Joanna
KOTA KINABALU: Unduk Ngadau Borderless Kaamatan 2021 chairperson Joanna Kitingan said that the selection of the top 21 finalists for the State-level Unduk Ngadau competition will be held tonight, via online, by professional judges.
The results will be known later today, Joanna said in a statement on Monday.
The latest statement came after netizens complained about the monetization in the selection of the top 21 Unduk Ngadau finalists through the pay-per-vote system, which was introduced for the first time in the history of the contest this year.
“After listening to all the various opinions and comments from the public on the technicalities in the voting system, the highest vote will only account for the Popular Title votes,” Joanna said.
She also said that the whatever funds that have been collected so far from the online voting will be channeled to the Makatip Shelter Home for needy girls in Tambunan, a charity that has been earlier selected.
“It is unfortunate that we could not hold the Sodop Unduk Ngadau as we did every year as part of our fund raising,” she said.
“We sincerely apologize for all the inconveniences caused to the netizens by the new voting system, which we have now resolved as guided by our public online comments and suggestions. We do want the public to know that the organizing costs for the annual State Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan contest is never cheap and in fact constantly rising over the years. We thank the State government for the grant and to all our kind sponsors for the main prizes and other prizes,” she said.
Nevertheless, Joanna explained that the State level contest organizer would still have to find ways to raise funds to pay for all the other expenses such as organizational expenses, Unduk Ngadau participants’ accommodation, food and beverages, transportation, and the rest of the prizes.
“We pray that the Spirit of Huminodun within all our Unduk Ngadau contestants shall continue to prevail and be blessed and guided to the best that it can be. This year the pandemic indeed has been very challenging. We thought it would be easier to have the Unduk Ngadau contest to be done partly online. However, the technicalities have proven to be more expensive than otherwise,” she said.
“We know that everyone is looking forward to know who will be crowned the Unduk Ngadau 2021. This is the 61st year of the Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan crowning. Over the years we have seen so many changes and challenges but 2021 will certainly go down in history.”