Adenan laying a wreath at the Bario Memorial Park in honour of the members of the ‘Z’ Special Unit and local Kelabit heroes during the Second World War.
DATUK Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem took a stroll down memory lane when he made his first official visit as Chief Minister to the Kelabit Highlands to launch the 10th anniversary of Pesta Nukenen Bario 2015 or the Kelabit Food and Cultural Festival.
The Chief Minister, accompanied by his wife Datin Patinggi Jamilah Anu, received a warm welcome from a huge crowd on arrival at the Festival ground at the Bario Town Square.
The couple were accorded a ‘most sincere and hearty welcome to Bario’ by Rurum Kelabit president and organising chairman Dato Isaac Lugun who hoped the Chief Minister and entourage would enjoy ‘friendship and kinship among the people of the Kelabit community’.
Adenan and Jamilah subsequently rode to the Festival stage in a carriage, with hornbill carvings, drawn by men clad in traditional costume adorned with beads, bark cloth jackets and leopard skin.
While on stage, the couple were welcomed back into the community. For Adenan, it was a fitting flashback to the esteemed naming ceremony of the Kelabits he once attended.
The Chief Minister had made many trips to the Highlands, often staying the night in the villages in Bario, when he was Agriculture Minister and later Minister of Youth and Social Development.
It was during one of these trips to install Henry Jala Tamalai as the new Penghulu that he was given the noble Kelabit name of Maran Ribed at the naming ceremony steeped in highland tradition. Jamilah takes the name Sina Maran Ribed.
In Kelabit, Maran means noble by birth or having attained a high standing in the community through good deeds and character, and worthy of respect and honour.
Ribed means handsome, beautiful or refined with inner beauty emanating from a beautiful mind and character.
So together, Maran Ribed literally means a handsome noble person — or simply Prince Charming.
However, Maran Ribed, when used in a Kelabit name, has a deeper meaning and represents the qualities the community looks for in the bearer of the name.
By giving Adenan the name Maran Ribed, the community acknowledges his qualities as a ‘gracious, emphatic and people-centred leader’.
They respect and trust his leadership and accept him as an adopted member of the community. To the highlands community, Adenan is Maran Ribed because they consider him a leader with ‘a beautiful mind and soul’.
In the traditional context, community elders confer upon themselves a few names that best reflect the personality and status of the recipients.
The new name is announced at an Irau Mekaa Ngadan — a name-changing ceremony. The wife takes on the same name as her husband but with the prefix Sina (meaning Mrs).
Once it has given a person a new name, the community is bound to call that person by the new name. Anyone found not complying will be fined by the village headman under the adet for disrespecting the acknowledged new status of the person so conferred.
During his visit for the Pesta, Adenan also brought good news to the Highlands. He announced new administrative centres would be set up in the rural areas, and also declared Bario a sub-district under the Miri District.
This will bring the government’s presence to the remote areas and complement the Chief Minister’s call to speed up development in rural areas to bridge the rural-urban prosperity gap.
Earlier on arrival in Bario, Adenan officiated at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Bario Memorial Park to honour the role of the Allied Forces and local heroes during World War Two.
The Chief Minister’s retinue, comprising cabinet ministers and senior government officers, were later entertained to a performance of the traditional bamboo band, and traditional dances by school children.
To commemorate the 10 Anniversary of the Festival, a coffee table book, aptly titled Pesta Nukenen, was launched by Jamilah.
The book project, headed by Datin Nikki Lugun with contributors from within and outside of the community, gives a fascinating glimpse into the life of the culture and unique culinary practices.
Proceeds from the sale of the book will be channelled back into the Festival.
Pesta Nukenen has been held annually since 2005 and was created to showcase the cultural and culinary heritage of the Kelabit Highlands.
Its principal objectives are to preserve traditional processing methods of indigenous edible plants and safeguard the local flora and fauna.
Over the past 10 years it has evolved into a festival that celebrates the rich legacy of Kelabit traditions and a distinctive way of life.
Today, it has transformed into one of the world’s most unique culinary culture.
Long before the slow food movement gained prominence worldwide, the Kelabits were already practising the cultivation and gathering of forest produce for sustenance.
The Festival was held in a carnival-like atmosphere complete with traditional dances, music and traditional games and competitions over three days.
Accompanying the Chief Minister and his wife was Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang who also attended the closing ceremony.
Also in attendance were State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohd Morshidi Abdul Ghani, Speaker of the Sarawak State Assembly Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar and his wife Datin Amar Fatimah, Ceria Bario director Datuk Affandi Tahir, members of the organising committee of Pesta Nukenen, including Deputy
State Secretary Datu Ose Murang who is also the patron, international patron to the Festival, Lord Medway Jason Garthorne-Hardy, Deputy chairman of the Pesta, Cr Dr Philip Raja, Pesta Nukenen advisors Datu Robert Lian, Gerawat Gala, Lucy Bulan, Cr John Tarawe and Rurum Kelabit Council members.
School children from Bario and its outlying settlements doing a traditional dance.
Adenan wearing a Kelabit ceremonial hat, beaded vest and traditional heirloom beads at the ceremony to induct both him and Jamilah into the Kalabit community.