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| Photo from Borneo Post. Datuk Christopher Nyuak before he speared the pig. |
Pigs have a very significant role in Iban ceremonies.
Weddings, engagements, baptisms, harvest festivals, festivals for the sick and the spirits and any other events call for a pig killing ceremony.
Even when a VIP arrive, a pig is usually brought to be killed to honour the arrival of the VIP at the longhouse.
A spear is used to kill the pig after the longhouse chief has said the words. The pig for a welcoming party is usually slaughtered at the foot of the main staircase of the longhouse. Or at the gate to the longhouse.
And after that, the merry making starts.
A few issues need to be address. The longhouse people should be paid for the pig used (which may come up to a few hundred ringgits. Besides to welcome important people, many of the farmers have to stay away from their farms for a few days. That would mean few few man days lost. Besides, the food have to be prepared and it would cost the long house people some financial setbacks. So the poltiicasl secretaries of the various YBs need to be more considerate and offer some compensation.
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