The Selangor State Government via Tourism Selangor, with the support from MOTAC (Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture) held their fifth Selangor International Indigenous Arts Festival, SIIAF2019 on the lush grounds of the National Botanical Gardens in Shah Alam…

Selangor’s unique core in Cultural Tourism was launched by His Royal Highness, Raja Muda Selangor, Tengku Amir Shah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah..

This year’s SIIAF2019 had a total of 130 Indigenous people from Perak, Selangor, Johor, Sarawak in Malaysia as well as groups from Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Comoros Islands, East Africa…

SIIAF2019 showcases the rich and diverse cultures of Malaysia’s indigenous tribes through cultural dance performances by the Temiar tribe from Perak, the Mah Meri and Temuan tribes from Selangor, the Seletar tribe from Johor as well as the Rantau Lemamang Dance Group from Sarawak…

International Indigenous tribes such as the Comoros Island Indigenous Dance Group from Africa, Alba Art Tribe from Indonesia, Vinyass Academy of Fine Arts & Youth Ensemble from Sri Lanka, Aboriginal Dance Culture & Arts Group from Chinese Taipei and the Dongnae Yaryu from South Korea were specially invited from their origin countries enabling visitors to learn and have a closer look on their customs, cultures, traditional attire, art and crafts…

SIIAF is one of the initiatives to elevate and preserve pure gems of the Selangor State, the Indigenous people, who are still practising their unique traditional cultures and customs despite the fact modern technology has pretty much changed society so much…

The motley 2 day event is in conjunction with the international day of the world’s indigenious people celebrated in August..

At the same time, the Recreational Orang Asal Run (Roar) 2019 made its debut with the 5 km fun run receiving over 600 participants for the first installation…

Visitors to the event can have fun with sago larvae /butod eating challenges, Kerchang games puzzle, traditional weaving, blow pipe demonstration and communal cooking…

I definitely enjoyed strolling down Borneo Street Market by the Sabah Sarawak KL Heritage Association where many booths had hand made indigenous crafts such as beautiful paintings, women accessories and clothing as well as a lot of delicious food offered from East Malaysia and from the South Korean and Chinese Taipei tribes..

There was just so much to see and do and one day was hardly enough…I for one cannot wait for next year’s installation..