Gawai Dayak Sri Aman 2010 Celebrations

Happy Gawai Dayak 2010 from Nadai Nama Nama to its readers. I wish to thank you for staying with me all this while, through the ups and downs. Though I do not usually share the downs as I used to, its part of Nadai Nama Nama's adventure. With Gawai around the corner, I will usually have a lot to share after I recover that is.  In fact Gawai started rather early for me. More so it was during the Sri Aman pre Gawai celebrations on 22nd May 2010 at Dewan Suarah. I am sure most of you have had enough of my Gawai Survival tips in Facebook already by now but there is some more to come. But anyway, thank you for all your support and requests in Facebook especially those of you who met me at the Sri Aman dinner. I did not know I had a big following at in Sri Aman as you look for news about the happenings in this town. And I am glad you all know why I am bald. But still in Facebook i need you to introduce yourself when you make that friend request. Here are some Gawai pictures to share especially of the celebration at the Pre Gawai Dinner.

I'll be bald this Gawai 2010 and its already attracting attention. Happy Gawai 2010 from Nadai Nama Nama.


Sri Aman Pre Gawai Dinner which was held at the Dewan Suarah Sri Aman was organised by the Serakup Indu Dayak Sarawak (SIDS) from Sri Aman


Our table had that honour of being able to taste Sri Aman's No.1 tuak (with the white bear deco)  which was organised during the tuak making competition.


The Honourable guests that night was YB Datuk Francis Harden ak Hollis, the Assistant Minister for Ladn Development Sarawak and the Member of Parliament for Sri Aman YB Tuan Masir Kujat


The Kumangs or Iban maidens Beauty contestants make their grand entrance into the Dewan Suarah


The beauty paegent underway and everyone had their favourites


The YBs had a fun time when the result was announced as they asked those in the Dewan who was going to win the beauty paegent


And finally we have Ms Elizabeth wining the Kumang Gawai Sri Aman 2010 and well, I think the judges were spot on


Winners of the Sri Aman Kumang Gawai 2010


The night went on with the sponsored songs after that and seen here is Mr. Vincent Sawing rendering a dance number


And dance they did, the crowd did not fail the singers


Everyone went up to the dance floor and did their thing.....


Our distinguished patron for the Gawai night also shared with us his favourite number


The guests had the opportunity to show off their singing talents


There was no short of dance talents here if you ask me - they might as well go for the "So you can think you can dance" show


The Gawai spirit was alive in everyone, the guests, dancers and even singers......they put their heart into their song and the crowd put their heart into the dance too



Ooha....it was an enjoyable pre Gawai Dayal 2010 celebration and once again I toast with you all, my loyal visitors. I wish you Hapy Holidays and for those celebrating Gawai.....may we enjoy the celebration, Drive Safe and Take Care so that there wiull be more Gawais to come. God Bless.

Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs Thomas

I would like to take this opportunity to wish Mr. and Mrs Thomas Geoffrey Kandawang a Happy Wedding which was held in Sri Aman at the Dewan Suarah on 21 May 2010. I did not manage to put this pictures up earlier as the pre Gawai Celebrations mode and the Balik Kampung preparations has alreadykicked in making it harder to tinker with my blog. But there is nothing more happier than to start the Gawai mode with a wedding. A Love Story is worth celebrating esepcially if its a mixed marriage. Thomas and Ariene both work at the Sri Aman Resident Office and I was happy to be able to join their celebration. Credit should go to YB Datuk Francis Harden and his team of Community Leaders who facilitated this union. Mr. Thomas who hails from Saratok and Miss Ariene Ting Ling Ling from Sri Aman made sure that they observed local customs from each other's community before proceeding to walk down the wedding aisle. It was not that hard as Sri Aman is well known for mixed marriages. One need only go to the Registration Department in Sri Aman to see the various Marriage forms being displayed there to realise that 1Malaysia is alive and well in Sri Aman, or Sarawak for that matter..

The wedding cake



The wedding couple with the deco as background


The "happy wedding couple closed up".


The wedding couple rendering a pretty number "Wonderful Tonight" on stage


The honourable guests being invited includes YB Datuk Francis Harden, the Assistand Minister fot Land Development, Tuan Resident Abang Shamshudin Banag Seruji, Mr. Jerome Runggol who is YB Datuk's private secretary and the various Community Leaders.


Our honourable guest, YB Datuk Francis Harden sportingly rendered a Chinese 'love song' for the lovely couple.

Once again I congratulate Thomas and Ariene for this special occassion. Happy Gawai Lelabi!

Thank You!

First and foremost I wish to give my special thanks to Dr. Balamurugan Gurusamy for spurring me on to sacrifice my hair for a good cause. I have never had a RM1000 haircut before. I'll show off my new hairdo to those upcoming Gawai Dayak Kumang Beauty Queens who are also setting their hairs almost at that price tag. Except mine will be without hair. When in my last post I made it a point to publicise the efforts of the Sarawak Children Cancer Society, I had never thought of going one step further to really do away with my hair. But when I went to the Centre and looked at the pictures on the Centre's wall, some of them the present patients and some of those who had passed away due to cancer, I decided to ask my Facebook friends for support. One of them was Dr. Balamurugan, the famed owner of the Planet of the Monyets blog. Though he goes by the name of Monyet King in his postings I informed him I cannot give that kind of name to the organisers or they will shave my heads while being hanged upside down.

Dr. Balamurugan likes to send me his greeting cards from ERE Consulting Group  with special messages including the recent Happy Mother's Day (pretend you do not see monkeys on the card) that I just received. Apart from that he is also my consultant when it comes to Genting Highlands Investments escapades.


The event gets underway with a speech from the organisers of the Go Bald campaign


The Sarawak Bloggers' presence was also overwhelming...yeah yeah I know you have better cameras than me


The first lady of the 2009 Go Bald Campain, Georgette, having a second go at the Go Bald 2010


Dr. Tang Sie Hing having his bald haircut


Balding Experience 1: Its a simple process which takes about 13 minutes to complete ~ its quite meaningful actually as you experience what a child gets to go through when they go for cancer treatment


Balding Experience 2: Sometimes its also good to think about the effects of deforestation by the multi rich timber companies that harvest the trees (your hair) and you get to think how long it takes for the tree to grow again....an alternative to environmental education.


So if a Doctor can do it, a lady can do it and this baby can do it.....I told myself as I looked in the mirror for hours to wish bye bye to my hair....


The before and after look ~ I was suspicious of the guy who was cutting my hair as he made those swishing sound while his hands traveled on my head. I suspect he was playing Man's First Landing on The Moon.


Part of the Borneo Post Article on 17th May 2010 about the Kojak look. It was my Tuan Resident who gave that title when I tried to describe how I would look after the haircut

Though I said in the paper that there is no Iban word for Cancer, I was trying to describe the sign board outside the Sarawak Children Cancer Centre which does not have the Iban word for it. The word is 'riman' and it may be considered for future signboards or if we are not too strict with our lingo, the Bahasa Malaysia 'kanser' can be an alternative so that its easier to talk about the society and the centre when one goes about to Iban longhouses.

Once again i would like to take the opportunity to thank Dr. Balamurugan, Georgette Tan of Borneo Post, the hard working Allen Ang for his effort in being part of the whole show and the Sarawak Bloggers, facebook friends (and my Missus and Shania) also for cheering me on. So if its not too much to ask do drop by at the Sarawak Children Cancer Society or their website to make some donations if that is not too much to ask. Just doing my part in Charity before Gawai 2010 comes. Thank you again.

Be Bold In Caring

The Sarawak Bloggers are promoting the Going Bald 2010 Campaign to support the Sarawak Children Cancer's Society effort in raising funds for their activties and a new building. The event will be held at The Spring (South Court) on 16th May 2010. Have a view at the website of the Sarawak Children's Cancer Society and the Go Bald Website to support the campaign. Get a Pledge Card - something like a Joggathon Card which can be used to collect donations. It is definitely a noble cause for those who feel that they can do without their hair for a few weeks. Currently a few famous people are going bald and you can help by donating to their pledge card to support this effort. As a blogger I made a point to drop by at the Sarawak Children Cancer Center to get a clearer picture of the place. It will give those who are asking what the society is all about. The society is mostly made up of volunteers ~ mostly parents of the children who have cancer.

The Go Bald Website promoting the Fight against Cancer. The video in the Go Bald website also provides some facts on the event.


The Sarawak Children Cancer Society is located at Maxwell Road not far across SABERKAS Building.


The location is not something to shout about as it is situated just across a Cemetery and a Coffin shop. The present building used to be a government quarters before was converted for the use of the society.


A small playground donated by the Rotary Club of Kuching South can be seen at the compound of the Sarawak Children Cancer Centre.


The deco on this old government makes a welcome sight for the small patients who comto the City for treatment some as far as Miri and Limbang.


Inside the building, volunteers like Puan Dayang Juliana here can be seen arranging toys donated by students from SMK Green Road to be given to the children cancer patients


Each toy has a small card and the patients' who had wished for them with a simple wish from the donors


The living room houses the office and a mini library with children's story books


The walls are decorated with pictures of children - some who have lost the fight against cancer


The Centre has three rooms with a few beds - for the patients and families. The furnitures are mostly donated. Above is one of the bigger rooms fitted with air condition and air filter to ensure the children who has undergone treatment has a comfortable environment.


Another room fitted with furnitures


Bunker beds for this smaller room

The dream - The Sarawak Children Cancer Society hopes to be able to raise enough funds to build a new building (costing about RM1.8 million) provide after care for the children who are undergoing treatment at the Sarawak General Hospital Kuching.  Those who benefit from this are usually the poorer families from outside Kuching.

A few of the people you may wish to support going bold have opened up a Facebook Account to indicate their wish to grow bold in going balder. Click on their link below to find out who they are and if you wish to give your pledge. Many people may have their say about going bald but if its for a good cause why. "its not professional" I am told by one of my friends but look at people like Dr. Tang Sie Hing. Whatever one has to say, think about the children who has cancer. They did not wish to have it, so Be Bold...Be Very Bald. 

Picking Pesta Benak 2010 Best Moments

Flipping through the albums of Pesta Benak 2010, I had wanted to post the best pictures of the event to share with Nadai Nama Nama readers. Its quite a challenging task as I am unable to finalize any top 5 or top 10 as most of the images are all memorable ones. There's a difference now you know, when taking photos one does not just shoot from the hip but must ensure that the pictures will be the ones that will be able to hold its on in a story. Which is why I sometimes insist I take my own pictures for the storyteller will not be anyone else but me. Thus I guess I will stick to the best moments of the Pesta 2010 and confine it to the water sports activities that define Pesta Benak 2010. Yes, I have discovered that this Pesta Benak is unlike any other Pestas or celebrations in the other parts of Sarawak. Reason being, the benak or tidal bore which is Sri Aman's icon is a unique natural phenemenon that occurs along the famous Batang Lupar. Other towns do organise their Pestas and Regattas as most are situated nearby rivers and waterfronts but Sri Aman has an ace in the cards in the form of Mr. Ben @ Benak. During the few days in a month the benak waves will rush down the river to make a grand entrance when reaching Sri Aman Town. And then there is that exciting benak boat race which is much akin to surfing. It may look fun in the pictures but boats do capsize if one is inexperienced, so if any of you do plan to join this form of boat race one day, do not leave home without your life jacket. Better still, just stay out of the waters and watch the benak from the lovely Benak Panorama Park.

In summarising my experience, it has been a thrilling Pesta Benak 2010 for me especially when you are involved in a small way of organizing the show. The crowd was beyond expectations and the side events itself were many. Entertainment was aplenty which makes it easier for me to pick out which photos to capture with my Nikon D5000. The festival becomes more complete that can share those exciting moments with Nadai Nama Nama readers. What more to say after two years of covering in Sri Aman, I cannot be sure if I can see Pesta Benak 2011. Being a government servant I can be transferred anytime or other opportunities may arise outside the service. We will never know will we, for we do not determine tomorrow but the Lord Almighty does for He too also has his own Human Resource Department? Which is why I tried to make the most of it for this year's celebration. I hope that all of those involved had as much fun as I had though there were tensed moments and suspense also. It is my hope that for those who have not, you all will drop by one day, to witness this unique phenomenon in USA - I mean Urban Sri Aman. What were you thinking of? So here are some of the pictures i wish to share.

Benak During Sunrise

The benak waves are seen reflecting the early morning sunrise as it arrived at 7:00 a.m on 1 May 2010


Benak waves hitting the river banks in front of the Benak Panorama parkearly morning of 1 May 2010...this photo is memorable for me as the Balloon for Pesta Benak 2010 stands in the foreground.

The Benak Festival 2010 Crowd

Tents and people everywhere ~ Scene of the Sri Aman wharve from the roof top


Crowd at the Batang Lupar Riverine Park ~ Phase 1 of the Sri Aman Waterfront project


People everywhere including the Fort ~ View from the river of the walkway that connects the Batang Lupar Riverine Park to the Benak Panorama Park with Fort Alice in the middle (as seen above)

The Water Events - Row Your Boat

Trophies for the Champions of the Water Events including the Raja Sungai @ King of the River


Who would be King of the River ~ the rowers here decide as they thrash thier paddles into the river


The Sarawak Governor is a photo enthusiast also - seen middle above in red collared shirt with cap, white belt and a camera in hand


Benak race in progress as the boats try to stay ahead of the high benak waves


Sometimes it is not as easy as it looks as the waves can be quite vicious sometimes


Staying ahead to win.....a boat racer powered by the waves of the benak


Sometimes when the benak overtakes the boat and the rowers discover they are still in one piece, they will need to struggle in rowing to keep ahead of the benak's second and third wave which of course is not quite easy

The Water Events - Engine Powered Boats

Sight Seeing ~ A small boat with courageous kids braving the benak waves


This small boat chased by the benak ~ something that we do not usually advice as the pilot is not wearing a life jacket but we do get dare devils here who feel that their single engine boat won't fail halfway and putting the passengers at risk ~ maybe that is the thrill of the whole ride?


VIPs in a larger boat (setting a good example by wearing life jackets and fitted with two engine outboard motors just in case one failed) and the Sarawak Governor (in red) at the back is seen taking photos. Way to go Guv!

The Water Events - Helicopter Benak Race Event?

This is of course not a helicopter benak race event but one gets to see our YB Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu in action as he captures footages of the event from up above


Thank You


Family enjoyed Pesta Benak 2010

The fun started when we started preparing for the Pesta Benak 2010 events. It ended just as fun too as I managed to find time to bring the family witness the water sports and events on the last day. The other days I was too preoccupied with the other events but as I have said, I would not want them to miss the excitement of the Pesta benak 2010 while I am still around here. Its something for them to remember. Why I am saying this is because I have met many Sri Amanians themselves who don't even know what this event is all about and how it can become Sri Aman's tourist draw in future. I end this with the famous words of our Tuan Resident, "....as sure at the benak waves will come, Sri Aman Mansang Maju".