WRAPPING IT ALL UP: (Squatting from left) Shiling, Sibu Resident Sim Kok Kee (third left) and others rolling the mat to close the Gawai Dayak celebration.
SIBU: The ‘Gawai Tourism and Ngiling Bidai’ – an event of homestay programme — may be made an annual event here.
The event organising chairman, Penghulu James Semilan, said participants of the Bawang Assan Homestay Programme had expressed intention of holding the event annually as part of the tourism activity to promote their homestay programme.
Held from July 2-3 at Rh Jimbun James, Bawang Assan, the event had attracted more than 300 people.
“We are very pleased with the response from the recent Gawai Tourism and Ngiling Bidai Gawai 2011. In all honesty, we never expect that we could organise an event of such magnitude at our longhouse especially when it involved tourists.
“We are very fortunate because we received good support from all homestay programme participants and JKKK committee members,” Semilan said, adding that the event also attracted agents and members of the media from Kuala Lumpur.
The event included various cultural activities, such as ‘Ngelangan’ (special welcoming where visitors need to wash their feet on a special wood casing before entering the longhouse through ‘pua kumbu tunnel’), ‘miring’, ‘bebiau’, Iban mock wedding, kumang competition and ‘beranyai’.
The evening wrapped up with ‘ngiling tikai’, which marked the close of Gawai Dayak.
The following day, guests were treated to some outdoor activities such as cooking chicken in bamboo (manuk pansuh), making local kuih, making pua kumbu, bibat nyemayar and making beads.
Among those at the function were pro-tem chairman of Homestay Programme Association Macathy Gindau, and political secretary to the Chief Minister Andrew Shiling.