Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Customary Practitioners’ Association (Sunduan Nabalu) will host its inaugural Borneo Cultural and Traditional Education Carnival at the Suang Mongkobung Customary School in Telipok from March 18 to 19.
The carnival and the customary school will be inaugurated on March 19 by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan on March 19.
Sunduan Nabalu President Shalmon Sanangan said this after paying Jeffrey a courtesy visit at the latter’s office last Saturday.
Among the matters discussed during the two-hour meeting include a full report of Sunduan Nabalu’s development, 15-year blueprint (2019-2034) on the development of traditional education and culture of Sabah natives, and the application of an annual funding for the development of their Customary Schools.
“This inaugural carnival aims to conserve, maintain, develop and dignify the identity of native people of Sabah through the development of our Customary Schools,” said Shalmon.
“With a jamboree concept, the carnival will start on March 18 to 19, where we will converge and camp at Suang Mongkobung Customary School,” he added.
Established in 2019, Sunduan Nabalu was set up to protect the culture and customs of indigenous people of Sabah, in light of the reduced use of Sabahans’ respective mother tongue as a result of the technology boom.
They have built many Customary Schools in various Sabah districts to teach the language, culture and traditions of Sabah native groups to prevent their rich history from turning obsolete, and to dignify the status of indigenous people in the state.
It is also learnt that they are currently in cooperation with Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Borneo Institute for Indigenous Studies (BORIIS) to offer study programmes on culture and customs of Sabah natives at the university which, according to a BORIIS representative, is still in the works.
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