All smiles: Crystal flanked by Rochelle (left) and Lydia John.
Tuesday June 8, 2010 thestar.com.my south&east edition.
Harvest queen set for role.
KOTA KINABALU: Like other Kadazandusun children, Crystal Eve Huminodun William Majimbun grew up learning about the legends and folk stories of her community.
But nothing piqued her interest more than her namesake - Huminodun who according to legend was the beautiful daughter of the creator god Kinoingan and his wife Suminondu.
According to legend, Huminodun was sacrificed and from her body sprouted food crops including padi plant to feed mankind in the midst of a famine.
Since then, at each Kaamatan or Harvest Festival celebration, an Unduk Ngadau or Harvest Queen is chosen to remember and pay tribute to Huminodun.
And for a year, the reigning Unduk Ngadau will represent the qualities of Huminodun - beauty, grace, compassion and kindness.
This was among the many lessons Crystal learnt from her mother, Esther Sikayun who was crowned Unduk Ngadau in 1984.
Twenty-six years later, the eldest daughter of Kota Kinabalu District chief William Majimbun was herself crowned Unduk Ngadau as the two-day state-level Kaamatan celebrations drew to a close at the Hongkod Koisaan hall.
Crystal, representing Tanjung Aru, was picked for the title from among 41 contestants representing the various districts and major towns. The runner-up was Penampang’s Rochelle Fayreine while Lydia John Alai of Kota Kinabalu clinched the third spot.
“My mother told me about Huminodun when I was a child. My parents have always been supportive of me in everything I do,” said the ecstatic Crystal soon after being crowned by the wife of Sabah Yang DiPertua Negri, Toh Puan Masuyah Awang Japar.
The 22-year-old quantity surveying student at Tunku Abdul Rahman College in Kuala Lumpur said she would take a temporary break from her studies.
She declared her intentions to live up to the qualities of Huminodun by doing charity work during her year-long reign as Unduk Ngadau.
She said her interest was in event management and saw her post-Unduk Ngadau career heading in that direction.
“I will only do something that I enjoy,” she added.
As with festivals past, this year’s state-level Kaamatan attracted thousands of people, including tourists, to the Hongkod Koisaan grounds where they had the opportunity to particpate in traditional games such asmomolastik or shooting with a catapult, mimpulos or arm wrestling andtondu or spear-throwing.
Visitors could also experience traditional daily activities apart from sampling ethnic food such as sinopol (a cake made from sago and coconut milk) as well as hinava (raw fish in lime juice), bambangan(pickled wild mango) and bosou (pickled freshwater fish).
State leaders including Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman and his deputy, Datuk Joseph Pairin Kitingan - the Huguan Siou or Kadazandusun paramount leader - set the festive tone by participating in the traditional games.
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