It was 1st June 2009. The Dayak community in Sarawak celebrated the Gawai festival. On this occasion, they celebrated the season of rice harvest or padi harvesting season.
Many returned to their villages, bringing lots of food and drink.
Many of the roads were congested with all the new and the old vehicles.
The parking lots were just not enough to carter for the needs of the shoppers.
Many of the shopping malls and complexes were packed with people. It was impossible to walk through the crowd without touching or knocking someone. Greeting friends were difficult. Besides, shoppers needed to be extra careful with their pockets as there were pick pockets lurking around.
Early in the morning at 5 a.m., a famous shopping center was raged by fire. The upper storey was consumed, and the lower storey gutted. Shoppers who enjoyed its cheap goods and consumer-oriented services now had to move to nearby shopping centers. As a result, many racks were emptied, and the shopkeepers were smiling and laughing from ear to ear.
Traffic was really slow as there were many first-time drivers and careful drivers around. The weather was scorching hot and humid. The pedestrians hurried on their way. Everyone was sweating profusely bringing along their children and their goods.
Reaching our village house was nice. Everyone was beaming with joy and laughter. We greeted those we knew with even more stories and jokes.
My brother-in-law was entertaining a group of village boys when we arrived. They were enjoying themselves singing, laughing and talking. They sang with their coarse voices and they screamed when singing with high pitch. Their friends were laughing and jeering. Then the drinking session continued. I couldn't help laughing heartily but quietly. They were just horrible singers but you could see that they enjoyed themselves. "Maybe singing really is a great way to release and reduce tensions," I told myself as I hummed along.
Whether rich or poor, everyone will surely want to celebrate their festive seasons. Whether stressful or happy, everyone needs to sing, smile, and laugh along.
Yeah, it's festive season.....
Many returned to their villages, bringing lots of food and drink.
Many of the roads were congested with all the new and the old vehicles.
The parking lots were just not enough to carter for the needs of the shoppers.
Many of the shopping malls and complexes were packed with people. It was impossible to walk through the crowd without touching or knocking someone. Greeting friends were difficult. Besides, shoppers needed to be extra careful with their pockets as there were pick pockets lurking around.
Early in the morning at 5 a.m., a famous shopping center was raged by fire. The upper storey was consumed, and the lower storey gutted. Shoppers who enjoyed its cheap goods and consumer-oriented services now had to move to nearby shopping centers. As a result, many racks were emptied, and the shopkeepers were smiling and laughing from ear to ear.
Traffic was really slow as there were many first-time drivers and careful drivers around. The weather was scorching hot and humid. The pedestrians hurried on their way. Everyone was sweating profusely bringing along their children and their goods.
Reaching our village house was nice. Everyone was beaming with joy and laughter. We greeted those we knew with even more stories and jokes.
My brother-in-law was entertaining a group of village boys when we arrived. They were enjoying themselves singing, laughing and talking. They sang with their coarse voices and they screamed when singing with high pitch. Their friends were laughing and jeering. Then the drinking session continued. I couldn't help laughing heartily but quietly. They were just horrible singers but you could see that they enjoyed themselves. "Maybe singing really is a great way to release and reduce tensions," I told myself as I hummed along.
Whether rich or poor, everyone will surely want to celebrate their festive seasons. Whether stressful or happy, everyone needs to sing, smile, and laugh along.
Yeah, it's festive season.....
1 comment:
interesting festival! by the way i followed your blog.. hope you follow mine too..
http://schizoshrink8.blogspot.com
thanks!
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