Hanafi Hussin
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya
Rice is not merely a dietary staple for the people of Asia and Southeast Asia; rather, rice reflects ways of life that revolve around its growth and protection. Deeply embedded within the spiritual heritage of communities who grow this staple, rice is sacred and revered. In many Southeast Asian countries, rice is incarnated in the form of a Goddess and addressed by a number of names including Dewi Sri in Java and Bali, Mae Po Sop in Thailand, Po Ino Nogar in Laos and Bambazon or Bambarayon in Sabah, Malaysia. Rice rituals, enacted through performativity that have been inherited for generations, and determine the balance between the relationships of the Rice Spirit, as well as other spirits that inhabit the spiritual world, and human beings who inhabit the physical world. These rituals, which are crucial for the sustenance of traditional heritage, are embodied through the preparation of offerings, the inviting of spirits to join in the rice ritual, music making and dance performances.
This paper will focus on two rice rituals of Sabah, Malaysia: the Monogit ritual of the Kadazan community of Penampang, and the Mag-paii bahau ritual practiced by the Sama Bajau community in Semporna. By observing these rituals, this paper intends to demonstrate the significance of balancing the relationship between the spiritual and physical worlds for the sustenance of the intangible cultural heritage of the Kadazan and Sama Bajau communities in Sabah.
(Presented in the 2012 Asian Food Heritage Forum: Harmonizing Culture , Technology and Industry, 20-21 August 2012, Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok, organized by Institute of Thai Studies, Institute of Asian Studies, Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Chinese Dietary Culture Institute, Zhejiang Gongshang University, and Ministry of Culture, Thailand)