AS a vital part of social development in Sabah, traditional costume play an important role in the state’s history and culture.
For the costume of the Kadazan, Dusun and Rungus, their basic features are black in colour, with colourful beads and embroidery, gold buttons and a silver belt.
These features have been preserved for hundreds of years until the traditional beauty queen, Unduk Ngadau was introduced in the 1960s, where the traditional costumes were starting to evolve.
Nowadays, however, most Sabahans wear modern clothes in their daily lives, not much different from their counterparts all around the world.
Traditional attires are only worn during certain festivals or ceremony, especially Kaamatan which is celebrated for the whole month of May, annually.
The highlight of Kaamatan is the crowning of Unduk Ngadau, which is held at the Kadazan Dusun Cultural Association, Hongkod Koisaan in Penanpang on May 31.
Each year, the finalists of Unduk Ngadau will be wearing traditional costumes, as it is part of the judging criteria.
Costumes like Sinuangga’ of the Kadazan from Penampang, Sinipak of Tindal Kota Belud, Siya of Kadazan Papar, Kinaling of Kimaragang Kota Belud and Sukolob of the Rungus women in Kudat, Pitas and Banggi are often worn during the pageant.
However, last year, the committee of Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan started emphasising on the representation of the traditional costumes in each district to bring out costumes that have not been projected before, to enrich the cultural heritage of Kadazan, Dusun, Murut and Rungus communities in Sabah.
Five new costumes were showcased last year, while this year more than 10 finalists wore rarely seen costumes.
Likas representative wore the Rinagang, another costume of Dusun from Kota Belud, while the finalists from the northern part of Sabah – Pitas, Kudat, Banggi and Matunggong showcased two types of their Sukolob – clearly showing how the costume has evolved.
The contestants representing Johor and Penampang wore two versions of the Sinuangga’, Kota Marudu finalist also showcased less accessorised Kinaling to introduce how their costume looks like before.
The chairlady of Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan organising committee, Joanna Datuk Kitingan said the development showed the spirit of the finalists in promoting their heritage to a higher level.
“I am happy to see this development, and hopefully it will open the eyes of many people about our rich cultural heritage.
“Most of the finalists were able to explain their traditional costume, one of the most important parts of judging in the pageant,” she said.
Joanna also reiterated that the willingness of finalists to introduce new costume this year as a good thing, as the organizing committee wants the public to be aware of the history.
“The reason why we want to return to basics is because we are looking at the evolution of our traditional costumes,” she added.
Treacy Chee, the finalist from Pitas, made an effort to borrow from an old lady from Kudat, as she was personally interested to know more about the Rungus costume.
Although she did not make it to the top seven, Treacy said her experience in the traditional pageant was precious.
“I grew up seeing Rungus costume decorated with exotic accessories, where the colours amazingly match the Sinukolob. But as I see the new trend of bringing out old costume, I made some effort to find someone in Kudat who is still keeping her old Sinukolob.
“Wearing it in front of thousands in the audience during the finale was a pride for me as a Sino Rungus.
“I will keep promoting the rich culture of Rungus, and use the social media to show my relatives and friends how our costume has evolved. I am hoping more research will be done in the future, because it will be something that I am looking forward to,” she explained.
Next year, the organizing committee will continue to encourage the district level to bring out more rarely seen costume, not only from the Kadazan, Dusun and Rungus ethnic groups and sub-ethnic groups, but also from the Murut community.
The organizing committee will also continue to make it ‘compulsory’ for the finalists to wear creative evening gown based on ethnic motifs during the Gala Night, which will be screened on the Sodop Pintutunan (welcoming dinner), four days before the crowning ceremony.
“Evening wear is where designers can express their creativity. As we have done this competition for the past few years, it is high time that the designers incorporate rich multicultural motifs and designs in the evening wear.
“We hope that these designs will not only be current but also fashionable and internationally recognised,” she stressed.
“It should be a classic outfit that can be worn as formal wearable fashion that can represent the identity of Sabah. It’s not just about the ‘bling’ but also about the stitching of patterns and motifs that tell the origin and story of each the ethnic groups,” said the hopeful Joanna.
Expressing an identity through costume, it is widely known that Sabah’s local fashion is heavily steeped in culture.
However, through the emergence of urban popularity and pop mass culture, it is seen as fashion change allowing the younger generation and new breed of designers to portray their own unique awareness of style, mixed with their redefined scope of their culture and roots.