File photo showing Deputy Minister in Sarawak Premier’s Department (Law, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and State-Federal Relations) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali (standing, fourth left) in a photo-call with the top contestants of the Pekit Kumang Gawai Dayak 2024 in Kuching, jointly organised by the Kampung Siol Kandis Dayak Security and Development Committee, and the Siol Kandis branch of Sarawak Dayak National Union. KUCHING (June 1): For years, the ethnic ‘Kumang’ pageant has been an identifiable feature of the Gawai Dayak festival, being staged down from the grassroots up to state, and even national levels. As in any other pageants, there would be the Top 3 closely vying for the crown.
However, it is interesting to note that upon the announcement of the results, they are not simply called ‘the winner, the first runner-up, and the second runner-up’. In the Iban pageant, the crown would go to the ‘Kumang’, while the next respective placings would be the ‘Lulong’ and the ‘Selinggar Matahari’ – all are characters mentioned in the community’s folklores. Although commonly stated to mean ‘princess’, the word ‘kumang’ is actually a proper name, referring to a princess-goddess always paired with her husband, ‘Keling’.
Speaking of ‘Keling’, the male version of the pageant also accords special titles: the winner, of course’ is called ‘Keling’, while the respective runners-up are ‘Laja’, and ‘Sempurai’ or ‘Bungai Nuing�.
