Malaysian Festivals

During the festivals, the elders perform traditional rites, everyone dresses in their traditional costumes and there is food and drink. Tuak, rice wine, and an array of traditional food are generously served along the ruai, veranda, and bilik, room, in every longhouse. Widespread celebrations are held not only in the main cities and towns but also in the interior settlements.



At rural dwellings, especially in roadside villages and remote villages, guests are expected to taste tuak and eat at each household. Thus in a 30 door longhouse with a family living behind each door, it means partaking in festivities over and over again. Music and dancing usually follow to liven up the mood.



The mode of celebration is merry making with traditional delicacies like “penganan” (cakes from rice flour, sugar and coconut milk) and usually rice wine (tuak) is served.

Longhouses welcome the celebration by laying new mats on the open gallery which runs through the entire length of the longhouse. The celebrations starts in the evening of May 31 with a ceremony called “Muai Antu Rua” (casting away of the evil spirit of greediness) which signifies non interference of the spirit of bad luck in the celebration.

Then a winnowing basket (chapan) would be dragged past each family’s room.



Every family will throw unwanted stuff into the basket. The unwanted stuff will be tossed to the ground from the end of the longhouse for the spirit of bad luck. In the evening around 6 o’clock, the offering ceremony (miring) will take place. Ritual music (“gendang rayah”) is performed. The chief will lead the ceremony with a sacrificed cockerel and smear blood over these offerings as a symbol of good harvest, blessings and long life.

While waiting for the dinner to be served at midnight, the people will gather and mingle among themselves till the gong is sounded at midnight. Dinner is then served with traditional cakes and delicacies and home made rice wine (tuak) to the gods of rice and prosperity.



The highlight is the drinking of the rice wine led by the chief of the long house. Rice wine (“Ai Pengayu”) symbolised long life. Greetings of “Gayu-guru, Gerai nymai” which means long life, health and prosperity are exchanged among the people in the longhouse.

A procession up and down the gallery (“ruai”) is held from one end to the other end to welcome the spirits (“Ngalu Petara”). The celebration is made livelier by the sounds of gong and traditional music is played with a lot of dancing. Other activities may include cock-fighting, demonstration of blowpipe skills and ngajat competitions.



The unique dance “ngajat” is a form of entertainment which involves a lot of precise body turning movements. The “ngajat” for men is more aggressive and depicts a man going to war and the woman’s form of “ngajat” is softer and more graceful.


In the longhouses, there is a practice called “masu pengabang” where guests will be served with tuak (“masu pengabang”) by the host before they can enter the longhouse.