AT LEAST ONE

This is the latest Malaysia Airlines inflight magazine. It shows the collage of 60 photos – supposedly portraying the cultural diversity of Malaysia.

I can clearly see 3 to 5 pictures, which are uniquely associated with Sarawak. But I couldn't find even one that specifically identifies Sabah, culturally. Atau saya yang tidak perasan?

Ok fine, I don't want to make it a big deal. But think of this: MAS is the national carrier for Malaysia, officially owned by our government. So isn't it a bit strange that they pick 60 pictures and don't even have AT LEAST ONE to represent any of the 32 indigenous tribes in Sabah, the richest state in Malaysia in terms of cultural diversity?

Yet, the front cover proudly screams this headline: "celebrating Malaysia's cultural diversity". Well, so much of diversity... lah sangat kan, kan, kan. Toi.

— feeling akukah yang sedang bermimpi di Utopia Borneo? at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

NOTA KAKI:

• Rem Dambul Tengok baini Anis Mahali. Kuhanya mampu mengadu... dan domba. 
  

  
  

  

  Like · Reply · 4 · August 2 at 3:46pm
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  Anis Mahali Aik.. Ya ba.. Kerja malas tul durang ambil gbr.. Teda tu wakil muka sabah.. Buli2 sya confirm 80% dr sanaaa ja.. Tu sarawakian pun mcm 'terpaksa' kasi masuk ja.. TAPI durang claim tu sbg MSIAN CULTURAL DIVERSITY .. Atukoi.. Nokuro kio

• Elis Qhalila Clyess Yap Hmmmmmm.... a Penan.. an Iban... a Bidayuh... a Kenyah maybe.... what about the girl under the P.... not clear.... & the lady in tudung oren... the guy looks like wearing Bisaya costume..... but then could've pick the commonly/easily identify ones..... truth is... most can't even differentiate Sabah from Sarawak..... say... where r u working? Kota Kinabalu.... ohhh from Sarawak... naik belon ya...... 

  Like · Reply · 3 · August 2 at 4:03pm · Edited
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  Rem Dambul Macam, tapi we can't really tell. Unless you see the whole jacket and headgear, kan. Sebab costume Melayu pun banyak begitu. Even komuniti Melanau Sarawak pun costume seakan-akan rupa begitu. Yang bawah P tu, macam baju Kadazan. But it is actually not. Macam baju kurung modern berlabuci saja... smile emoticon

• Elis Qhalila Clyess Yap Hmmmm.... lg pun Sarawak ada Bisaya jugakan.... x payahlah susah2 mo ks yg x senang mo identify... paling kurang satu yg pakai baju kadazan kah Daling2 costume kah, tu pun sorou ada wakil.... FAILED.....

  Like · Reply · August 2 at 4:06pm · Edited
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  Rem Dambul Exactly. That was what I thought. Pakaian Daling Daling itu sangat distinctive. It won't confuse anyone. Atau mana-mana variasi baju Kadazan pun sama juga. Ada sudah aura Sabah kan... 

• Junita Shamsul Yes, Sarawak ada a few..tapi Sabah takde..as though diaorang ni tak kenal Sabah/Sarawak, kot?..

  Like · Reply · 1 · August 2 at 4:40pm
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  Rem Dambul That is exactly what I suspect. Mungkin diorang ingat ada antara foto Sarawak itu sebenarnya represent Sabah.  
  
  Some people don't even know the geography of Borneo. Ada yang ingat Kucing atau Miri itu di Sabah. Apa lagi culture kan. 

Rem Dambul I think some people got me wrong here. Ini bukan kes cari gaduh untuk hal trivia. Usik-usik manja saja pun. Bukan sampai mau suruh orang merusuh di pejabat MAS. Perhaps I need to clarify (fuh, macam menteri sedang buat penjelasan pula).

1. Ini bukan sentimen kenegerian. It is not so much about me being a Sabahan. No. More than anything else, this is about logic and common sense - in presenting facts and info about Malaysia. 

2. I know, others may argue: negeri lain (Selangor, Johor, etc) pun tiada wakil bah. Tapi komuniti di negeri-negeri Semenanjung agak homogen. Dari segi 'budaya' - adakah perbezaan yang signifikan antara etnik Melayu (misalnya) yang menduduki negeri-negeri yang berlainan? Mungkin ada. But they do share more of similarities than differences, I think. The biggest ethnics in the Peninsula are: Malay, Chinese, Indian and Orang Asli (dan minoriti lain spt Sikh, Baba, etc). Those four are all represented in the collage.

3. In Sabah - apart from the mainstreams, like Chinese and Indian - we do have 32 other indigenous natives who are significantly different from those in Sarawak. And being the richest state in Malaysia in terms of cultural diversity - it is very odd not to be part of the image portrayal. Everyone knows when it comes to cultural diversity - Sabah has the most distinctive feature. So naturally, it should be one of the highlights. It feels somewhat wrong without Sabah. It is like promoting local fruits of Malaysia but fails to show durians, the so-called raja buah. Or like promoting our traditional dances - but omitting the signatory famous joget. 

Sekian. 😎