Include Sabah’s history, culture in national education system – Masidi

Effort should be taken to incorporate more of Sabah’s history and culture into the national education system, said Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.

He said this is to promote better understanding among other Malaysians and help address racial issues that stem from lack of understanding of Sabah’s culture among other Malaysians.

Masidi, who is also Sabah education exco, said the most recent controversy involving a blogger describing the Sumazau as a cult and worship dance was a saddening reminder of reality that many outside Sabah were completely ignorant about the State’s culture and tradition.

“Although we have been in the same country for almost 50 years, many people in other parts of this great nation don’t even understand our culture,” he said here yesterday, commenting on the widely criticised article entitled “Tarian Sumazau Untuk Golongan Rendah Akhlak” (Sumazau Dance is for immoral people).

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CM slams blog article over slur

Sabahans are proud of its cultural diversity and the State Government will not tolerate insults to its cultural heritage, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

“I am compelled to publicly criticise the ignorant and irresponsible parties behind the blog post that has insulted the Sumazau dance, that is very much a part of Sabah’s rich cultural heritage, Musa said when commenting on the article “Tarian Sumazau Untuk Golongan Rendah Akhlak”.

The article which was published on Suara Pakatan Rakyat blog on Sept 11 has angered Sabahans and drawn condemnations from PBS and UPKO as well as other organisations for denigrating the traditional KadazanDusun dance.

“We are home to 32 different ethnic groups, each with its own unique identity. Though different from each other and with different backgrounds and religious beliefs, there has always been above it all, respect,” Musa said in a statement yesterday.

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