Jeremy Jamaludin, 38, who is one of the many Dayaks in the state complying with the order not to return to his home village in Bintulu, will celebrate the festival with his family in Kuching this year.
The father of three children said he is willing to forgo the trip to ensure his elders are safe from the Covid-19 outbreak.
“My family and I are only celebrating Gawai moderately. We are also not going to visit anyone for fear of being infected or infecting someone because right now, many are asymptomatic virus carriers,” he said.
The state disaster management committee (SDMC) had earlier decided there would be no “ngabang Gawai” activities or Gawai visits to comply with SOPs under the movement control order (MCO) currently being enforced throughout Sarawak.
For civil servant Bibiana Kawa, 40, she said Gawai celebrations this time were like last year when she and her family only enjoyed special dishes she cooked and spent time together at home.
“I had very much hoped to return home and celebrate Gawai with my relatives in Miri this year, but after seeing the rising number of Covid-19 cases and taking into consideration the travel ban by the government, my family and I decided to obey.
“Every Gawai, the children are the ones most excited because if we go home, there are various things that can be done, like ‘ngabang Gawai’ and watching cock fights in the village,” the mother of two said.
State leaders, including Sarawak governor Abdul Taib Mahmud, have advised Sarawakians to consider the current Covid-19 situation and asked longhouse chiefs to play their roles to ensure that SOPs during the MCO are followed.
In addition, chief minister Abang Johari Openg also expressed his disappointment regarding the inability to celebrate Gawai normally due to the current public health situation.
Meanwhile, deputy chief minister Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also SDMC chairman, shared that the sharp rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak since January has now pushed the total figure past 40,000.
Last year, longhouses were largely free of Covid-19 infections, but since early this year, 634 longhouses were placed under enhanced MCO due to increasing cases.
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