SANDAKAN : As the sun set over the beautifully meditative bamboo pavilion designed by students from UCSI university, and the Sepilok forest returns to its familiar sounds of the wild
The two days of Borneo ROR Festival participants, energy and interactions leave only a trail of fond memories among those who experienced it in person.
Borneo Rhythms of Rimba (now ROR) Festival started out as a platform created by Future Alam Borneo (FAB) to highlight Sabah and Borneo island’s rich natural heritage and biodiversity, through a connection with creative and artistic talent.
From these humble beginings in 2014, 10 years ago, it has grown in reach to encompass a much wider network of content and themes. Emphasizing a need for physical activities and discovery of Nature, the Adventure zone was created. And to reach our current generation of youths and young-at-heart, the all popular Music & Visuals zone, bringing in contemporary musicians and cutting-edge filmmakers.
In today’s age where there is a global focus on achieving sustainable development goals, and a need for diversity, equity and inclusion in our communal lives, ROR has sought to explore the intricate connections between all these and the impact on all of us.
In two days, ROR covered conversations across land, sea and people; knowledge from local experts to international guests from India, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Netherlands, U.K. and the U.S.
Within the creative sphere, a truly rare occasion to have had Ernest Zacharevic, Kenji Chai, Yee I-lann, Pangrok Sulap and other artists share their experiences using their skills and tools to raise the awareness of much neglected social and environmental causes.
And in Music & Visuals, ROR featured films from Freedom Film Festival and the UN Climate Change Conference COP28, and come evening, the forest was brought to life (in a not too natural a way) by bands who were performing for the very first time here on the east coast of Sabah such as RESORT, lostspaces, TY:DEL, Omar & Mariel Musa and the powerful Tuni Sundatang.
All the 60 over guests, dialogues, activities, and content stations were skillfully rallied together by the warm embrace of our 2 charming and magnetic emcees, the evergreen Cris Aban and firecracker Amy Dangin.
Inspite of the diversity of people, backgrounds and subject matters, ROR managed to bring both content providers and audience around the same table, to find the connections that bind us and our environment together, to chart a more sustainable future together.
The public can catch many more one-to-one interviews of ROR’s special guests across podcasts by SIP SIP Show and 2 Perempuan Gila in the coming weeks.
As this chapter ends for ROR Borneo, Future Alam Borneo hopes the Sabahan public continue to grow in their love for their land and people, and grow as a collective Force of Nature.
