Travel Photography | The Rungus People Of Sabah | Malaysia North Borneo

© 2013 Wazari Wazir | The Rungus People of Sabah | Malaysia North Borneo

The Rungus are an ethnic group of Borneo, residing primarily in northern Sabah in the area surrounding Kudat. A sub-group of the Kadazan-Dusun, they have a distinctive language, dress, architecture, customs, and oral literature.

Considered one of the most traditional ethnic groups in Sabah, many Rungus live in longhouses, with each family having its own separate quarters off a common hall. At the edge of the communal hall, a well-ventilated platform of split bamboo with outward sloping walls provides a place for socialising and communal work.

The Rungus longhouse is quite different from the Murut longhouse. The houses are not perched on high stilts, but are usually only three to five feet above ground. The roof is low, and the walls are outward sloped. In olden times, longhouses of over 75 doors are said to have been common.

Now, they rarely exceed 10 doors. Usually single story, more modern two-story versions of the longhouse also exist. Single-family houses are sometimes built near the longhouse – these take the same form, but are curiously short, looking like a slice from a cake.

The Rungus in the north of Sabah (Kudat Area) are arguably the most traditional ethnic group here. They remain remarkably strong in this time of transition, and keep up with an age-old life-style. Their life, as that of most tribes in Borneo, turns around rice: the preparing of the padi filed, or the clearance of a hill plot, the growing of rice and looking after it, and finally the harvest. Large coconut and banana groves enable the Rungus to get cash, but in all, their traditional life-style suits them very much and seems to keep them out of trouble and stress.

The traditional Rungus dress is black, often with hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of antique beads. Traditionally all Rungus women wore heavy brass coils around their arms, legs and necks. Brass arm coils are often accompanied by white and coral shell bracelets. Rings of brass may also be worn around the waist.

* The photograph above were taken during the celebration of Malaysia Day Golden Jubilee at the Prince Philip Park, Tanjung Aru, Kota Kinabalu Sabah.