FASHION SHOW: Residents of the Sarawak Cheshire Home entertain guests with the own special fashion show to mark the end of Gawai Dayak celebration on Saturday night.
KUCHING: Sarawak Cheshire Home feted its residents and guests to Ngiling Bidai dinner on Saturday night.
The function was to mark the end of the Harvesting Festival or Gawai Dayak celebration, which is usually celebrated on June 1 and 2 by the Iban and Bidayuh communities in the state.
The term ‘Ngiling Bidai’ is used to end the Gawai festival according to the Iban custom and tradition.
Matron Reverend Sister Regina told the Borneo Post that the annual event is to mark the end of the Gawai festival which usually occurs after two weeks of celebration.
“We try to preserve the Gawai culture and prefer to end the festivity after two weeks after the official date of celebration, instead of longer,” she said
She revealed that every resident and staff members of the home helped in cooking the dishes for the occasion.
Sister Regina said the dinner was very special for everybody who was present and hoped the good food was not wasted.
“Wasting food is like stealing from the poor,” she quoted Pope Francis who made the remark recently.
She also hoped the residents would celebrate and commemorate the occasion with fun like any other festival celebrated by all races and religions in the state.
Before the dinner, residents and guests were entertained with a fashion show by some of the more outgoing residents who dressed up in their own choice of apparels which included traditional Dayak costumes.
Also present at the dinner were the new Malaysia Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) Sarawak commissioner Francis Johen Adam, Sarawak Cheshire Home deputy president Dr Lim Thian Siong, Management Committee Sarawak Cheshire Home chairperson Datin Lianney Chia Lian Ney, members Santokh Singh and Donald Law Hieng Sui.
Sarawak Cheshire Home was officially declared open in November 1969 with its formation going back to 1966 by Captain Leonard Cheshire who saw the need to establish a home in Kuching to serve the incurably sick and handicapped for whom there was no special place.
It is a home where the needy can get physiotherapy, occupational therapy, recreational facilities, outreach services and independent living.