KDCA wants to patent 'Unduk Ngadau'
Published on: Saturday, May 16, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The Kadazan Dusun Cultural Association (KDCA) wants to patent the "Unduk Ngadau" Kaamatan in order to protect the sanctity of the title.State-level Kaamatan Festival Main Implementation and Coordinating Committee chairman, Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said the move was to protect the way the title is being used."We are not saying that no one can use it (the title Unduk Ngadau) but we need to ensure that the protocol is in accordance to what we have documented," he said when asked to elaborate.
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To another question, Dr Ongkili who is a Deputy President of KDCA said there was always room for discussion if the title were to be used by another Kadazan Dusun-based organisation.State-level Unduk Ngadau organising chairperson Joanna Kitingan was recently reported as stating that beauty pageant organisers cannot use the words Unduk Ngadau unless it is affiliated to the KDCA events."The Unduk Ngadau name should not be simply used if the organisers are not KDM because to be an Unduk Ngadau, they must be of KDM blood and must be able to speak and know the language, and embody the spirit of Huminodun."They can instead use Miss Kaamatan or Miss Harvest Festival to promote their product," said Kitingan, who is the State Museum director.
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Unduk Ngadau is a sacred word to the Kadazan Dusun community because it is related to the Huminodun legend about the only child of Kinoingan or God, who sacrificed herself to save her people from famine. "Huminodun carries a very strong representation of the KDM tradition and culture. Therefore, her honour should not be misused by anyone for the wrong reasons. She is not a symbol to promote your product, she is the source of life," she had said.
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The Unduk Ngadau or beauty queen is said to represent to embody all of Huminodun's noble qualities namely courage, compassion, beauty and sacrifice.Meanwhile, Dr Ongkili said more than RM1 million was being spent to organise the festival with about half of it contributed by the State Government and the rest from sponsors such as telco, Altel which was sponsoring RM200,000 and food-related companies. This year, he said a broadcasting team from China would also be on hand to film a documentary on the two-day State-level Kaamatan celebration, which it hoped once aired in China would assist in explaining the similar traditional costumes among others between a tribe there and the Kadazan Dusun community here.Apart from that, a Korean group from the Federation of People's Art Association would also be attending the two-day event, to which the organiser expects more than 100,000 people.One of the changes this year is the closing ceremony that would be done outside the Hongkod Koisaan hall.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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