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EVERY Thursday and Friday throughout August 2009, there is a special display of local fruit at the Monsopiad Cultural Village in Penampang, Sabah. There it was… a wide variety of local fruits on exhibition under a bamboo tent near the entrance and ready to be tasted by visitors on their way in or out.

I took a drive out Aug. 6 (Thurs) and found there was a steady flow of visitors throughout the day. They came, not so much for the fruit really, but for a chance to enjoy the sights and hear the sounds that reflect the cultural, historical and natural heritage of the Kadazan people.

Sunnie from USA attracted by the suspension bridge at Monsopiad Cultural Village.

A visitor from USA, Sunnie Fernandes, was quickly attracted by a suspension bridge at the village, the moment she arrived. Such a means of transport across streams and rivers is common to locals and almost part of daily life to Kadazans and other local communities, but it is evidently ‘an attraction’ to the eyes of tourists from abroad.

The welcome drink of lihing (rice wine) was fine and appropriate, served with a tiny bamboo container. Just a few sips! I could have asked for a second helping… but the group was formed and we are off for the tour of the Monsopiad showcase guided by young Fendrilee Tungit.

The name Monsopiad sounds mysterious. Let’s come straight to it… he was a famous headhunter some 300 years ago and the cultural village is built on the very land where this legendary warrior once lived and roamed about centuries ago. So, the tour was a giant step into Borneo’s history and culture.

Visitors are offered an interesting insight into the daily life of the biggest ethnic tribe in Sabah (formerly known as the British North Borneo), the Kadazans. And Penampang, where the village is located, is the heartland of this native group.

The entire village structures, including the performing stage, houses, and the huts, are built with traditional and local materials, just the way the Kadazans would have done so from ancient time.

Moving round the display huts presents the visitors a quick view of the farming life of the tribe, the rice storage area, the padi plough implements, the padi windowing, grinding and pounding instruments, and even a show on how rice wine is made.

Visitors being challenged to eat one of the live sago worms.

Perhaps influenced by TV, there’s also a Fear Factor added to the tour programme. Visitors were challenged to swallow a live sago worm, minus its head! Wow, to my surprise, two young ladies took the challenge and both said it tasted like young coconut.

According to them, the writhing of the worm stops the moment they place it into the mouth and start chewing it. Cheers for their courage!

The cultural performance is of course an important item that enables tourists, foreign and as well as Malaysians from outside the state, to witness the traditional dances and music.

The sound of the gongs naturally leads you on to the stage where the dance troupe gave four brilliant presentations depicting dances of Kadazans from Penampang and Papar and then the Sea Bajaus in the limbai dance, and the mungunatip, the dance of the Muruts.

Part of the 42 trophy skulls found at the House of Skulls, Monsopiad Cultural Village.

The tour cannot end without a visit to the house where the skulls that are said to be the proof of Monsopiad’s prowess as a warrior and that his power was “so great that no enemy could match him”.

Seeing the skulls attached to the main beam of the roof makes one reflect that once upon a time in the past, Borneo was truly a land of the head hunters!

A wide range of fruits were on display at Monsopiad that day, including: nangka (jackfruit), star fruit, pineapples, guava, bambangang (wild mango), wani (another type of mango), tarab (a type of jungle fruit indigenous to Sabah), mata kucing (cat’s eye or longan), pamelos, sugar cane, bananas, papayas, water melon, kedundung, and salak.

Tribal dancers at the Village give Borneopedia a special smile.

Despite this long list, Sunnie was unable to find what she had been craving for since she landed on Borneo – jungle durian. Perhaps it was not in season yet.

Thanks to Fendrilee our guide and all at Monsopiad for the tour.

The stage performers were great too. They gave a chance to everyone to have photos taken with them after the performance.

Anyway, have another go at the fruits before going off to see other parts of Borneo!

Link:

Monsopiad Cultural Village

The legend of Monsopiad