan (No.12) is the new region this year. I have travelled whole Sabah for years, but still never hear some of the names on the list.
The coolest thing about Unduk Ngadau pageant is that the contestants will dress in traditional costumes such as KadazanDusun, Murut, and Rungus, which usually represents the main ethnic group of their region. The ladies will be judged on their beauty, presentation, costume and intelligence. 1st Round is the introduction round. 2nd round is the catwalk (minus the vigorous butt-shaking like fashion models). Then 15 finalists will be selected to enter the 3rd round, IQ test. Lastly, top 7 will be decided.
Hearing the big cheer and applause from the crowd, everyone knew that Jo-Anna Sue Henley Rampas (Tuaran) would win the queen title this year. Her father is a British, so she looks like orang putih. In the IQ test, she was nervous at first, but the audiences just cheered at every word she said, so she became brave and gave a long speech that impressed the judges. Poor girl… why try so hard? Actually I am sure that she still could win, as long as she didn’t say the wrong thing or say nothing in this round. Haha… If I am not mistaken, the BIG crown on her head was ordered from Thailand. Below is the final result, same as the one I posted in my last blog. It was so hard to get the shoot, hundreds of people were totally out of control and pushed around to take their photos. Aiya come on lah, those with stupid handphone camera step aside please…
1st Runner-Up (left): Brenda Mellonie Johnny Takom (Putatan) Unduk Ngadau 2007 (middle): Jo-Anna Sue Henley Rampas (Tuaran) 2nd Runner-Up (right): Cherylanne Chok Binti Chok Kui Eng (Beluran)
3rd Runner-Up: Dorina Darick (KK City)
4th Runner-Up: Viola Fidilis (Inanam)
5th Runner-Up: Cassey V. Pilos (Tawau)
6th Runner-Up: Jaslinder Kaur A/P Harjit Singh (Klang Valley of Peninsular Malaysia)
Subsidiary Titles Miss Popular (by SMS Voting): Cassey V. Pilos (Tawau) Miss Friendly (Tati Tosuau): Viola Fidilis (Inanam) Miss Natural Beauty (Tati Topiodo): Jo-Anna Sue Henley Rampas (Tuaran)
The Miss Friendly and Miss Natural Beauty were awarded in Sedap Unduk Ngadau night. No, sorry… I mean Sodop Unduk Ngadau (Gala Night) on May 29. The Miss Popular by SMS voting is something new this year, to make the telco rich. I was so tired, after following them and taking their photos for 3 days, so I accidentally deleted 100 images, which haven’t been downloaded, from a memory card (banging my head to the wall). Fortunately, those are not very important pictures. Otherwise I would have jumped out of the window.
If you want to see 200+ photos of State-Level Unduk Ngadau 2007 (Harvest Queen) Beauty Pageant, please come back to check later. Now I publish the result first.
Winners of State-Level Unduk Ngadau 2007 (From left to right) 1st Runner-Up: Brenda Mellonie Johnny Takom (Putatan) Unduk Ngadau 2007: Jo-anna Sue Henley Rampas (Tuaran) 2nd Runner-Up: Cherylanne Chok Binti Chok Kui Eng (Beluran)
Others who have entered Top 7
3rd Runner-Up (left 1): Dorina Darick (KK City)
4th Runner-Up (left 2): Viola Fidilis (Inanam)
5th Runner-Up (left 3): Cassey V. Pilos (Tawau)
6th Runner-Up (left 4): Jaslinder Kaur A/P Harjit Singh (Klang Valley of Peninsular Malaysia)
Winners of Subsidiary Titles (From left to right) Miss Friendly (Tati Tosuau): Viola Fidilis (Inanam) Miss Natural Beauty (Tati Topiodo): Jo-anna Sue Henley Rampas (Tuaran) Miss Popular (by SMS Voting): Cassey V. Pilos (Tawau)
Congratulations to Jo-anna!
Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo
