In conjunction with the recent 51st Malaysia Day celebration, a Sabah-themed roadshow titled “Yang Lain-lain” (Others) was held to commemorate the union of East and West Malaysia.
The show, presented by Sabah’s Long Pasia artistes, was divided into three parts. They were drawings by Lait Lakung, traditional dances and songs by Ruth Baru and Pangiran Selutan and traditional handicrafts of the Lun Dayeh community.
The debut event, held on September 10 and 11 at the Tiny ArtSpace located along Lorong Panglima (Concubine Lane), provided Perakeans with a colourful insight about their counterparts from Sarawak.
Show coordinator, Ong Boon Keong, 54, of Lightup Borneo said the reasons behind the roadshow were twofold – to create awareness amongst urban folks of the existence of aboriginal people from the interiors of Sarawak and the problems they face.
“I hope the show would encourage people, especially those with certain expertise, to join us in our quest to help the people of Borneo. We’ve made much inroads since our society’s formation in 2012, making three micro-hydro generators for the rural masses,” he said.
Similar shows would be held in Malacca and Kuala Lumpur forthwith. He hoped the public would support activities organised by Lightup Borneo.
Chairman of Formadat, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to bringing education and development to the Lun Dayeh community, Pangiran Selutan, added that the aboriginal people were grateful for whatever Lightup Borneo had done. They not only “light-up” the rural areas but brought much-needed developments to the community by building bridges and roads.
“After many years of empty promises we’ve learnt not to expect too much from the government. However, due to Lightup Borneo’s efforts, our living conditions have taken a definitive turn for the better. We’re grateful to the society for having done so much for us without asking anything in return,” he exclaimed.
Lightup Borneo is a civil society group that works at bringing electricity to the Borneo interiors by building micro-hydro generators.
Yvette
