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Synopsis :

In this ASEAN Exchange Programme, the spotlight falls on the Harvest Festival in Sabah, East Malaysia. This festival includes feasting and merrymaking after months of labour in the padi fields resulting in the rice harvest. Since 1960, the government has declared two public holidays usually in May to mark the festival. Originally observed by the Kadazan community in Sabah, everyone joins in the celebrations. The festival is marked in various ways to suit local conditions. Farmers thank the rice spirits or Bambazon which are guardians of the rice fields for the  good harvest and appease them so that the next harvest will be even more plentiful. The traditional ceremony of honouring the rice spirits is called Magavau. After the harvest, seven stalks of padi are tied together and left untouched in the padi field. Later they are cut down and brought into the farmer's house. Each spirit has a specific function. One spirit makes the rice supply lasting and inexhaustible, another prevents broken grains in the rice and yet another spirit assists in returning a plentiful harvest. The Magavau ceremony starts just after sunset. The priestess and her attendants chant prayers for two hours and then sing songs to praise the Bambazon. The ceremony goes on till dawn when the Bambazon are fed with fermented rice. After the ceremony, the spirits stay in the house until the next planting season. The merrymaking includes feasting, traditional dancing, singing, cultural shows and beauty contests. In 1975, the town of Papar, 36 miles from Kota Kinabalu was the focal point of the festival. A  beauty contest was the highlight of the celebrations. Here, women in black costumes paraded to the beat of gongs. The Harvest Festival fosters goodwill and understanding among the people of Sabah and shows the important role of agriculture in this East Malaysian state.