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By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, June 10: Malaysian singer-actress Bella Astillah recently showed off traditional dances from Sarawak in conjunction with the Gawai Dayak celebration.
Clad in a complete set of ‘Ngepan Indu’, the traditional dress for the Iban, the Sabah-born girl highlighted the popular moves in Ngajat Iban (Iban), Rejang Be’uh (Bidayuh), Alu-alu (Melanau) and Datun Julud (Orang Ulu).
The video clip, which is less than one minute long, was posted on her social media accounts on June 2, namely @bellaastillah on Instagram and TikTok @bellaastillah_94 on TikTok.
In the caption, she said, “Happy Gawai Dayak and Kaamatan. I have made a video clip combining traditional dances of Sabah; now it is Sarawak’s turn.”
The video posted on TikTok has garnered 1.8 million views, over 180,300 likes, 2,299 comments, and 2,835 shares at the time of writing.
Many Sarawakian users have left positive comments on the post, proudly flaunting their ethnicity.
Meanwhile, user Azlan Safian said he is a Malaysian from the Peninsula but had the opportunity to reside in Sabah and Sarawak in the past.
“What I had found was that all of us came from one big family with the same culture and manners,” he said.
Another user Zieee._ said, “(I am from) Johor Bahru, but I love to watch traditional dances of Sabah and Sarawak. Apart from that, the ‘sumandak’ (girls) from there are all so beautiful. (I) love (them).”
Prior to this clip, Bella made a similar video back in May 2021 on the combination of Sabah traditional dances of Sumazau (Kadazan Dusun), Sazau (Kadazan-Dusun of Papar), Anggalang (Murut), Rambai (Tidong), Mengiluk (Suluk), Daling-daling (Bajau and Suluk), Limbai (Bajau and Suluk) and Mongigol Sumundai (Rungus). — DayakDaily
