'YOU must come back next week," the straightforward invitation came from Judeth John Baptist of the Department of Sabah Museum, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. "Igal dance and tagunggo' music will be performed during the Maglami-lami evening!" The mere mention of the word igal, the dance tradition of the Sama (a.k.a. Bajau) people, clinched the decision and, come following week, I found myself boarding the Sabah Museum minibus headed for Semporna.
I could have taken the plane to Tawau, which was about an hour's bus ride from Semporna, but the idea of going through the heartland of Sabah to see the jagged summit of Southeast Asia's tallest peak, Mount Kinabalu, proved to be irresistible. And thus, for about eight hours I whiled away travel time by gazing at some 386 kilometers of virgin forests, palm-oil plantations and rice fields. Alas, no errant orangutan, Bornean rhinoceros, elephant or wild water buffalo, exotic creatures that I longed to see, came into view. The ride was still exhilarating and, in my mind, Sabah was like the alluring southern Philippine island of Mindanao, albeit more peaceful, prosperous and tourist-friendly.
We arrived in Semporna at 5:30 pm and promptly billeted ourselves in the grand Seafest Hotel. The hotel is built on a small island called Pulau Bajau connected by a bridge to the marketplace of the town proper. It has its own jetty where, we found out much to our glee, the Regatta Lepa (named after the ornately carved wooden lepa or the Sama-Bajau houseboat) and the Ratu Lepa (Lepa Princess) competitions were scheduled to be held. I was also quite delighted to discover that the hotel had a commodiously equipped bar-cum-live house, most appropriately called the Igal Lounge, that served San Miguel Beer.
In the morning of April 20, our team proceeded to the Tourist Jetty of Kampung Bangau-Bangau, a Sama-Bajau "water village" established sometime in the beginning of the last century. Lepa-Lepa houseboats and smaller kumpit sea vessels had already started to assemble in the area of the jetty. The boats were colorfully decorated with ornamental sails, called sambulayang, and small flags, called panji-panji. The roofed vessels housed complete tagunggo' (graduated gong) ensembles performing for the crowd of onlookers, as well as for the igal dancers who took their positions at the prow.
Igal dancers sport ornamental nails called sulakengkeng. Their movements echo the kinetic environment of the calm waters around Semporna. Languid, soft and smooth, they appear to emulate the swaying of the palm trees, the curling of waves and drifting of unanchored seaweed taken to new places of sojourn. Together with the droning of the gongs, the sailing lepa and the undulating igal dancers create a uniquely Sama-Bajau aesthetic experience coaxed out of collaboration with the wind and the waves.
In the late afternoon of the following day, the lepa and kumpit boats formed a majestic and multicolored flotilla and then moved to the jetty of the Seafest Hotel to start a daylong program of judging and observation attended by the Sabahan luminaries, led by Sabah State Governor Datuk Juhar Mahiruddin, his lovely wife Datin Norlindah RM Jasni, and member of Parliament Dato' Shafie Hj. Apdal. The luminaries turned out to be enthusiasts of igal and other aspects of Sabahan culture. Datuk Jufar later on revealed to me that he is of Suluk or Tausug ancestry. Dato' Shafie, on the other hand, exchanged pleasantries with me in Cebuano and Tagalog. Indeed, as Filipinos, we often forget our cultural links with Borneo and overly revel in our Hispanic connection. (Hopefully, cheaper flights by Air Asia and Cebu Pacific will help correct this imbalance.) Come evening time, the award for the most beautiful lepa went to Hadji Mauman. The lepa of Hadji Biscay took second place, followed by that of the University of Malaysia-Sabah at third place. The outrageously decorated boats looked fancier at nighttime as pixie lights decked their bodies and sails.
Following the awarding ceremony of the most beautiful lepa was the Ratu Lepa or Lepa Queen competition. Six finalists from various kampung, or villages, in Semporna vied for the title. They were judged according to the criteria of personality (20 percent); igal dance performance (20 percent); intelligence (via a question-and-answer portion at 20 percent); and costume (40 percent). It comes as no surprise that the igal dance figures prominently in this competition, which was in the past called the Ratu Igal or Igal Queen contest. Indeed, igal constitutes a cultural force among the Sama-Bajau, who take much pride in villages and clan distinctions in performance styles. Oddly, only two igal dances were chosen by the six finalists for their respective presentations. Five of the six finalists danced igal lubak-lubak, a piece characterized by "bumpy" (literally lubak-lubak in Sama-Bajau) music full of accented ornamentation. One chose igal lellang, which is strangely associated with trance-dancing for male shamans. Ethnochoreological correctness notwithstanding, the evening's program was a rare performance treat attesting to Semporna's and, by extension, the Sabah State's commitment to the preservation and popularization of Sama-Bajau culture.
The Lepa Queen title went to Nurul Haffizah Abdul Hakim, 21, from Kampung Sulabayan. At second place was Nur Ainah Manurat, 17, from Kampung Tampi-Tamp. Third place went to Farah Soffiah Jasmin, 19, from Kampung Bugaya.
In the final evening of April 22, our team went to Semporna's padang, or public square, for the Maglami-lami (literally: leisure or entertainment time in Sama) concert. Here we were treated to more music-and-dance performances. Three parts of the program constituted veritable highlights of Sama-Bajau performance. The first was an unparalleled igal dance number by a former Ratu Lepa titlist clad in a fully beaded royal yellow costume. Her performance was so excellent as to render the whole field silent in full attention. The second was a performance by a Sama-Bajau group from Sandakan. The five-member female dance group performed a most elegantly restrained igal choreography of Lolai, a popular folk song chanted by old man accompanied by a gabbang (bamboo xylophone) and biula (a native version of the violin). The choreographic sophistication approaches that of a court dance comparable with the Thai and Khmer court-dance traditions. The third was a popular culture section with performances by Zainal, Rashid, Den Bisa and Diana. These singers are of Sama-Bajau origin, and their popularity goes beyond the borders of Malaysia. The Maglami-lami concert's balanced mix of old and new indicates the security of traditions open to change. This combination approaches perfection...the Malay word alluding to a state of completion, that is, semporna.
WEDNESDAY, 11 MAY 2011 17:50 MCM SANTAMARIA / CONSTANCIOMAT@YAHOO.COM
Via BusinessMirror
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