Peninsula Kaamatan beauties: Ideal mini ambassadors
Published on: Sunday, June 02, 2024
By: Lorena Binisol
Unduk Ngadau representative of KDCA branches in Peninsular Malaysia and their coordinators. At third left (standing) is Erica.
Kota Kinabalu: Unduk Ngadau representatives from other KDCA branches in Peninsular Malaysia also play a vital role in promoting cultures to other communities there.
Erica Lim, Executive Director of Monocolo Boutique Hotel, one of the sponsors providing accommodation for the Harvest Queens representing some peninsula states, said they are like mini ambassadors.
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Chosen to be “spokespersons,” their role in society is crucial in disseminating information about the culture of Sabah’s native people.
“We are very happy and honoured to host several Harvest Queens, including those from KDCA branches in Putrajaya, Perak, Melaka and Johor, along with their coordinators, at our hotel.
It was a pleasure having them here, as their presence attracted attention from netizens who viewed our social media postings,” she said.
She also said not everyone, especially in Sabah, including Chinese community residing in Sabah are aware or have the knowledge of what Unduk Ngadau event is all about.
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“Not everyone knows about the role of a beauty queen, let alone the meaning of the Harvest Festival.
By having a few of these mini ambassadors stay at our hotel, it sparked curiosity among netizens about their roles.
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“This spurred them to learn more about the actual responsibilities carried out by each Unduk Ngadau and indirectly make them understand why we celebrate Harvest Festival and so on,” she said.
Coordinator of KDCA Putrajaya, Ivy Lojitan, said although it was quite expensive to fly the representatives to Sabah for the Kaamatan Festival to compete in the final contest on May 31, they had to continue fulfilling their responsibilities for the sake of culture and legacy.
“I am thankful and grateful to Monocolo Boutique Hotel through its manager Emily Chong, who took the initiative to get in touch with us and help us to arrange the necessary to accommodate our stay.
“We were warmly greeted by Erica Lim, who was kind enough to host our two-night stay and provide lunch on our second day before they began their programme with the central committee,” said Ivy.
Erica said it was their first time hosting the Unduk Ngadau. While the Harvest Festival is well celebrated in Sabah, not many from the Chinese community know in-depth about the festival.
“We want to be part of it as a hotel that connects communities from various corners, as we always uphold.
“Last year, we hosted a group of art enthusiasts who produced very beautiful art pieces and they were among those affected during the pandemic in 2020-2022, their work deserved to be highlighted.
“This is a good opportunity for others to get up close with the mini ambassadors while they were here,” she said.
She emphasised that Kaamatan is a cultural tradition close to the natives of Sabah and the best way to promote it is through the people themselves.
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