Two chickens pop up their heads through an opening in a box as they are transported to the waiting express boats.
SIBU: With the Gawai Dayak celebration just around the corner, preparation for the festivities is picking up. The annual Gawai ‘balik kampung’ rush is surging to its peak as bus terminals and express wharfs here are swamped by people going back to their villages and longhouses to celebrate the harvest festival.
They are not returning home empty handed as they are laden with goodies for the celebration. Their luggage ranges from cakes, sweets, soft drinks and liquor to live chickens in boxes and even an occasional pig!
Gawai Dayak which falls on the 1st and 2nd of June is the major annual festival of the Dayaks and like the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration, is an occasion for those who have left their villages and longhouses to go back for a family reunion.
The mainstay for the celebration is ‘tuak’, the traditional rice wine which is usually prepared at the longhouses a few months before the festival.