For all the corporates & production houses making Gawai (Harvest Festival) ads. Misrepresentation harms our people.
Keep in mind:
1. Gawai is steeped in adat and sacred rituals
2. Gawai is not celebrated by all indigenous groups in Sarawak. Though every one enjoys the celebrations, it hosted primarily (but not exclusively) by the Bidayuh and Iban. Bidayuh and Iban are two different groups, though both under the “Dayak” umbrella. There are numerous different types of Bidayuh groups.
3. Key elements of Gawai are dancing, music, rice, tuak (rice wine) and pig & chicken slaughter
4. When using music by local musicians, DO NOT take their music from YouTube and use it for your ad without asking the musician (like one corporate did last year 🙄). Do not assume the use is for free (do you realise how long and difficult it is to learn these instruments??)
5. When using music for your Gawai ads, bear in mind that our traditional music have meaning and contexts. Not all instrumental music merely “sound nice”, they have a purpose.
6. Sape’ is from the Orang Ulu Community. Bidayuh and Iban and other communities that celebrate Gawai have other beautiful and powerful tunes and instruments they play during the celebrations. Do your research.
7. Gawai and Kaamatan are similar, not the same. If you’re going to have a “GawaiKaamatan” ad, you might as well have a “1 Jan / Chinese New Year / Hijri New Year” ad rolled into one. While we’re on the topic, we are not “SabahSarawak”, we are different states.
8. Lastly, if you’re a corporate reading this, I’d encourage you to work with local Sarawakian production houses to develop the Gawai story.
Don’t assume - ask, research, verify. Misrepresentation harms our people. And there is SO much misrepresentation out there.
Peace & love,
Alena
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