A little bit of this and that about Kota Kinabalu

 Jesselton that was the first name given before it changed to  Kota Kinabalu on 30 September 1967. Kota Kinablu  is the capital of the state of Sabah and It is also the capital of the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the northwest coast of Borneo facing the South China Sea.The world’s third-largest island (after Greenland and New Guinea), Borneo has roughly 287,000 square miles divided among three countries: Indonesia, Malaysia and the tiny sultanate of Brunei. (KKCITY for short haha )

Sabah is famous all over the world for its rich cultural heritage and the festivals in the state constitute a significant part The Kadazan-Dusun is the largest ethnic category in Sabah and is predominantly wet rice and hill rice cultivators. Their language belongs to the Kadazan family and shares a common animistic belief system with various customs. Their ancient beliefs on the verity that everything has life - the rocks, trees, and rivers are all living things. They have souls and spirits that must be appeased from time to time through specific rituals. But in these modern times, some of the rituals are less performed accept during certain festivities. Along with over 80 indigenous languages and dialects, Sabahans speak Bahasa Malaysia as well as English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

A number of local trade fairs are arranged periodically in the small towns of Sabah. The fairs are held in open air and are called Tamus. The trade fairs play an important commercial role as they are a strategy of marketing various products. The fairs are a somewhat spontaneous hustle of buying and selling various articles and products.

The natives also visit the fair for a possible barter of goods that include the types of farm produce, traditional wares, handicrafts, food items, and other materials and objects. Despite the commercial side of these local trade fairs, they can also be deemed as social and cultural events. Tamus showcase a truly rural yet an ethnic and colourful bazaar.

Sabah is famous all over the world for its rich cultural heritage and the festivals in the state constitute a significant part. Pesta Kaamatan is the most popular festival of Sabah. It is the harvest festival of Dusuns and Kadazans held in May. The festival features traditional dances. One of the most prominent dances that are featured includes one of the high priestesses bobohizan. The dance showcases the search for rice spirits in trance. The celebration is a rather ritualistic one that greets the harvesting of rice.

Unduk Ngadau is a beauty pageant held during the Kaamatan cultural event normally held in Sabah, Malaysia. The title comes from the ethnic word Runduk Tadau which means 'the girl crowned by sunlight'. Unduk Ngadau is one of the most recognizable cultural events in Sabah and the beauty pageant is unique to the state.The Unduk Ngadau beauty contest was started to pay respect to Huminodun, the sacrificed daughter of the Kadazandusun spirits Kinorohingan and Huminodun. It is believed that she was the one who taught the priestesses, known as locally as Bobohizans their ritual mantras which exist today.

- THANK YOU -