23 youths vying for Mr Kaamatan title
KOTA KINABALU: Twentythree young men of Kadazan Dusun Murut and Rungus ancestries have been chosen through a series of auditions to participate in the Mr Kaamatan (MRK) or Buvazoi Tavantang Kaamatan Contest for the districts of Kapayan and Putatan this year.
The state-level Mr Kaamatan or Buvazoi Tavantang Kaamatan Contest, which is the male version of the state-level Unduk Ngadau Contest, has been organised since 2007. It has involved contestants from all 46 districts in Sabah with participations from Klang Valley, Penang and Johor. This year, the state-level contest will be held in June 2019.
For this year’s district-level contest for Kapayan and Putatan, Synergy Training Services PLT, a Sabah-based training company, has been entrusted to organise the event, an undertaking which the company treats as its Corporate Service Responsibility (CSR) project to promote a deeper understanding of the Kadazan Dusun Murut Rungus (KDMR) traditions and culture as well as the use the KDMR languages among KDMR youths.
The final for this contest will be held on April 28 at the Pan Borneo Hotel, Putatan.
Recently, the organiser held a dinner to ceremoniously present finalist sashes to those who have been selected for the contest. The other highlight of the dinner was a talk by the state-level Mr Kaamatan 2018, Mohd Saiful Azwan Bin Sundian, on the necessary preparations to be undertaken by the contestants.
Meanwhile, in her opening speech, the organising chairperson, Adina Affendy, mentioned that, although not a KDMR herself, she is honoured to assume the post as she believes that the contest will be able to develop the communication skills and confidence of the participants. She is a certified Human Resource Development Fund Trainer.
During the dinner, state MRK’s representative, Ernest Jinuat, highlighted some updates pertaining to the state-level contest, one of which would require every contestant to draw a manifesto containing his agenda as a Mr Kaamatan.
Present at the dinner were the Mr Kaamatan Kapayan 2018 Joshua Jeremiah Miol and Mr Kaamatan Putatan 2018 Aelvin Richard.