Comedy group Zero in hot soup over Iban traditional attire

MIRI: The perfomance by comedy group Zero in the first episode of Astro's Maharaja Lawak Mega 2017 contest last Friday was widely condemned by the Dayak community in Sarawak.
Several police reports had been lodged by non-govermental organisations (NGOs) while many influental NGOs had demanded the organiser and the group to make a public apology on the matter.
Zero, the winner of Maharaja Lawak Mega 2014 comprised three brothers from Sabah with the group led by their eldest sibling Mohamad Syaiful Doli Sharif together with Sharif Kadir and Sharid Kunal.
Unhappiness over their performance was due to one of the group male members wearing the "ngepan indu", which according to Iban customs is traditionally meant for women in the Iban community.
Among the chorus of criticisms was from the Dayak Association of Miri (DAM) president Serawa Budol, who described the comedy sketches performed by Zero on Friday as insulting the Iban community.
"Not only they offended the Iban community, the comedy show has insulted and made fun of the culture as the opposite gender are not allowed to wear the traditional attire" she told Bernama today.
"We demanded the organiser and the group to make a public apology over the incident and promised not to repeat it," she said, adding that the custom was sacred in the Iban community.
Beside DAM, other NGOs comdemning Zero performance are Dayak Think Tank Group (DDTG), Sarawak Dayak Youth Limbang branch, Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) and Kuching Dayak Cultural and Arts Activists Association that have publicly voiced their displeasure.
Based on local media reports three police reports had been lodged by three NGOs at Miri Central Polis Station on Monday and Tuesday with the first one lodged by Persatuan Raban Ngepan Iban (RNI) president Steven Abas Patrick at 6.30pm on Monday.
The second and third police reports were lodged yesterday at the same place by Terabai Menua Malaysia-Brunei (Terabai Menua) and Dayak360. — Bernama