Preserving Dusun musical traditions: Hajiji
Published on: Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Hajiji (second left) beating the gong as a symbolic gesture of officiating the Festival of Music and Dusun Tradiitional Dance (FMTD).
Tuaran: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Haji Noor hopes the inaugural Festival of Music and Dusun Traditional Music (FMTD) held here can be made an annual programme as another new tourism product in Sabah.
He said the aim of organising the festival here is to revive and preserve the richness of Dusun art in Tuaran and Tamparuli districts, especially Mojumbak traditional music and other Dusun traditional dances found in the district.
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“The theme of the festival, ‘Traditional Empowerment Towards the Continuity and Sustainability of Dusun Culture’ in Sabah clearly shows how important it is to ensure that Dusun’s ethnic traditions and culture must be maintained and passed down to future generations,” he said, when officiating the Dusun Traditional Music and Dance Festival (FMTD) Tuaran Parliamentary Zone at Seri Sulaman on Sunday.
He said the State Government supports and welcomes such a festival because it suits the cultural diversity in Sabah which is unique and interesting.
“The desire to revive and preserve Mojumbak traditional music and traditional dance shows a positive development, through this festival.
“This cultural wealth is a State treasure that is very valuable to continue to be safeguarded and maintained as a source of the State’s economy through the tourism industry, the creative arts industry, including small and medium-sized industries, based on communities in Sabah,” he said.
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Hajiji said traditional dances such as limbai, sumazau and magunatip as well as traditional music such as kulintangan are already known to many but he believed with more than 30 ethnic groups in Sabah, there are still many more old cultural treasures that need to be explored and highlighted such as Mojumbak traditional music so that they would not become extinct.
He believed that sharing songs and music from one culture to another would give people an idea of a different way of life as music and songs have their own way of bringing people together.
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“For example, tonight, the people who came for this festival not only to enliven this event but to strengthen the relationship between the people of multiple races in this State,” he said.
At the same time, Hajiji also urged ethnic associations in the state to continue developing and dignifying their respective ethnic cultures so that they are not forgotten as the unique ethnic cultures have even become famous at the international level.
He said, culture is an important aspect in people’s lives as the identity of an ethnic group and should be preserved and dignified for the benefit of all.
According to him, efforts need to be made to highlight and promote the culture and traditions that would be inherited by the people, especially the young generation, as a whole.
“Today’s era of globalisation and modernity is feared as our young people may not be able to recognise the culture of their respective roots.
“We need to ensure that the inherited traditions and culture do not die out, but must ensure to remain and pass down to the next generation,” Hajiji said.
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