Bajau is the second largest indigenous group of Sabah. Without Bajau, the cultural world of Sabah would be a lot less colourful, because Bajau people are famous for using bold bright colours in their traditional costumes and handicrafts. Bajau has about 13 subethnic, including the Ubian, Sama, Simunul, Tolen, Pala’u, and Sikubung, all of which are named according to their place of origin or current regions.
Sabah Bajau Sama Cultural Centre (Pusat Kebudayaan Rumpun Bajau Sama Sabah) was officially opened on 21 August 2022. The area takes about 1.4 Hectares.
Bajau Sama (or Bajau Samah) mainly resides in West coast of Sabah (Malaysia), especially Kota Belud and Tuaran districts. They are also known as the Cowboys of the East because of their excellent horsemanship.
Sabah Bajau Sama Cultural Centre
To preserve their cultural heritages, the building of RM7.5-million Sabah Bajau Sama Cultural Centre (Local Name: Pusat Kebudayaan Persatuan Rumpun Bajau Sama Sabah) was completed in 2022 and open to visitors who want to see the vibrant cultures of Bajau Sama, who is widely recognised as the colourful, festive, and musical people.
Bajau Sama is also known as the Cowboys of the East because of their excellent equine skills
Gallery, the little world of Bajau Sama
The gallery of Sabah Bajau Sama Cultural Centre is the highlight. It shows everything about Bajau Sama, from handicrafts, motif, musical instruments, wedding decoration, antique to clothing. Photo-taking is allowed in the gallery.
This beautiful mural at Sabah Bajau Sama Cultural Centre summarises many cultural elements of Bajau Sama
As the most colourful tribe of Sabah, Bajau Sama uses bright yellow, red, blue and green as the main colours. Majority of the bright-coloured Sabah handicrafts such as Serdang boxes and Tudung Duang (food cover / basket) are made by Bajau Sama.
Serimpak or Serempak is the unique headgear of Bajau Sama women
Bajau people are not only skillful in handwoven crafts, they are also good in making different kinds of parang (machete) with traditional methods, the hilt and sheath are carved out of wood with beautiful motif on them.
Copperware exhibition in the galley of Sabah Bajau Sama Cultural Centre
The place is air-conditioned and has clean toilet. You can enjoy listening to the soothing Betitik music while you are doing your business.
The gallery uses four of my photos. One of them is the big Mount Kinabalu backdrop. I’m so excited about it. Thank you Haw for choosing my works.
Musical instruments and wedding display of Bajau Sama
The most colourful section is the display of their wedding dais and bed. The wedding of Bajau is a glamorous affair with up to seven ceremonies. Sometimes it’s so splendour that it looks like a royal wedding.
A conceptual chandelier piece that features the Togong (Bubu fish trap), chicken cage and Tudung Duang (food cover) as main subjects
The chandelier hanging on top is quite a masterpiece by Sabah Art Gallery team. It’s a conceptual chandelier that features Bubu (fish traps) and Duang (food basket). The meaning is to illustrate the importance of preserving the Bajau Sama’s heritage craft because it sheds light to the culture and way of life of their ancestors.
Brassware and bronzeware of Bajau, one of the most prosperous race in Sabah.
One of the main sections is the exhibition of various antique and metal wares made of Bronze, Copper and Brass. Besides striking colours, Bajau Sama is really fond of shiny objects too. They seem to have copper items for everything they use, for examples, Betel nut containers, plate, cookware, kettle, tray, accessories, fingernail caps, measurement cup. Having these items is a show of wealth and can be passed on as dowry and heirloom.
The information panel is available in both English and Malaysia languages, for visitors to learn about the exhibited items. If you want a guided tour, the following is the schedule for the best time to visit.
Day
Morning
Afternoon
Monday
Closed
Friday
9am
2pm
Other Days
10am
2pm
Schedule of Guided Tour
Photo of a grandma at Kota Belud Tamu, taken by me in year 2005. A French tourist said he saw her eyes blinked.
Overall, this Centre is a good starting point to see the culture of Land Bajau (Sea Bajau is totally different). The human photos in this article are not taken at the Centre.
Traditional Bajau Houses
You may explore the two traditional Bajau houses (farmer and fisherman) behind the main building. Such wooden houses are getting rare when most people prefer brick and mortar building nowadays. There is a mini herbs garden there too.
Traditional Bajau house at Sabah Bajau Sama Cultural Centre. The chamber on top is the small room for maiden. The ladder is removed after they go to bed.
Horse Riding
You can try out horse riding at the Centre. A staff will company you and the horse for a safe stroll around the track.
Horse riding at Sabah Bajau Sama Cultural Centre
Bajau Sama are skilled horse riders and love their horses. During festivals such as Tamu Besar (grand open market) in Kota Belud, Bajau horsemen wear traditional costumes in the parade, and their horses wear colourful clothing steeds too. It’s like dressing up your pet in next level up.
Other Activities
Normally, there is no Bajau people dressed in traditional costumes stationed at the Centre to show some actions. For a more complete cultural experience, you may come in group and add in some activities (fees applicable and need to book in advance) such as Penjaram cooking demo and food sampling (RM150) and cultural dance (RM1,000 to RM2,000).
Pinjaram (or penyaram) cooking demo. Pinjaram is a famous snack of Bajau Sama. Some call it UFO Cake
FYI, Penjaram (or UFO Cake) is a popular Bajau snack, and Limbai is the iconic dance of Bajau Sama.
Other Services / Facilities
The Centre is suitable for hosting events such as wedding, meeting and gathering. The outdoor stage, main hall, conference room, chairs and desks are available for rent for a fee.
Left: tourists try Bajau style wedding. Right: Betitik music of Bajau
Tickets and Opening Hours
Visitor Type
Malaysian
Non-Malaysian
Adult
RM10
RM15
Child (4-12 years old)
RM5
RM10
Senior (60 and above)
RM5
RM10
Baby (below 4)
Free
Free
Ticket prices to enter the gallery
Usungan is an ornately decorated palanquin that is used to transport the groom during wedding ceremony
Opening Hours
Monday
Closed
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Public Holidays
8am-12pm and 2pm-4:30pm
Friday
8am-11:30am and 2pm-4:30pm
Operating time of Sabah Bajau Sama Cultural Centre
Bajau Sama girl on a horse decorated in Bajau fashion
How to get there
Sabah Bajau Sama Cultural Centre is in Tuaran and about 34 Kilometres from Kota Kinabalu City. You can reach there within an hour by driving on asphalt road. Address: Komplex Budaya PKRBSS, Kampung Lok Batik, Tuaran, Sabah, Malaysia GPS:6.1659205915238955, 116.18589156295744
Biola and Parang of Bajau
Cultural heritage, be it tangible or intangible, is an important asset of a race, so it’s crucial to preserve and document our indigenous cultures, to get some protection against culture appropriation. Large international companies such as Dior would steal the ideas of native art pieces and claim that’s their original concept.
Sabah culture is so colourful. We have over 30 indigenous and 200 sub-ethnic groups, most of them have distinct traditional costume, a heritage that tells the world their identity, traditions, and stories. Sabah is beautiful because of this cultural diversity. I’ve been photographing Sabah traditional costumes for 15 years and would like to share what I think are the 10 most beautiful traditional costumes of Sabah (not in any order).
Please note there are always variants in costumes due to different occasions such as wedding, ceremony and social status, so I only can give you a general view. FYI, many ethnic groups share common elements such as linangkit (needlework), siga (headgear) and belts (e.g. Tangkong, Himpogot).
1. Kadazan Penampang
Kadazandusun is the largest indigenous group of Sabah, and Kadazan Penampang is the biggest sub-ethnic. Their traditional costume has become an iconic dress to represent Sabahans.
Kadazan Penampang couple in traditional costume
Kadazan Penampang costume has basic trimmings and embroidery and may look a bit plain. However, simplicity is beauty, like Vietnamese Ao Dai and Chinese Cheongsam. Though it has relatively less shining ornaments and accessories, it is an elegant cloth inspired by sarong kebaya.
The costume of young female consists of a long cylindrical wrap skirt and a sleeveless blouse (Sinuangga’), and decorated with gold trimmings running along the opening for head and arms, and along the seams at the side and along the middle of the back. Around the trimming on neck and front is 20 or more gold plated Betawi buttons.
Bobohizan is the high priestesses of Kadazan people. They wear large headgear with feathers and beads.
Silver-dollar chains (himpogot) and brass ring belts (tangkong) in set of 2 to 3 are worn around the waist and hip to emphasize the curve. Some himpogot and tangkong are antique passed on to women as heirloom or wedding dowry, they can cost thousands of dollars!
“Light version” of Kadazan Penampang costume could be a daily wear
The jacket and trousers of Kadazan Penampang men bear some Chinese influence. They wear headgear called siga, a very intricately woven square piece of headcloth, handwoven or embroidered, and folded to the shape of the peak of the Mount Kinabalu. Most men from Kadazandusun ethnic group wear siga.
The basic material for clothing is black commercial fabric, silk or velvet for ceremonial occasions. It is also made from cotton for daily wear.
2. Dusun Lotud
With a population of only 6,000 in Tuaran district, Dusun Lotud is very famous for weaving the embroidered panel called linangkit, which is used to decorate the skirt, sash and trousers of many Sabah tribes. Without linangkit, Sabah traditional costumes would be far less colourful.
Dusun Lotud couple in ceremonial attire. Note the siwot on her head, an ornament which is stuck into the hairbun. It consists of four bunches of red cloth and black cock feathers. The strings of silver-green beads in forehead was used to be the iridescent wings of beetles in old days.
In English, linangkit is sometimes referred to as needle weave or tapestry weave. a technique closely resembles the tatting or frivolite in Europe. Strips of linangkit are used by various native tribes to decorate and join the seams of their clothing. Different ethnic groups have different patterns and colours of linangkit.
Dusun Lotud girls in ceremonial attire with the following items: Sandai: long sash draped over one shoulder to the front and over the next shoulder falling to the back. Karo: a necklace made of mostly long barrel beads of glass, shell and carnelian.
The traditional costume of Dusun Lotud, be it the long sleeve ceremonial attire or short sleeve version, is just gorgeous. In fact, this costume is one of the favourite choice for contestants in Unduk Ngadau beauty pageant (Harvest Festival Queen) during Kaamatan (Sabah Harvest Festival).
Women in Dusun Lotud traditional costume. Gonob: knee-length black cotton tube skirt. From the waist down is a panel of linangkit needle work. Kuluwu: circular sash with gold trimming along the edges. At the seam is wide band of linangkit. Lilimbo: wide girdle of interconnected loops of split rattan worn around the hips. (Red colour for childless women, black colour for mothers)
Man is wearing headgear called sundi can be folded in different ways. When two points stick out, the weaver has two wives and so on (now you know!).
3. Rungus
Rungus of northern Sabah is considered as the most “traditional” and unique tribe among all Sabah indigenous groups. Rungus women wear a dark bandeau with delicate hand-stitched patterns, a matching knee-length tube skirt and a slipover that drapes over the arms like sleeves. The narrow upper zone of the bodice is decorated with horizontal bands filled with floating weft and/or embroidered motifs. The lower part of the bodice is embellished with vertical bands.
Rungus people dancing Mongigol Sumandai
The women’s hair is pulled back in a neat bun and decorated with a titimbok (a multi-colored floral headpiece), sisingal (a thin band of beads tied together around the forehead) and rampai (a hairpin which has two or three rows of folded pieces of colourful cloth strung together and which float down to the nape)
Rungus woman costume decorated with exotic accessories. Hip band looped with brass rings and antique beads called orot and two pinakol, beaded shoulder bands worn diagonally across the chest. Togkol: string of carnelian, glass and shell beads looped crossed over the shoulders. Sulau: necklace of old beads and a disc of white shell (giant clam) in front and back.
The dress is “musical” too, by having many tiny brass bells attached to bottom hem line of their skirt, making delightful tinkling sounds when they walk or dance.
Rungus women wearing brass ring necklace (Ganggalung) and legging (Lungkaki)
Some older Rungus women wear heavy brass ring necklace and legging. It’s a fading costume. Ganggalung: discs of brass coil worn as necklace. Lungkaki: tightly coiled brass ornament covering the lower legs.
The headgear of men is brightly coloured Kain tinohian (a.k.a. kain pis), a richly embroidered cloth with legendary creatures and takes four months to weave one.
4. Murut Tagol
Murut means “People of the Hill”, and majority of this third largest indigenous group of Sabah lives in interior. They were used to be fearsome headhunters in the past, and men preserve their wild warrior outfit until today (they prefer proper shirts anyway).
Girls in Murut traditional costume
Murut has over 15 ethnic groups, and Murut Tagol is the most skillful for their weave work. Murut women wear black, sleeveless blouse and a long, black skirt decorated with colourful beads motifs of daily objects such as flowers, insects, animals and ferns. Female skirt has hip belts made of chained white round seeds collected from Job’s Tears plant (Coix lacryma-jobi).
The men costume is even more interesting. They wear vest, frontal and rear flaps made of tree bark. First, barks of the tarap or tamarang (timadang) trees (Artcocarps tamaran) are peeled from the trunks, soaked in stream for days to soften them up, then it is pounded, washed and rinsed, and lastly dried under sun for the fabric. However, man costume is too “sexy” so they also wear short pants for more cover.
Beautiful female traditional costume of Murut
The headgear of Murut may be adorned with long tail feathers of Great Argus Pheasant. To see more Murut costumes, you may check out Kalimaran Festival which is held annually in Tenom.
5. Bajau Sama
While most Kadazandusun and Murut people use black as the base colour, Bajau goes bold with striking colours such as yellow, red, green and blue. This also reflects in their multi-coloured and elaborate floral motifs in their crafts, an element greatly inspired by Islam. Bajau in Kota Belud town is also known as Cowboys of the East due to their mastery in horse-riding skill.
Traditional costumes of Bajau Same
Bajau women wear an unusual headgear called sarempak, which is a two-pieced head decoration in the shape of a ship made of gilded silver or modern substitute. Small ornaments dangling down from both ends of sarempak are called garigai. Next is the brightly colored satiny blouse usually in yellow. The flared sleeves show the cuffs of an underblouse in contrasting hue.
Mock wedding of Bajau people
Shining metallic accessories complement their traditional costume really well. Bajau women covers the front from below the neck to waist with beautiful mandapun, a flat collar-ornament accentuating the neckline decorated with stylized leaves in silver, goldleaf or substitute. To add more colours, long and wide band of linangkit embroidered panels (berangkit in Bajau) are sewn into their long black wrap-skirt.
Bajau men wear the traditional headgear called kain dastar, which is also used in women skirt. See more their vibrant culture in Tamu Besar Festival which is normally held in October in Kota Belud town. They even dress up their horses!
6. Kadazan Papar
I wonder who designed the traditional costume of Kadazan Papar. It’s so cute and “flowerish”. The lovely girl costume looks neat and modern. Kadazan Papar women wear a short jacket with gold or silver buttons over a white blouse, and their knee-length black skirt is decorated with a horizontal and vertical cross-stitched panel lined with gold thread. Gold or silver trimming is used on the seams.
Kadazan Papar couple
The mini conical hat is made of fine bamboo strips and features coloured feather-down or artificial flowers at the top to show the wearer’s marital status. Feather-down for the single lady and flowers for the married woman. Another hint is the silver belt (antique British trade dollar), unmarried ladies wear four and married wear two.
The flowers of Kadazan Papar
If no feather or flower, the woman is widowed, grandmothers or elderly ladies then.
7. Dusun Tindal
Influenced by culture of Bajau Sama in the same district, Dusun Tindal is also the most colourful Kadazandusun sub-ethnic group. Just look at the girl costume, 3-colour slashed and flared sleeves from the elbows, rainbow-like beads girdle around the hips, and also embroider on their arms and hem of the skirt. To add more colours, in formal occasion they also carry sunduk, a multi-color hood with embroidered border.
Dusun Tindal people from Kota Belud
On top of colours is extensive use of metallic elements: line and line of gold or silver trimmings and sequins are sewn into their blouse and skirt, two to four Himpogot (or Simpogot) silver-dollar chain belts on the waist, one or more of kuapu (a round embossed silver tobacco container made by the Bruneis) are worn around the neck on a silver chain.
Close up of Dusun Tindal girl dress
Dusun Tindal has brought the creativity of native fashion to the next level. You would be surprised that Dusun Tindal extracts fibre from a wild banana or pisang lanut (Musa textilis) which is processed into a coarse yarn for weaving their skirts, jackets and headwear.
8. Sea Bajau
While Bajau Sama in West Coast of Sabah has the best horse-riding skill, Sea Bajau (or Suluk) in East Coast is an expert of seafaring. Also known as the Sea Gypsies, Sea Bajau spent most of their time on the boat and sailed around the sea of South East Asia. Now they are not as nomadic and many have called Sabah their homeland.
Sea Bajau girls in Lepa-Lepa boat
Similar to Bajau Sama, Sea Bajau is also a fan of bright colours. Their dresses are almost fully covered with colourful patterns, and gold / silver trimmings, sequins and embroidery. Sea Bajau dancers wear long gold or silver fingercovers, to show their fingers dance.
Sea Bajau girl dancer
Backed by beating of drum and kulintangan (small brass gong) music, the dance of Sea Bajau is one of the most mesmerizing in Borneo. They shake and move every part of their bodies, combine with rich facial expression to dazzle you, even to a seductive level. To see more of Sea Bajau, don’t miss the Lepa-Lepa Festival in April every year in Semporna.
The traditional costume of Sea Bajau is really fancy and shout “Look at me! Look at me!”
9. Dusun Lebou
Dusun Lebou (or Lobu) is a sub-ethnic of Kadazandusun lives in Sook (in Keningau district of Sabah interior). Their big woven cloth (called Binaduan) takes a month to weave and consists of different Rungus motifs and even some Dayak motifs from the southern part of Borneo. The complete costume is 2 pieces of woven Binaduan sewn together to create the front and back covers. Binaduan is used in skirt too.
Dusun Lebou girls from Sook
The size, design and complexity of Binaduan is simply astonishing. Men’s costume has a finer motif called Inambau. Unfortunately, the last person who knows how to weave Inambau has passed away. The traditional costume of Dusun Lebou is complex and special, but this art can go extinct.
Binaduan cloth of Dusun Lebou
In old days, married woman with child was not allowed to be a Binaduan weaver. The story was:- a mother was too engrossed with weaving Binaduan from morning until night that she accidentally starved her baby. Devastated, she forbade any married woman to weave Binaduan. The ban was lifted later so more people can pass on this heritage.
Back view of Binaduan is as beautiful as butterfly wings
10. Lundayeh
Most Sabah Lundayeh lives in Sipitang, Tenom and Long Pasia. Different to other groups who mostly use black as main colour, white blouse and black skirt are the signature wear of Lundayeh ladies. Lundayeh men wear jackets made of tree barks called kuyu talun.
Smile of Lundayeh girls, so sweet. Marry one?
Traditional costume of Lundayeh people is simple, but sharp and catchy
Bead cap made entirely of beads (it can be glass, carnelian and other materials) is worn by every Lundayeh woman. In the past, only upper class ladies could wear bead cap. Other key accessories are multi-strand necklaces, silver waist belts, and colourful bead girdle wrap around the hip. Overall it’s a very clean and stylish traditional costume.
Cute Lundayeh flower girls in Sipitang
That’s all! Have you seen other beautiful costumes that desire to be featured here? What’s your top 10 list? Please share it in comment section below.
Now you can see that Sabahans are totally different breed of Malaysians. Put all 200 traditional costumes together and we can make a Sabah version of Wakanda movie.
Sabah has enough beautiful costumes to film Wakanda. Sakanda anyone?
To learn more about traditional costumes of Sabah, you may visit Chanteek Borneo Indigenous Museum in Tamparuli, which showcases wide array of costume dolls, and it is awarded the title “The First Miniature Indigenous Museum” in the country by Malaysia Book of Records. Want to rent a traditional costume? You can browse Sabah Cultural Board website.
Reference Books
“An Introduction to the Traditional Costumes of Sabah” – January 1, 1997, by Rita Lasimbang and Stella Moo-Tan
“The Beliefs and Practices of the Kadazandusun-Murut Natives of Sabah” – 2017, by John Seet
Most tourists who go for an island vacation in Semporna only see 50% of its beauty. To unlock the fascinating heritage and history of Semporna, you may drop by Tun Sakaran Museum (or Muzim Tun Sakaran), a small museum located in Kampung Inabah Kamal (GPS: 4.475566, 118.603385, See Location Map), only 1.5 Kilometre from town centre of Semporna.
Entrance to Tun Sakaran Museum (Muzium Tun Sakaran)
Built under the funding of RM2.8 million by Ninth Malaysia Plan, Tun Sakaran Museum is officially open in year 2015. It is open to public from 9am to 5pm every day (temporarily closed now due to COVID-19). The admission is FREE.
Timeline of political life of Tun Sakaran and Lepa-Lepa boat (left)
Tun Sakaran Museum is a two-storey building. The ground floor is Tun Sakaran gallery, where visitors can learn about the life of Tun Sakaran, the 8th Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah (Sabah Governor or Head of State). The top floor has some exhibitions on culture and historical artifacts of the Semporna and Bajau community.
Tun Sakaran gallery in ground floor
The interior is air-conditioned. You need to take off your shoes before entering. Visitors are allowed to take pictures inside the museum.
Tun Sakaran Gallery
Tun Sakaran Museum is named after Tun Sakaran, who is the Head of State from 1995 to 2002. He donated the one-acre land for this museum. He was the Sabah Chief Minister in 1994, and his nephew, Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, is the Chief Minister now. Tun Sakaran Marine Park (a.k.a. Semporna Islands Park), the second largest marine park of Sabah, is also named after him.
Photographs and information about the life of Tun Sakaran
Head of State carries the title TYT (Tuan Yang Terutama, means His Excellency). As Sabah has no Sultan / King, Head of State is the ruler. However, he has no executive power in politic system. Sometimes people in Kota Kinabalu would see his black car escorted by group of police motorbikes in siren to make way.
Utensils with gold embroidery and Sabah crest
The ground floor of Tun Sakaran Museum is dedicated mostly to contribution of Tun Sakaran to Sabah State. You can see his personal, political, and family life presented in wall panels and photographs. For me, the best contribution of a Sabah Governor is getting holiday on his birthday. :-p
Fine pieces of souvenirs given to Tun Sakaran
Head of State lives in State Palace on Signal Hill. For people who are curious if there is any gold or treasure inside, the palace has Hari Raya Open House every year. In this gallery, you can check out some goodies that Tun Sakaran received or used over the years.
Playing Game of Thrones 😀
Most of the collection are souvenirs given as memento to Tun Sakaran by other VIPs in the past. Some are really fine piece of artwork or collectible items with historical value, for example, palace utensils with golden embroidery of old Sabah crest, gold plated lepa-lepa boat model.
Semporna and Bajau Gallery
The top floor of Tun Sakaran Museum is mostly about the Semporna community. Before this, there is no exclusive exhibition to display the rich history of Semporna and ethnography of Bajau, the nomadic seaborne people.
Gallery on first floor that showcase the lifestyle of Sea Bajau in SempornaTraditional Lepa-Lepa boat of Sea Bajau in Semporna
There are some exhibits on artefacts and the heritage unique to Bajau. The highlight is a live scale Lepa-Lepa, traditional boat of Sea Bajau near the door. In old days, Sea Bajau spends most of their time on lepa-lepa, includes cooking, fishing, giving birth a baby, and sail around South-East Asia.
Exhibition on culture and historical artifacts of the Semporna community in top floor
A few partitions were setup to showcase the old and present weapons, carving tools, fishing gears, machete (Guluk), ceramic pottery, musical instrument, handicraft, bronze household items, etc. nicely in display cases, glass box, exhibition boards, and cabinets. There is also a section to study the development of Islam in Semporna.
Weapons used by Bajau and pirates in old days of SempornaExhibition of Bajau culture such as musical instrument
Overall, it’s not a personal museum to show off the contribution of a VVIP politician. Most Bajau in Semporna is still living in poverty and not getting much benefits from blooming tourism of Semporna. As a successful Bajau who was born in Semporna, Tun Sakaran can be a role model and inspiration to motivate this community.
A biography walkway of Tun Sakaran
The museum also has cafeteria (not open) and small multipurpose room for the public to use. The information in Tun Sakaran Museum is in Malay language, most have English translation. It’ll be a better experience with deeper feeling if they can use some interactive media such as documentary video and Bajau music. A photo booth with colourful Bajau costumes would be a great addition for tourists to check-in to their social media.
Artifact of BajauTraditional cutting and carving tools of Bajau people
Great food makes our tongues happy. Koling-Koling does that and it also WOWed me when I first saw it in a food exhibition of Sabah Fest 2015 last week. Koling-Koling (or Bangi-Bangi) is a traditional food of Bajau people from Semporna town. At first impression, Koling-Koling may not look so appetizing because it looks like worm, but it’s the interesting shape that piqued my curiosity.
Pic: Koling-Koling, even the name sounds amusing
I was so eager to see how this curly slim bread was made. Aunty Badriah Makling, a friendly Bajau elder from Semporna was happy to demonstrate the art of making Koling-Koling (Thank You!). Below is a short video of the process if you prefer video over photos.
Pic: Aunty Badriah Makling waited for the oil to boil
Koling-Koling is usually served during festivals, wedding and banquets. It tastes better while it’s hot, so it is not so commonly sold even in Semporna. The key ingredients for recipe of Koling-Koling are 1 Kg of rice flour mixed with 4 eggs and a bit of coconut milk, sugar and flour (too much flour will make it bloats like a donut). Stir the mixture until it becomes gooey batter.
Pic: oil is hot now, getting ready to cook.
Preparing the batter may be easy to you, the challenging part is the technique to create the right shape of Koling-Koling with bare hand, which requires some practices to perfect. Let’s see how she does it.
First she grasped and pulled a portion of the sticky batter to the air.
Then she quickly grabbed a half-handful of batter from the air and shaked it swiftly to turn it into a small ball in her palm. She was smiling in the photos because I said she was too fast and I had to keep retaking the shots.
Next she held her fingers together with a small opening at the tip (like snake head) and positioned her hand over the hot oil. When the batter flowed out, she moved her hand as if she was drawing a horseshoe on the oil. It’s harder than it seems. Beginners will get batter flowing out all over between the gaps of their fingers and unable to make the right shape.
The last step is to deep-fry Koling-Koling front and back until it turns golden brown color. It takes about 20 seconds to make one Koling-Koling. The cooking process is really fun to watch.
Four pieces of scrumptious Koling-Koling is only sold for RM1 (≈US$0.30). The bread has a slightly chewy skin but soft inside. It’s sweet with bread-like texture, but finer and less airy. I like its nice aroma and it’s not too sweet and oily.
There are about 42 indigenous groups in Sabah, and some have over 10 sub-ethnics so that’s an estimate of over 200 tribes, and each has their distinct costumes. No wonder Sabah is known as a melting pot of different cultures. However, until today nobody can tell you exactly how many native tribes Sabah has.
Many organizations say they are busy documenting the culture, but only Anne Antah is able to present us something in her Chanteek Borneo Gallery near Tamparuli town. Currently, Chanteek Borneo Gallery exhibits about 300 dolls of 48 ethnic costumes and its collection is still growing. She started making these dolls in 2011 as a hobby, then the number of dolls is large enough for her to open this gallery in Aug 2014. Now it becomes a good spot to see different ethnic costumes in one place.
Pic: the number of Sabah tribes is able to fill up a hall if each group sends a representative.
Chanteek means “Beautiful” in Malay language (Cantik in Sabah slang), indeed the beautiful cultures of Sabah have been a favorite subject of photographers. These 1-foot dolls are “serious toy” to show our heritage. Visitors will be impressed by the “Lilliput” of Sabah tribes there. The gallery relies on limited information for making each doll. It’s a challenge to make authentic dress. Her research pays off and University of Zurich from Switzerland orders a whole set of dolls from her.
Pic: high priest dolls of Kadazan Dusun
Costume is our first identity to tell others who we are. Some traditional costumes also indicate whether a person is married, and in one case, how many wives a man has. It also shows the social status of a native, like the dresses of Kadazandusun high priest in photo above.
Besides ethnic costumes, the gallery also exhibits miniature handicraft, music instruments and traditional houses. They also display some life size items so visitors can look at the real things too.
Some locals come to this gallery to look for their doll and root. Most Sabahans can’t even name 10 Sabah tribes, so it’s great to learn something new there. The “Big 3” indigenous groups of Sabah are Kadazan, Bajau and Murut, and of course you can find their dolls in the gallery.
Pic: dolls of Kadazan couple
Kadazan is the largest indigenous group of Sabah. You may have seen them perform Sumazau dance in tourism advertisement of Malaysia.
Pic: Land Bajau couple
Bajau people are famous for their vibrant and colorful culture. Everything they wear and make are in bright colors. The Land Bajau in West Coast is known as Cowboys of the East due to their excellent horse riding skill. And Sea Bajau in East Coast is called Sea Gypsy, who spend most of their lives on the boat (now many have moved to land).
Pic: dolls of Murut couple
Murut means the People of the Hill. They are fearsome headhunter in the past.
Pic: Dusun Tindal doll
Making costume clothing for the doll is a labor-intensive job which requires skilled hands, good eyes and a great deal of patience. Some ethnic costumes are plain and easier to work with. The most difficult one is traditional costume of Dusun Tindal, because of its complex embroidery, making it the most expensive doll too.
Pic: it’s a painstaking task to replicate the costumes in miniature scale.
The gallery is air-conditioned and well-lit. It’s a comfortable place to browse. I had never seen so many dolls in a place.
Pic: note the replica of traditional houses
The dolls are labeled with tribe name. The information is written in both English and Malay languages. Their staffs are also more than happy to tell you more about each costume. There are some nice local painting in the gallery but they are not for sale.
Normally visitors spend about 30 to 60 minutes in this gallery. If you are keen to listen to interesting story and legend of different tribes, you can spend more time there.
Just for fun. You may try to guess the ethnic of 6 toys below. You can find the answers near the end of this article. Don’t cheat.
Pic: the dresses of ancestors of Sabah natives, look elegant too.
Pic: they also use dolls to show the scene of Gayo Nakan legend. Gayo Nakan is a giant who has huge appetite, with a tragic fate.
Pic: the wedding corner. Same as other cultures, our people wear the best dresses for wedding.
In Sabah, marriage between different races is very common, especially between Kadazan and Chinese. Their offspring is called Sino, with an estimated population of 50,000 today. Most believe the actual number of Sino is far more than this official number.
Usually our natives don’t wear their costumes every day, you only see them in “full gear” during special occasions such as festivals, wedding and celebrations. To see real people in traditional costumes, you may visit annual cultural festivals such as Kaamatan (Harvest Festival) of Kadazandusun, Regatta Lepa of Sea Bajau, Tamu Besar of Bajau and Kalimaran of Murut people. Yes, foreigners are very welcome to join these parties. Sabah people are very friendly no matter what races they are. You may check out the event calendar of Sabah Tourism for the dates of these festivals.
Interactive Corner
If you have children, you can bring them to the interactive corner next door to play with dolls. You know, kids aren’t happy just by looking.
Pic: Interactive Corner of the gallery
Pic: they also can use colored cardboard to make Simpangan, the motif of Bajau.
Pic: there was no children around to be my model, so I asked Adam, the blogger of adamlai.com to demo playing dolls. He kept saying, “Isn’t it creepy? It’s so wrong!” LOL
Pic: King Kong and poor little Ann Darrow who screams all the time.
Badeeh Souvenir Shop
There is a souvenir shop in gallery where you can buy items such as handicraft, plush toys, dolls, bookmarks, keychains, beadwork (necklace, bracelet) and T-shirts.
You can buy the dolls if you like them.
Pic: this doll display with a dozen native beauties is fabulous, it costs RM2,388 (≈US$668).
There are other dolls in couple or individual set with prices range from RM39.90 (≈US$11.20) to RM260 (≈US$73). The best selling one is Kadazan doll. You can’t really value a heritage with money. You are buying a piece of art, not a toy that looks like bimbo.
Pic: cute phone straps
Shops & Cafe
After the visit, you also can drop by the shops and cafe outside the gallery. FYI, the toilet is behind the gallery.
Pic: D’Lakang Cafe, where you can order fried rice, noodle, drink, etc. You can have a good look of Mt. Kinabalu from the platform above.
Pic: traditional music instruments of Sabah. You may try playing the gong, kulintangan and other bamboo music instruments. It’s free.
Pic: T-shirt for sale
Pic: you can try wearing Dusun Lotud costume at the Libunan photo booth and get your photo taken, RM5 (≈US$1.40) only.
More Info & Contact
The ticket fee to the gallery is RM10 and RM5 for Malaysian adult and child, RM15 (≈US$4.20) and RM10 (≈US$2.80) for foreigner adult and kid, respectively.
Chanteek Borneo Gallery is very accessible and only 30 KM from Kota Kinabalu City (KK). If you depart from KK and head to Tamparuli town, you will see it at the road side after 30 minutes of driving, about 7 KM before Tamparuli town. There are at least 3 road sign posts to guide you there. You may look at its Location Map.
Pic: U-Turn sign post to Chanteek Borneo Gallery before the Telibong Water Treatment Plant
Pic: the entrance to the gallery. It’s just opposite to the old suspension bridge of Tamparuli.
Pic: Chanteek Borneo Gallery
Answers for the Quiz
From left to right, top to bottom: Dusun Gana, Dusun Lotud, Murut Nabai, Cocos, Orang Sungai Kamansi, Dusun Subpan
How many did you get it correct? Please don’t feel bad if you can’t answer. I only got four right though I have been photographing traditional costumes for some years.
Nearby Attractions
Besides Chanteek Borneo Gallery, you also can explore, eat and play the following things near Tamparuli and Tuaran towns:-
To know the culture and lifetstyle of locals, the best way is to visit their market. Tamu (means “Meeting”) is a traditional open-air market of Sabah. In the old days, there was no supermarket and shopping malls, so farmers, fishermen and hawkers would gather weekly at tamu to exchange their goods by bartering. Tamu is also a social gathering place where villagers exchange news and gossip. The tamu of Kota Belud town is the biggest and the most famous native market among tourists.
Kota Belud is 75 KM north of Kota Kinabalu city. To go to Tamu of Kota Belud, which is open on every Sunday from 6am to 2pm, you only need to drive about 1 hour on the sealed road. Along the way, you would see lush paddy fields and Mt. Kinabalu, the highest mountain of Malaysia and Borneo.
The tamu becomes the busiest spot of Kota Belud in Sunday morning, so it is a bit hard to find parking space. Tamu trade is carried out under the tree shade, so you will see some big trees around.
Once you walk into tamu, you will smell a mixture of different scents like wet market. I love to experience the atmosphere here. Though it is a busy market, everyone is really relax. You can mingle with the friendly locals, and soon you will feel that you are part of tamu. That’s why my late grandmother always hanged around in tamu every week. The people here are very used to tourists.
The Tamu is more than an open market, besides local produces such as fruits & vegetables and fishes, you can find all sorts of local and imported goods, from clothing, handbags, baskets, handicraft, tobacco, traditional herb, food, snacks, wild honey, electronics, toy, and more. I saw many interesting and weird stuffs for sale too.
Food & Snacks
If you plan to tour around Tamu, I advise you not to take heavy breakfast. There are rich variety of local food and snacks for you to shop and try.
Pic: this wrapped food attracts a lot of honey bees. Out of curiosity, I bought one for only RM0.50 (?USD0.16).
Pic: It is Tapai Rice, a sweet rice with strong aroma of local rice wine.
Pic: Pinjaram (a.k.a. UFO Cake), a local sweet dessert with chewy texture, best served with hot coffee. Pinjaram comes with two flavors, i.e., Palm Sugar (brown) and Pandan spice (green).
Pic: this is Kuih Cincin (means “Ring Biscuit”), a famous snack that has crunchy coating, with soft and sweet content inside (taste like chocolate). Only RM2.00 (?USD0.67) per pack.
Pic: you can wear the biscuit if you don’t want to eat it LOL.
Pic: Check out this huge Tapioca Cracker (Keropok Ubi Kayu)! A pack of two costs RM2.50 (?USD0.83). It has 2 flavors, the dark one is spicy.
This big cracker is too fragile to bring home overseas, so you have to try it in Sabah.
There are 20 or 30 more food items and I can’t introduce them all here. But you can see them in my 4-min video below:
Colorful Handicraft
Bajau people of Kota Belud are famous for their colorful culture. They love bright colors such as red, yellow and green, and this is reflected in their handicraft.
You will be impressed by a lot of big and small handicraft items in Tamu. I saw most tourists were not empty-handed after a visit to Tamu. Shopping for traditional handicraft in this traditional market is more fun than buying it from souvenir shops in city. Don’t forget to bargain though.
Pic: colorful handmade baskets of Bajau
Another great item to check out is hand-crafted Bajau machete (Parang in local language), which is created by traditional method.
Good parang can cost over RM100 (?USD33) each. Anyway, you can negotiate for lower price with the sellers. They expect you to ask for discount too.
Then I saw a booth selling “magic sticks” (Kayu Thas and Petunduk). The seller claimed that these sticks have spiritual power, just to list a few:
Chase away aggressive animals and bad spirit.
Prevent thief to break into your house.
Turning naughty kid into nice kid.
Bring prosperity to your business.
Cure various sickness.
Keep a small piece in your bag and the snatch thief won’t target you.
Wow, it can do almost everything. For only RM7 (?USD2.33), this “magic wand” is really cheap, haha. He said you couldn’t use it as a fishing rod, or you would catch no fish.
Seafood
There are plenty of fresh and dried seafood too. This tamu is quite well-organized, as stalls that sell similar items are grouped together.
Pic: Horse shoe crab, yes, it’s edible.
Pic: seaweed from clean sea water. It’s rich in collagen. You can add some lime juice and eat it raw.
Pic: Dried seafood (anchovy fish and shrimp) and salty fishes are popular buy of Asian tourists.
Pic: At first I thought these fishes were covered in soil. Actually they are seasoned with a fruit paste made of Buah Keluak (note the fruit at bottom).
Bajau and Tamu Besar Festival
Majority of population in Kota Belud is Bajau, who is also known as Cowboy of the East, due to their excellent horse-riding skill. The best time to appreciate their rich culture is in annual Tamu Besar (Big Tamu Festival).
Bajau is also good at riding buffalo, which is more challenging.
They even dress up their horses and ponies in this yearly event. Tourists can take a short ride on these ponies for a fee (about RM10?USD3.33).
The Tamu Besar will be tentatively held on 26 and 27 October this year (2013). You may check out the calendar of Sabah Tourism website for latest update.
Even though the Annual Regatta Lepa Festival in Semporna is over many months ago, I want to add more info to this most colorful cultural event of Sea Bajau people in Sabah’s east coast. Lepa means “boat” in Sea Bajau dialect. I have blogged about lepa a few times, you may read my previous articles about regatta lepa festival 2005 and 2008.
During the festival, Sea Bajau, also known as Sea Gypsies, will decorate their traditional lepa boats with colorful canvas and flags. And thousands of locals and tourists will flow into this small town, it is always so crowded that all hotels are fully booked.
Hundred years ago, Sea Bajau spent most of their lives on lepa boats. They cooked, ate, slept, traveled and gave birth on-board. They only came to the shore to bury the dead, as they believe that they were cursed and not allowed to walk on dry land. Of course, thing is different today. Most Sea Bajau lives along the coast and work mainly as fishermen.
Hearing about their history, aren’t you curious to take a look inside the lepa boat? The Sea Bajau people were using lepa to travel between Sabah, Philippines and Indonesia by sea.
Still not interested to check it out? Hey, see what is waiting for you on the boat. It’s a Sea Bajau dancer in beautiful traditional costumes.
Besides long line of traditional lepa boats on display, one of the highlights of Regatta Lepa is that each boat has someone dancing on it and accompanied by loud music from drum, gong and kulintangan (idiophones). The dancer(s) can be a pretty girl, a child, a couple or even a family.
Though I have visited Regatta Lepa the 4th time, the scene is always eye-catching and I can’t stop clicking shutter button.
The dancers move and shake their fingers, hands, shoulder, wrist and feet gracefully, as they dance Igal-Igal. The dance is mesmerizing and it can be seductive (if the dancer intends to).
You will definitely notice the dancers wearing long metal fingernails, which is known as Janggay, a nail extension to emphasize the graceful movement of fingers. Janggay can be a simple cut-out from aluminum Milo tin. But I notice over the years the nails are getting more fashionable by having more colorful ornaments and shiny accessories on them.
Every year this festival also holds Lepa Queen Beauty Pageant in Semporna town field (padang) at night. Usually I skipped this show because the field was so packed with people that I could hardly moved. Anyway, I paid a visit this year and got some photos. The contestants are judged based on their beauty, traditional costumes, dancing skill and IQ. Just click the link below to view the photos:
Don’t forget to take a fun ride on lepa boat if you come to Regatta Lepa (usually in April of every year). It is something new and cost only MYR20 per person per trip.
The best time to take the ride is in the morning, when the day is not too warm and everyone is full of energy. If you go in late afternoon, the lepa dancers may be taking a rest or leave earlier to prepare for beauty pageant.
The lepa boat will take you for a 20-minutes trip on the sea. Every tourists come back with happy smile, a nice way to wrap up the whole lepa experience I guess. Do take a few photos for your album.
You may watch the following 30-sec video of Lepa fun ride:
Owning a car is a “symbol” of freedom to most school leavers. I’ve gotten a taste of freedom at 9 when I got my first bicycle. With a bicycle, 5 KM radius around my house was my territory. I could go fishing and exploration far away from home (parents). Even today I still like bicycle, as it is environmentally friendly and a good exercise. Not only that, I can get in touch with the big world on a bike, because I can see, smell and feel the surrounding. No matter how expensive your car is, the driver is locked in a small space inside a car.
Last month I was invited to join a cycling day trip around Kuala Abai of Kota Belud town. I accepted it without second thought coz I loved to feel the freedom once again. The cycling trip was nearly 30 KM on the countryside road. Since we are beginners, the ride is mainly on flat ground with mountain bike. The organizer got our body height to adjust the mountain bike, so we could peddle with our legs fully extended. Cycling with squatting position is inefficient and waste energy.
After a short briefing in the morning, we loaded our mountain bikes on a truck. There was a truck to keep our pack-lunch and water in the icebox (I called it “Ice-Cream” truck haha). This truck would follow slowly at a distance behind the cycling group, in case of emergency. Then we departed to Kota Belud.
We reached the starting point in Kota Belud after an hour. You know you are in Kota Belud when you see many cattle roaming on the road. They are always on the way, but motorists should not horn them. Or they will turn panic and run like mad cow, endangering everyone on the road.
To avoid absorbing heavy dose of UV ray from the sunlight, we put on our sunblock. We did some final test on our bikes then off we went. Luckily my legs still remember how to ride a bicycle. That brought back my childhood memory! I can even hold the steering with one hand, taking photo with another (don’t try this outside your home).
Oh ya, above is my mountain bike that lent by the organizer (Fieldskills). They say this is imported from Australia and costs a few thousands Ringgit.
This bike has gear setting next to both handlers to control front and rear wheel chains, for different speed and strength. Honestly, I find it more complicated than my car. Anyway, you can always try to play with the control, to get maximum speed and comfort.
This is a typical sport bike that has no seat padding. I was not wearing a cycling short that has padding and chamois (“shammy”) under my butt. During the bumpy ride later, I was like being sodomized by this egg-crusher seat (just kidding). Because of the extra weight from my camera and bag, my butt was quite painful at the end. Next time I will eat more to get a fat ass for extra padding.
Thanks to the good weather. The sky was so blue and I enjoyed the breeze on the bike. The road in countryside is small but not many cars. Shortly I saw a beautiful river.
As I didn’t want to be left behind by others, I took most of the photos on the bike. I only stopped when the view was really scenic. Actually there is always a staff cyclist follows behind, to take care of those slower movers like me.
Besides paved road, about half of our cycling trip was on bumpy gravel, dusty and sandy roads. It was quite an “egg-crushing” experience. Luckily mountain bike is designed to deal with irregular surfaces. Its absorber kept my eggs intact.
We also needed to keep alert for those “land mines” (cow dropping) that seemed to be everywhere.
We passed by Pantai Emas (Golden Beach). I didn’t know Kota Belud has such a long and beautiful beach. It is a private land. I think this area can be sold to big hotel for millions. You can see Mantanani Island from there.
Everything is green in countryside, and it becomes a picturesque place with blue sky. There was no busy moving cars and noisy people around, so the time was like frozen, so relaxing that I wanted to play guitar to sing a song or something.
Cycling under the scorching sun for only an hour, everyone was already hot and tired. We stopped briefly at a local grocery store for a short break. We did not even reach quarter way yet. The villagers here were very friendly. They even waved hands at us.
For many years I didn’t cycle around, I live in city, and sharing busy road with cars only means danger. One of the cyclists told me that he ever tried to cycle 11 hours to the Tip of Borneo (in Kudat town). That’s 200 KM! Sound so crazy. If I were him, I’ll cycle with wheelchair the next day.
Sabah doesn’t have any cycling lane for the bicycles. On the road of Malaysia, road users are “expected” to give way to whoever is bigger than their vehicles, so cyclists get the least respect from the trucks, buses, motorcycles and cars. Government is also like that, they even remove the pedestrian lane to expand the road for the cars.
You can see many cattle along the road. Cattle is not meat eater so they will not attack human. But just don’t get too close to their calf. I believe Devil also doesn’t take meat, as any animal with horn is a vegetarian.
You know you are in a “kampung” (village) when you see people let their livestock roaming freely. If you scare the chicken, they will try to outrun you, heheh.. You also know you enter a Muslim village when you see no dog. Most Bajau people in Kota Belud are Muslims.
We also smiled and waved hands to every villagers we saw along the road. We were acting like peace ambassadors, bringing peace and love wherever we went, haha..
Then we needed to cross a suspension bridge on a wide river.
We got down and walked our mountain bikes to other side of the river.
Then Simon, an advanced biker, showed us the “right” way to cross the bridge. He just ride over this 100-Meter bridge. To beginners like us, this is such a WOW stunt.
We enjoyed our pack lunch under a tree shade about 12pm in Merabau Village. Gee… it was such a hot day. I drank two bottles of 100Plus to rehydrate myself. Though we were only halfway and exhausted, our spirit was still high. It has been an interesting and fun experience.
After a short rest, we hit the road again. We even cycled inside a banana plantation. That again reminded me of my naughty boy childhood, when I cycled to any corner, like nobody’s place. The good thing about bike is you can reach any narrow path that no car can get in.
Kota Belud also produces lot of paddy (rice) so do expect to see many paddy fields.
There is a small cemetery next to the road, I don’t know what the white decoration means. Is it a Muslim or Bajau tradition?
We passed by wooden, cement, suspension as well as steel bridges.
The afternoon sun was getting hotter, again we took a nap under a tree around 1pm. This is not a race, why rush to finish the trip, right? Then we heard distant thunders, a dark and dense cloud was coming to our way slowly. The sky became shady, but it was more pleasing for cycling.
The Bajau people in Kota Belud is the most colorful indigenous tribes of Sabah. They love bright colors such as yellow, red and green. This reflects on their handicraft as well as their houses. If you visit Kota Belud, do pay attention to their traditional stilt houses in different colors. Even though many wooden houses are replaced with cement houses today, they still keep the interesting design and colors.
It started to rain heavily after half an hour. Worry that my camera got wet, I handed it over to our Ice Cream truck. I peddled quickly in the rain. On the way, we saw some cattle taking shelter in veranda of a small shop. It was so funny but the camera was not with me. I got totally wet in the rain, but it also washed away my tiredness. In fact, it was only a few KM left, and we were back to our starting point at 2pm. This ended our trip and we went back to Kota Kinabalu (by car, of course).
Here is a story about myself. Due to a near-to-death cycling accident in Peninsular Malaysia, I didn’t go cycling for many years. Many years ago in Christmas Eve, I was cycling on a road in high speed. Without signaling, the car in front of me made an abrupt left turn. Too late to brake, my bicycle knocked on the left side of the car and the tremendous momentum threw me and my bicycle over to other side of the car. In second, I felt that the world was spinning and I landed on my back. My back was so painful that I thought I would die. Laying on the ground for nearly a minute, finally I managed to stand up. I remember the “Oh sh*t! Oh sh*t!” face of the driver. Only my elbow suffered minor bruise and no bone was broken. He drove away after I assured him that I was fine.
Actually it was partly my fault too, I don’t blame the driver coz my bicycle had no light and I didn’t wear any reflective safety vent, so it was very hard to see me at night. Anyway, just to share the lesson with you. If I landed on my head, the force was enough to break my head. So a helmet is a must for cycling. Nowadays, there are more and more hit-and-run drivers in Sabah after they learn that police has problem to trace them. And also thanks to JPJ for cultivating so many “Kopi-O” licensed drivers on the road, turning driver license into license to kill. In other countries, it is very hard to pass driving test in first time, unlike Malaysia. So be extra careful when you have fun cycling in city.
Photos taken in Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo
