IT WILL be a watered-down rice harvest festival or Gawai celebration for the Dayaks of Sarawak this year, as Covid-19 puts a damper on several rituals that involve close contact and large gatherings.

Gawai, which falls on June 1 every year, will usually see people welcoming “good spirits” that accompany visitors to their longhouses by offering them a welcome drink – all from the same glass.

This rite, known as the “ngalu petara” in Betong, is now a definite “no”. 

Longhouse guests would usually drink from the same glass of tuak (traditional rice wine) or whatever beverage from their host, as they move from one “bilek” (unit) to the next.

It is an age-old tradition that goes back to headhunting days, to show visitors that the drink offered is not poisoned.

However, with a virus that spreads through an infected person’s droplets from the nose or mouth, it will not do to have everybody drinking out of a shared glass.

Secondly, fewer visitors will be expected this year thanks to the conditional movement-control order (CMCO) discouraging and limiting “ngabang” (visiting).

Another important thanksgiving ritual, the “miring”, usually held on the eve of Gawai, is also off the roster of celebrations. The miring – the slaughter of a cockerel and sprinkling of its blood – is sometimes replaced by prayers depending on the celebrant’s religion.

For James Joshua, a resident of the Ulu Krian longhouse in Pakan, this is the “new Gawai norm” and a reality in which Dayaks have to live, at least for this year.

“You can’t even shake hands to exchange festive greetings,” he said, adding that each household in his longhouse has already been told they could only have the midnight toast among themselves in their respective units and not at the “ruai” (the common area), as they have always done in the past.

At the Sebangki Panjai longhouse in Lubok Antu, this is the time of the year when the Gawai committee will be finalising their festive programme.

This year, there is no such committee.

“We are not sure if we will have the ‘miring’ ceremony or the midnight prayer,” resident Doris Melia said.

Gawai for residents in Sebangki Panjai is normally a three-day affair of intense social activities and revelry, which could include karaoke competitions, beer-drinking contests, a fancy dress competition for the ugliest longhouse resident and a telematch on Gawai morning.

The ban on large gatherings and inter-district travel means those who live in towns like Miri, Bintulu, Sibu or Kuching cannot make their way back home.

“No one is returning home. There will not be enough people to participate in the events, even if they are held,” Melia said.

“It is surreal. This is not Gawai.”

The festival, she said, has always been a time when residents who live elsewhere return to their longhouses to reconnect with relatives they have not seen or even met at all, like new additions to the family.

Covid-19 fears

In certain longhouses, the fear of Covid-19 is such that some have made it a rule that community members not living in the longhouse when the MCO was introduced on March 18 are considered “outsiders” and a possible source of the infection.

Joshua said he is such an outsider to his longhouse because he has lived away and, therefore, cannot return for Gawai unless he is willing to fork out the hefty RM5,000 fine.

He will make do with a much watered-down version of the festival at his home in Miri, the oil and gas company owner said.

“It will be a family affair. No open house. Not even to relatives. They are all aware of the situation.”

Joshua fears Gawai next year, as well as other festivals, could be as gloomy if no vaccine is found.

Meanwhile, Philip Tero has a strong desire to return to his 63-door longhouse, Rumah Henry Noni at Sg Gelam, Sebauh in Bintulu.

He said going back to the longhouse to celebrate Gawai is important but with the travel restrictions still in place, the 600km road trip will be next to impossible.

Tero normally drives from his house in Kuching to enjoy the beauty of the Sarawak landscape, but he has decided to accept the fact that he cannot celebrate Gawai with his longhouse community.

“It is better to be safe than sorry. I just have to forego it so I do not put others at risk.

“It is just another festival. I will celebrate it when the situation permits.” – May 30, 2020.