Festival-goers packed the Temburong Sports Complex area in celebration of the inaugural Irau Tupeh Padey event last year with the sound of raucous cheers from the thrilling tug-of-war and strongmen and strongwomen emanating across the complex area. Across the way, men and women vied for recognition as the sharpest shooter in the blowdart competition — where the jungle was once the judge of a dart’s prowess, now the bullseye of a paper sheet in the tennis court of a sports complex. I ask Leftenan Kolonel (B) Tamin bin Tuah, the president of the Persatuan Lun Bawang Murut Brunei (PLBMB) association how he feels about adapting this incredible traditional culture to modern days and am surprised by the answer. “Adapting is not a problem, to instill to the younger generation is a great challenge — we have a lot of available resources in the market,” he explained adding that in today’s world, mixed marriages were unavoidable and other languages like English and Malay were sure to overtake their mother tongue especially when predominantly used in society. While Muruts may be smaller in number compared to other tribes, Mr Tuah says they are strong in spirit.
“The association’s main inspiration is to promote ‘silaturrahim‘ or family values, amogst the Puak Murut, since we are all spread out; some are working in Bandar, or staying in faraways kampongs. Some that are staying in Bandar usually stay around that area only so it’s rare to meet.” Irau Tupeh Padey translates to ‘Rice Pounding Festival’, meant to celebrate the processing of rice after the Harvest Festival period. It certainly was a spirited event with tribal members even coming from as far as Sabah and Sarawak to join the festivities!
