KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor wants ethnic groups in Sabah to preserve and develop their respective cultures so that the people, especially the younger generation, will not lose sight of their legacy.
The Chief Minister said ethnic associations statewide must ensure their cultures were not forgotten, besides promoting them internationally.
“Today’s era of globalisation and modernity could cause our young people not to recognise the culture of their respective races.
“We need to ensure the traditions and culture we inherited do not die out but continue into the next generation,” he said when launching the Dusun Traditional Music and Dance Festival in Tuaran, about 40km from here, on Sunday.
Hajiji said culture was an important aspect of the people’s lives, adding that it was the identity of an ethnic group and should be preserved for the benefit of all.
Towards this end, the assemblyman for Sulaman, a state constituency within Tuaran, praised the holding of the Dusun Traditional Music and Dance Festival, which was organised for the first time.
He hoped the festival could be included as an annual programme to become another new tourism product in Sabah.
The festival, he added, was aimed at revitalising and preserving the richness of the Dusun ethnic group’s art and culture in the Tuaran and Tamparuli districts.
This was done by showcasing the Mojumbak traditional music and other traditional Dusun dances in the districts.
According to Hajiji, the festival’s theme, “Traditional Empowerment Towards the Continuity and Sustainability of the Dusun Culture”, clearly showed how vital it was to ensure that Dusun traditions and culture be maintained and passed down to future generations.
“The desire to revive and preserve Mojumbak traditional music and dance shows a positive development.
“This cultural wealth is a state treasure that is very valuable and must be continued as a source of the state’s economy through the tourism industry, the creative arts industry, as well as for the small and medium-sized industries,” he said.
Hajiji said while traditional dances such as the limbal, sumazau and magunatip, and traditional musical instruments such as the kulintangan were already known, he believed there were many more to be explored among the more than 30 ethnic groups in Sabah.
