Unduk Ngadau

From its first inception in 1960, the beauty pageant has been named Miss Kadazan (1960–1970), Miss Harvest Festival (1971–1980), Ratu Kaamatan/Pesta Menuai (1981–1990) and currently Unduk Ngadau (1991–present).^[10][11] The term "Unduk Ngadau" carries the meaning "the emerging/rising sun"; the word "Unduk" means "to emerge and to spring out," like a new plant sprouting out from the ground, while the word "Tadau" means the sun.^[12] The current title is derived from the Dusun phrase "runduk tadau," which means "the girl/woman crowned by the sunlight".^[13][14] The current term Unduk Ngadau alongside Kaamatan has been registered since the 2010s with the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO), the country registrar trademarks to protect the traditional cultural pageant from being misused by other organisations without connection to the official source.^[15][16]

The Unduk Ngadau beauty pageant is held to commemorate the spirit of Huminodun, the mythological maiden who was of total beauty of the heart, mind and soul,^[6][18] where her willingness to sacrificing herself for her people from a worse famine symbolising "loyalty, willingness and sacrifice" which are several of the essential qualities every participants of the Unduk Ngadau pageant must possess.^[19][20] The cultural event subsequently empowers women, giving them the confidence to speak about their culture,^[21] heritage and life in their indigenous languages, while at the same time showcasing the heritage and culture of their ethnicity to the broader society nationwide and even to the world.^[19][20][22] Unduk Ngadau is one of the most recognisable cultural events in Sabah and is unique to the state. The state-level beauty pageant is the highlight and ending point of the month-long Kaamatan season.^[14]

Following the approval and subsequent gazetted of the Kaamatan celebration proposal by the native chief of the Interior Dusuns, OKK Sedomon Gunsanad Kina during "Conference of the District Chiefs and Native Chiefs" of the Crown colony of North Borneo in 1956 as the region official public holiday by the British colonial authorities on 9 May 1960, ^{[notes 2][23][24][25]} the Unduk Ngadau event was firstly held on the same year in Penampang District of North Borneo among ethnic Kadazan-Dusun and Sino-Native women, who vie for the title of "Unduk Ngadau".^[23][26]

Firstly introduced at district level in 1958,^[21] the contestants of the state-level beauty pageant generally represent their district.^[27] Some districts hold joint pageants, producing more than one representative. The first Unduk Ngadau winner (known at the time as Miss Kadazan) was a Sino-Native named Yong Mee Lan @ Mui Lan from Penampang District.^[10][23][28] Since her crowning, more than 20 representatives from her district had also won the title over the years, with Penampang District holding the most titles.^[28] The Papar District came in second, with pageants winners such as Talian Bunal in 1961, Marcella Tiansim @ Toinsim in 1962, Molina Daniel in 1965, Florence Bibi in 1967 and further modern pageant winners in the 2000s and 2010s.^[29] This was followed by Tanjung Aru with Mary Solly in 1979, Joan Gloria Tommy in 1987, Julia Augustine in 1990 and recently Crystel Eve Huminodun in 2010 and Ryannie Neils Yong in 2015 along with Inanam with Luzie Tham in 1993, Jeremiah Ginajil in 1998, Kathie Renjus in 1999 and recently Hosiani James Jaimis in 2018 and Hyellene Danius in 2024; both areas with five titles.^[30][31][32] Tuaran District came in the fourth with Rita Bagong in 1964, Roslina Amit in 1980 and the recent Sylvia Sandralisa Orow in 1991 and Joanna Sue Henley Rampas in 2007.^[33]

Putatan District won their first title with Mary Badak in 1963 and Anita Pudin in 1992; placing them in the sixth place while Tamparuli with Mary @ Mili Jaikoh Imbayan in 1971, the recent Fharelynne Ivonne Henry in 2004 and Atitih Yati Robert in 2025 along with Kota Kinabalu District recently won three titles in the 2010s with Immaculate Lojuki in 2013, Cheryl Lynn Pinsius in 2014 and Kerinah Mah in 2017 which placing the district and sub-district in the fifth place respectively.^[34][35][36]

Ms. Maylesthelyn Matius (front from left), an Unduk Ngadau contestant from the Klang Valley KDCA together with other contestants in 2014^[37]

Beginning in 1995, Sabahans residing and working in West Malaysia who celebrate Kaamatan have been acknowledged by the organisation despite the competition are originally between participants from different districts in Sabah.^[38] The Unduk Ngadau contest in West Malaysia is organised to provide an avenue for Sabahans, specifically Kadazan-Dusun descent living outside Sabah to participate even after they are born from a mixture of various cultural backgrounds in Malaysia, such as Chinese and Indians; for these individuals to cherish their Sabah's heritage with the most requirements is able to speak the native language in their respective Kadazan-Dusun parentage sub-group dialects.^[1][39] Since then, several states in West Malaysia started to send their delegates to the pageant and starting from 2003, the Klang Valley KDCA branch also began to held local Unduk Ngadau competition.^[1][40] The first ever representative from the Klang Valley area was Angeline Ongkunik and their first representative to won the state-level Unduk Ngadau crown was Daphne Iking in 2003.^[40]

In the following year, Janeitha Stephen of Klang Valley was placed as the first runner-up to Tamparuli's Fharelynne Ivonne Henry. Many of the Klang Valley representatives have had their best placements in the state-level competition; 2001's Ryna Rychie James (second runner-up), 2005's Susanna James Kenson (fourth runner-up), 2007's Jaslinder Kaur (sixth runner-up), 2008's Anne Marie Tauriq Khan (sixth runner-up), 2013's Ledesma Steven (fifth runner-up), 2014's Maylesthelyn Ley Matius (sixth runner-up), 2016's Patricia Elsa Jimy (fifth runner-up), 2017's Sharlina Gilbert Mojinun (fifth runner-up) and 2019's Vinnie Alvionitta Sasising (sixth runner-up). Since 2012, a question-and-answer round has been added to the competition on which the contestants must answer the question in their ethnic language.^[41] Melinda Louis was one of the first to have succeeded in the particular question-and-answer, and she eventually won.^[42]

West Malaysia's states such as Johor began sending their delegates in 2014 and made its first debut in the competition.^[43] The best Unduk Ngadau achievement for Johor was Liz Lorena Rayner who was placed as the second runner-up in the overall competition on the year.^[44] Other states such as Penang began to send their delegate in 2018, Putrajaya in 2019, Malacca and Perak in 2021. Since the 2019 edition, contestants are required to be knowledgeable about current issues since the crowned winner will be directly appointed as a cultural and tourism spokesperson for the state, with each contestant are compulsory to produce local culture research books aside from being fluent in their native language.^[8] Maya Hejnowska, a Kadazan-Polish beauty was the first Asian-European to win the pageant in the 2021 edition.^[45]

The pageant has since been expanded to include Murut and Rungus, which are part of the current KDMR term. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, paid voting system was introduced starting from the 2021 edition with those supporting their favourite contestants would have to pay 50¢ for each vote to get them to be in the top 21 spots.^[46][47] In 2023, the state of Sarawak joined the pageant for the first time. The first representative of Sarawak was Marylyn Velarie Bolovin.^[48] By 2024, the Unduk Ngadau competition has been recognised as a national competition in Malaysia.^[7] Following the upgrade, every contestants have a bigger role in promoting Sabah's culture, language and traditional costumes beyond the state while at the same time empowering themselves with skills and confidence.^[2][21] In the 2025 edition, the Miss Popular Vote – Video C.A.N. were awarded to Norasnih Madjalan of Klang Valley KDCA after garnering 2,247 likes while the event continues to be termed "state level" than "national level" since the current provisions of the KDCA constitution are yet to be amended.^[35] The 2025 Unduk Ngadau saw a major upgrade in its scoring process through the system of "e-Unduk" developed by local Sabahan IT expert Ts. Aedeshie Daisy Rayner.^[36]