Worldwide events newspaper; 230 issue; 31 may 06 jun 2015

Armed Forces Day - May 31 Brunei Darussalam

The Royal Brunei Armed Forces was formed on 31 May 1961. Known as the Askar Melayu Brunei, (Brunei Malay Regiment in Malay) it was honoured with the royal title on 31 May 1965, when the word 'Diraja' (Royal in Malay) was added to the title. It was then known as Askar Melayu Diraja Brunei, (Royal Brunei Malay Regiment). Since Independence Day, 1 January 1984, the Royal Brunei Malay Regiment has been renamed as the Angkatan Bersenjata Diraja Brunei (Royal Brunei Armed Forces in Malay).

Only Brunei citizens of the Malay ethnicity (Bumiputera) are allowed to enlist in the Royal Brunei Armed Forces. The Malay ethnicity comprises the Belait, Bisaya, Brunei, Dusun, Kedayan, Murut, and Tutong indigenous races as defined in the Brunei constitution. Military service is not compulsory for any segment of the population; there is no conscription.

The Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) use a wide range of foreign equipment, with a large percentage originating from the United Kingdom, France/Europe and the United States. The Royal Brunei Armed Forces is the largest of the armed services, with a relatively small air force and navy.

The Bruneian military lacks any recent combat experience but has been deployed regionally in humanitarian and peacekeeping missions. Brunei also has extensive military relations with Singapore. In 31 May 2011, Royal Brunei Armed Forces reached its golden jubilee.

Role and Organisation

The Role of Royal Brunei Armed Forces is to: Deter any outside powers intending to undermine • directly or indirectly in the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the State of Brunei, and to prevent any subversive elements actual or potential operating in the State of Brunei; Undertake military operations to counter aggres • sion, terrorism or insurgency; Assist in maintenance of public order in support of • the Police and Civil Authority, if called upon Maintain good Community relations by which the • Royal Brunei Armed Forces can be identified with the Government and Civil population of Brunei.

The Royal Brunei Armed Forces is divided into four branches: Royal Brunei Land Forces • Royal Brunei Air Force • Royal Brunei Navy • Training Institute •

No-Tobacco Day Worldwide - M a y 3 1

World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed around the world every year on May 31. It is meant to encourage a 24-hour period of abstinence from all forms of tobacco consumption across the globe. The day is further intended to draw global attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and to negative health effects, which currently lead to 5.4 million deaths worldwide annually. The member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) created World No Tobacco Day in 1987.

In the past twenty years, the day has been met with both enthusiasm and resistance across the globe from governments, public health organizations, smokers, growers, and the tobacco industry.

WHO and World No Tobacco Day World No Tobacco Day is one of many other world

health awareness days throughout the year organized by the WHO, including World Mental Health Day, World AIDS Day, and World Blood Donor Day, among others.

Timeline:

In 1987, the World Health organization of the WHO passed Resolution WHA40.38, calling for April 7, 1988 to be "a world no-smoking day". April 7, 1988 was the 40th anniversary of the WHO. The objective of the day was to urge tobacco users worldwide to abstain from using tobacco products for 24 hours, an action they hoped would provide assistance for those trying to quit.

In 1988, Resolution WHA42.19 was passed by the World Health Assembly, calling for the celebration of World No Tobacco Day, every year on May 31. Since then, the WHO has supported World No Tobacco Day every year, linking each year to a different tobacco-related theme.

In 1998, the WHO established the Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI), an attempt to focus international resources and attention on the global health epidemic of tobacco. The initiative provides assistance for creating global public health policy, encourages mobilization across societies, and supports the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The WHO FCTC is a global public health treaty adopted in 2003 by countries across the globe as an agreement to implement policies that work towards tobacco cessation.

In 2008, on the eve of the World No Tobacco Day the WHO called for a worldwide ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship. The theme of that year’s day was Tobacco-free youth; therefore, this initiative was especially meant to target advertising efforts aimed at youth. According to the WHO, the tobacco industry must replace older quitting or dying smokers with younger consumers. Because of this, marketing strategies are commonly observed in places that will attract youth such as movies, the Internet, billboards, and magazines. Studies have shown that the more youth are exposed to tobacco advertising, the more likely they are to smoke.

Themes: Discussion:

Each year, the WHO selects a theme for the day in order to create a more unified global message for WNTD. This theme then becomes the central component of the WHO’s tobacco-related agenda for the following year. The WHO oversees the creation and distribution of publicity materials related to the theme, including brochures, fliers, posters, websites, and press releases. In 2008 for the theme Tobacco-free youth, Youtube videos were created as a part of the WNTD awareness campaign, and podcasts were first used in 2009.

In many of its WNTD themes and related publicity-materials, the WHO emphasizes the idea of “truth.” Theme titles such as “Tobacco kills, don’t be duped” (2000) and “Tobacco: deadly in any form or disguise” (2006) indicate a WHO belief that individuals may be misled or confused about the true nature of tobacco; the rationale for the 2000 and 2008 WNTD themes identify the marketing strategies and “illusions” created by the tobacco industry as a primary source of this confusion. The WHO’s WNTD materials present an alternate understanding of the “facts” as seen from a global public health perspective. WNTD publicity materials provide an “official” interpretation of the most upto-date tobacco-related research and statistics and provide a common ground from which to formulate anti-tobacco arguments around the world.

List:

2012 Tobacco Industry Interference 2011 The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control 2010 Gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women 2009 Tobacco health warnings 2008 Tobacco-free youth 2007 Smoke free inside 2006 Tobacco: deadly in any form or disguise 2005 Health professionals against tobacco 2004 Tobacco and poverty, a vicious circle 2003 Tobacco free film, tobacco free fashion 2002 Tobacco free sports 2001 Second-hand smoke kills 2000 Tobacco kills, don't be duped 1999 Leave the pack behind 1998 Growing up without tobacco 1997 United for a tobacco free world 1996 Sport and art without tobacco: play it tobacco free 1995 Tobacco costs more than you think 1994 Media and tobacco: get the message across 1993 Health services: our windows to a tobacco free world 1992 Tobacco free workplaces: safer and healthier 1991 Public places and transport: better be tobacco free 1990 Childhood and youth without tobacco: growing up without tobacco 1989 Women and tobacco: the female smoker: at added risk 1988 Tobacco or Health: choose health

Event coordination:

The WHO serves as a central hub for coordinating WNTD events around the world. The WHO website provides a place for groups to register their planned WNTD events. The WHO publishes this information, by country, on its website. The registry helps foster communication and awareness between groups (locally, nationally, and globally) interested in the public health effects of tobacco, and it also serves as a way for interested individuals to quickly see if there is an event in their area.

Awards:

Since 1988 the WHO has presented one or more Awards to organizations or individuals who have made exceptional contributions to reducing tobacco consumption. World No Tobacco Day Awards are given to individuals from six different world regions (Africa, Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, South-East Asia, and Western Pacific), and Director-General Special Awards and Recognition Certificates are given to individuals from any region.

Global observance

Groups around the world—from local clubs to city councils to national governments—are encouraged by the WHO to organize events each year to help communities celebrate World No Tobacco Day in their own way at the local level. Past events have included letter writing campaigns to government officials and local newspapers, marches, public debates, local and national publicity campaigns, anti-tobacco activist meetings, educational programming, and public art.

In addition, many governments use WNTD as the start date for implementing new smoking bans and tobacco control efforts. For example, on May 31, 2008, a section of the Smoke Free Ontario Act came into effect banning tobacco "power walls" and displays at stores, and all hospitals and government offices in Australia will become smoke free on May 31, 2010.

The day has also been used as a springboard for discussing the current and future state of a country as it relates to tobacco. For example, in India, (which, with 120 million smokers, has one of the highest rates of tobacco consumption in the world), a special section of the Indian journal Current Science, together with the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, was published in time for WNTD, 2009. This section examined tobacco use and control in India in an attempt to spread awareness and build support for stricter tobacco control.

Resistance

For some, WNTD is nothing more than a “futile attempt to curb smoking” which has little to no visible effect in places like the former USSR, India, and China. For others, WNTD is seen as a challenge to individual freedom of choice or even a culturally acceptable form of discrimination. From ignoring WNTD, to participating in protests or acts of defiance, to bookending the day with extra rounds of pro-tobacco advertisements and events, smokers, tobacco growers, and the tobacco industry have found ways to make their opinions of the day heard.

Smoker response:

There has been no sustained or widespread effort to organize counter-WNTD events on the part of smokers. There is, however, an active community of smokers’ rights advocates who see the WNTD as unfairly singling them out and challenging their rights. The WHO maintains a listing of these organizations on its website.

Some small groups have created local pro-smoking events. For example, the Oregon Commentator, an independent conservative journal of opinion published at the University of Oregon, hosted a “Great American Smoke-in” on campus as a counter to the locally more widespread Great American Smokeout: “In response to the ever-increasing vilification of smokers on campus, the Oregon Commentator presents the Great American Smoke-in as an opportunity for students to join together and enjoy the pleasures of fine tobacco products.” Similarly, “Americans for Freedom of Choice” a group in Honolulu, Hawaii organized “World Defiance Day” in response to WNTD and Hawaii’s statewide ban on smoking in restaurants.

Industry response:

Historically, the tobacco industry has supported initiatives that provide resources to help smokers quit smoking. For example, Phillip Morris USA operates a “Quit Assist” website that acts as a guide for those who choose to quit smoking. Acknowledging the fact that quitting is possible puts the power back into the hands of the individual and therefore alleviates responsibility from the tobacco companies. Additionally, advocating for cessation of smoking can allow companies to still advocate for alternative forms of tobacco, while cessation of tobacco would eliminate business completely.

World No Tobacco Days have not induced a positive vocal response from the tobacco industry. For example, a memo made publicly available through www.tobaccoarchives.com was sent out to executives of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in preparation for the third annual World No Tobacco Day, which had the theme of “Childhood and Youth Without Tobacco.” The memo includes a warning about the upcoming day, a document that explains the arguments they anticipate the WHO making, and an explanation of how the company should respond to these claims. For example, in response to the anticipated argument that their advertisements target children, the company’s response includes arguments that claim their advertisements are targeted towards adults by using adult models, and that advertisements lack the power to influence what people will actually purchase. In Uganda, since the World No Tobacco Day is the one day that the media is obligated to publicize tobacco control issues, the British American Tobacco company uses the eve of the day to administer counter-publicity. In 2001, their strategy included events such as a visit with the President of the International Tobacco Growers Association.

Unlike the tobacco industry, some big pharmaceutical companies do publicly support WNTD. For example, Pfizer was a large sponsor for many WNTD events in the United Arab Emirates in 2008. At the time, Pfizer was preparing to release its drug Champix (Varenicline) into the Middle Eastern market. The drug was “designed to activate the nicotinic receptor to reduce both the severity of the smoker's craving and the withdrawal symptoms from nicotine.”

Grower response:

Many tobacco growers feel that anti-tobacco efforts by organizations such as the WHO jeopardize their rights. For example, the International Tobacco Growers Association (ITGA) argues that poor farmers in Africa may suffer the consequences if WHO anti-tobacco movements succeed. They also argue that these efforts may gang up on manufacturers of tobacco and be an attack on the industry, therefore hurting the growers.

Carpet Day Tur k m e nis t a n - M a y 3 1

The last Sunday in May is Turkmen Carpet Day in Turkmenistan.

This national holiday was established in 1992.

Carpets have always been a part of Turkmen everyday life. They symbolized power and wealth of a family. Special technique and ornaments distinguish Turkmen carpets from carpets made by other nations.

Carpet manufacturing is closely intertwined with culture and history of Turkmenistan and today carpet weaving is very important for state economy. Traditional carpet patterns are even depicted on the flag and emblem of Turkmenistan.

Turkmen Carpet Day became an official holiday in 1992. Traditionally the Turkmen Carpet Museum become the center of celebration. The museum was established in 1933, more than 2,000 exhibits (some of them are extremely rare) are displayed there.

Turkmen Carpet Day is aimed to revive, preserve and develop creative traditions of Turkmen carpet weaving. Different activities are organized to promote national art of carpet weaving and search for talented people.

Independence Day Samoa - Jun 01

Samoa officially the Independent State of Samoa (Samoan: Malo Sa'oloto Tuto'atasi o Sāmoa), formerly known as Western Samoa, is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in Polynesia, Savai'i.

The capital city, Apia, and Faleolo International Airport are situated on the island of Upolu.

Samoa was admitted to the United Nations on 15 December 1976. The entire island group, inclusive of American Samoa, was called "Navigators Islands"

by European explorers before the 20th century because of the Samoans' seafaring skills.

History

The oldest date so far from pre-historic remains in Samoa has been calculated by New Zealand scientists to a likely true age of circa 3,000 years ago from a Lapita site atMulifanua during the 1970s.

The origins of the Samoans is closely linked to modern research about Polynesia in various scientific disciplines such as genetics, linguistics and anthropology. Scientific research is ongoing although a number of different theories exist; including one proposing that the Samoans originated from Austronesian predecessors during the terminal eastward Lapita expansion period from Southeast Asia and Melanesia between 2,500 and 1,500 BCE. The Samoan origins are currently being reassessed due to new scientific evidence and carbon dating findings from 2003 and onwards.

Intimate sociocultural and genetic ties were maintained between the eastern Lapitacolonies and the archaeological record supports oral tradition and native genealogies that indicate inter-island voyaging and intermarriage between prehistoric Samoans, Fijians, and Tongans.

Contact with Europeans began in the early 18th century. Jacob Roggeveen (1659–1729), a Dutchman, was the first known European to sight the Samoan islands in 1722. This visit was followed by French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811), who named them the Navigator Islands in 1768. Contact was limited before the 1830s which is when English missionaries and traders began arriving.

Mission work in Samoa had begun in late 1830 by John Williams, of the London Missionary Society arriving in Sapapali'i from The Cook Islands and Tahiti. By that time, the Samoans had gained a reputation of being savage and warlike, as violent altercations had occurred between natives and French, British, German and American forces, who, by the late nineteenth century, valued Samoa as a refuelling station for coal-fired shipping and whaling. According to Barbara A. West, "The Samoans were also known to engage in 'headhunting,' a ritual of war in which a warrior took the head of his slain opponent to give to his leader, thus proving his bravery."

The Germans in particular began to show great commercial interest in the Samoan Islands, especially on the island of 'Upolu where German firms monopolised copra and cocoa bean processing; the United States laid its own claim and formed alliances with local native chieftains, most conspicuously on the islands of Tutuila and Manu'a (which were later formally annexed to the USA as American Samoa).

Britain also sent troops to protect British business enterprise, harbour rights, and consulate office. There followed an eight-year civil war, where each of the three powers supplied arms, training, and in some cases, combat troops to the warring Samoan parties. The Samoan crisis came to a critical juncture in March 1889 when all three colonial contenders sent warships into Apia harbour, and a larger-scale war seemed imminent, until a massive storm on 15 March 1889 damaged or destroyed the warships, ending the military conflict.

The Second Samoan Civil War was a conflict that reached a head in 1898 when Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States were locked in dispute over who should have control over the Samoa Islands. The Siege of Apia occurred during the Second Samoan Civil War in March 1899 at Apia. Samoan forces loyal to Prince Tanu were besieged by a larger force of Samoan rebels loyal to Mata'afa Iosefo. Supporting Prince Tanu were landing parties from four British and American warships. Over the course of several days of fighting, the Samoan rebels were defeated. American and British warships shelled Apia on 15 March 1899; including the USS Philadelphia. Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States quickly resolved to end the hostilities; with the partitioning of the island chain at the Tripartite Convention of 1899.

20th century:

The Tripartite Convention of 1899 partitioned the Samoan Islands into two parts: the eastern island group became a territory of the United States (the Tutuila Islands in 1900 and officially Manu'a in 1904) and is today known as American Samoa; the western islands, by far the greater landmass, became known as German Samoa after Britain vacated all claims to Samoa and accepted termination of German rights in Tonga and certain areas in the Solomon Islands and West Africa.

By 1912 the German administration had apparently achieved its longterm objective of understanding the traditional forces in Samoa politics Studio photo depicting preparawhile maintaining a semblance of local participation in government. tion of the Samoa 'ava ceremony There was no more Tupu (King), nor even alii sili (similar to a gover- c. 1911. nor), but the two Fautua (Advisors) were appointed. Tumua and Pule (traditional governments of Upolu and Savaii) were for a time silent; all decisions on matters affecting lands and titles were under the control of the Governor. To complete the process, theFa’alupega for all Samoa was revised. In a culture based on oratory, the Fa’alupega is a formal greeting which acknowledges those being greeted and their status. The Fa’alupega, which had been nationally accepted from at least the late 19th century (and probably for much longer than that), was as follows: "Tulouna a Tumua ma Pule, Tulouna a Itu’au ma Alataua, Tulouna a Aiga-i-le-Tai, Ma le Va’a-o-Fonoti, Tulouna a Tama ma a latou aiga Po’o aiga ma a latou tama".

This firstly recognised the authority and identity of principal districts of Samoa through their spokesmen –Tumua ma Pule, Itu’au ma Alataua, Aiga-i-le-Tai, and the Va'a-o-Fonoti – and the highest titles which were bestowed by these groups. It concludes with the recognition of the great maximal descent groups of Samoa and their "sons" who had People in attendance at Tupua Tamesese's funeral. been chosen to hold the highest titles.

The new Fa’alupega of German Samoa, which in its first line recognises the Kaiser (Kaisa), apparently required Malietoa Tanumafili and Tupua Tamasese to be sworn on oath to become advisors to the governing council: "Tulouna a lana Maiesitete le Kaisa o le tupu mamalu o lo tatou malo kasialika aoao.

Tulouna a lana afioga le kovana kasialika o le sui o le kaisa I Samoa nei.

Susu mai Malietoa, Afio mai Tupua Ua fa’amanatuiana ai aiga e lua I o oulua tofiga Kasialika o le Fautua.

Tulouna a le vasega a Faipule Kasialika o e lagolago malosi I le Malo.

Afifio mai le nofo a vasega o tofiga Kasialika o e usu fita I le tautua I le malo".

The first German Governor, Wilhelm Solf, later went on to become Secretary for the Colonies of Imperial Germany.

New Zealand troops landed on 'Upolu unopposed on 29 August 1914 and seized control from the German authorities, following a request by Britain for New Zealand to perform their "great and urgent imperial service."

From the end of World War I until 1962, New Zealand controlled Samoa as a Class C Mandate under trusteeship through the League of Nations, then through the United Nations. There followed a series of New Zealand administrators who were responsible for two major incidents. In the first incident, approximately one fifth of the Samoan population died in the influenza epidemic of 1918–1919. In 1919 The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Epidemic concluded that there had been no epidemic of pneumonic influenza in Western Samoa before the arrival of the 'SS Talune' from Auckland on 7 November 1918. The NZ administration allowed the ship to berth in breach of quarantine; within seven days of this ship's arrival influenza became epidemic in Upolu and then spread rapidly throughout the rest of the territory.

The second major incident arose out of an initially peaceful protest by the Mau (which literally translates as "strongly held opinion"), a non-violent popular movement which had its beginnings in the early 1900s on Savai'i, led by Lauaki Namulauulu Mamoe, an orator chief deposed by Solf. In 1909, Lauaki was exiled to Saipan and died en route back to Samoa in 1915.

By 1918, Samoa had population of some 38,000 Samoans and 1,500 Europeans. By the late 1920s the resistance movement against colonial rule had gathered widespread support during the mistreatment of the Samoan people by the New Zealand administration. One of the Mau leaders was Olaf Frederick Nelson, a half Samoan and half Swedish merchant. Nelson was eventually exiled during the late 1920s and early 1930s, but he continued to assist the organisation financially and politically. In accordance with the Mau's non-violent philosophy, the newly elected leader, High Chief Tupua Tamasese Lealofi, led his fellow uniformed Mau in a peaceful demonstration in downtown Apia on 28 December 1929.

The New Zealand police attempted to arrest one of the leaders in the demonstration. When he resisted, a struggle developed between the police and the Mau. The officers began to fire randomly into the crowd and a Lewis machine gun, mounted in preparation for this demonstration, was used to disperse the demonstrators. Chief Tamasese was shot from behind and killed while trying to bring calm and order to the Mau demonstrators, screaming "Peace, Samoa". Ten others died that day and approximately 50 were injured by gunshot wounds and police batons.

That day would come to be known in Samoa as Black Saturday. The Mau grew, remaining steadfastly non-violent, and expanded to include a highly influential women's branch. After repeated efforts by the Samoan people, Western Samoa gained independence in 1962 and signed a Friendship Treaty with New Zealand. Samoa, the first smallisland country in the Pacific to become independent, joined the Commonwealth of Nations on 28 August 1970. In 2002, New Zealand's prime minister Helen Clark, on a trip to Samoa, formally apologised for New Zealand's role in the events of 1918 and 1929.

In July 1997 the government amended the constitution to change the country's name from Western Samoa to Samoa.

The US territory of American Samoa protested the move, asserting that the change diminished its own identity. As of 2012 American Samoans still use the terms Western Samoa and Western Samoans to describe the independent State of Samoa and its inhabitants. Travel writer Paul Theroux noted marked differences between the societies in Samoa and American Samoa.

21st century:

From 7 September 2009, the government has changed the driving orientation for motorists and Samoans now drive on the left hand side of the road. This brings Samoa into line with many other countries in the region. Samoa is the first country in recent years, and the first in the 21st century, to switch to driving on the left.

At the end of December 2011, Samoa jumped forward by one day, omitting 30 December from the local calendar, when the nation moved to the west of the International Date Line. This was designed to help the nation boost its economy by doing business with Australia and New Zealand. Before this change, Samoa was 21 hours behind Sydney, but the change means it is now three hours ahead. The previous timezone was agreed on 4 July 1892, to work in line with American traders based in California.

Children's Day I n t 'l - Jun 01

Children's Day is recognized on various days in many places around the world, to honor children globally. It was first proclaimed by the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in 1925 and then established universally in 1954 to protect an "appropriate" day.

International Day for Protection of Children, is observed in many countries as Children's Day on June 1 since 1950, was established by the Women's International Democratic Federation on its congress in Moscow (22 November 1949). Major global variants include a Universal Children's Day on November 20, by United Nations recommendation.

Madaraka Day Kenya - Jun 01

Madaraka Day, 1 June, commemorates the day that Kenya attained internal self-rule in 1963, preceding full independence from the United Kingdom on 12 December 1963.

Mother & Child Day Mongolia - Jun 01

This day is in annual 1th of June. In Mongolia, Mother's and Children's Day, is a celebration and show appreciation for mothers and children all across the country.

First this day was only children’s day so now the day is changed to Mother and Children’s day. Most children happy and to doing great works to Mom and local people parading and happy show performance for Kids voice (Dance, sing etc). All children look forward to becoming this day. In all honesty, the celebrations focus far more on the children than the mothers. families gather at the park in Ulaanbaatar, which become a veritable children’s heaven. Families travel out of the city or visit places that children find enjoyable, such as the cinema or local toy shops. In some towns and villages there are presentations and speeches delivered in the main square, with local vendors selling traditional Mongolian foods. Mother’s and Children’s Day is an international celebration and is celebrated as a public holiday in Mongolia.

National Tree Planting Day Cambodia - Jun 01

National Tree Planting Day is on June 1. Cambodia celebrates an arbor day on 9 July.

Arbor Day (from the Latin arbor, meaning tree) is a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees. Today, many countries observe such a holiday. Though usually observed in the spring, the date varies, depending on climate and suitable planting season.

Emancipation Day Tonga - Jun 04

June 4 is a national holiday in the Kingdom of Tonga, celebrating its full independence from Britain. Located in the Pacific Ocean some 1,250 miles north of New Zealand, the island nation of Tonga consists of about 150 islands, 36 of which are inhabited. With a population of about 120,000, Tonga is ruled by a royal family that goes back to 1831.

On June 4, 1863, King George Tupuo I abolished the system of serfdom in the island nation of Tonga. The historic occasion is remembered on Emancipation Day, which is celebrated just after the conclusion of the annual threeday Ha'apai Festival. The Ha'apai Festival begins on Tonga's outer islands and ends on Lifuka Island on June 4th. Both the festival and Emancipation Day are marked with feasts and dancing.

Dayak Festival Malaysia - M a y 3 1

Gawai Dayak is a festival celebrated by Dayaks in Sarawak and West Kalimantan, which are officially public holidays on 31 May and 1 June every year in Sarawak, Malaysia. It is both a religious and social occasion.

The idea for Gawai Dayak started way back in 1957 in a radio forum held by Tan Kingsley and Owen Liang, a radio programme organiser. This generated a lot of interest among the Dayak community. Up till 1962, the British colonial government refused to recognise the Dayak Day, but instead called it the Sarawak Day which was meant to be celebrated by all Sarawakians as a national day regardless of tribes.

The first Gawai was hosted by Datuk Michael Buma, a Betong native, at his house at Siol Kandis, Kuching on 1 June 1963, before it was officially gazetted on 25 September 1964 as a public holiday in place of Sarawak Day after the formation of the Federation of Malaysia.

It was first celebrated on 1 June 1965 and became a symbol of unity, aspiration and hope for the Dayak community. Today, it is an integral part of the Dayak social life. It is a thanksgiving day marking a bountiful harvest and a time to plan for the new farming season or other endeavours ahead.

Introduction The word Gawai in Iban means festival whereas

Dayak people is a collective name for the native ethnic groups of Sarawak and neighbouring Indonesian Kalimantan. The natives are mostly the Iban people previously-known as Sea Dayak, followed by the Bidayuh Iban maidens dressed in full costume during people known as Land Dayak in the past and the Orang Ulu people (inclusive of Kayans, Kenyahs, Lun Gawai festival in Debak, Betong region, Bawangs, etc.). Thus, Gawai Dayak literally means Sarawak "Dayak Festival".

The Dayaks are the indigenous native people of Borneo. Dayak is a generic term for over 200 riverine and hilldwelling ethnic subgroups which are located principally in the interior of Borneo. They have their own dialect, customs, laws, territory and culture, although common distinguishing traits are readily identifiable. Dayak languages are categorised as part of the Austronesian languages in Asia. The Dayaks were animist and paganistic in belief; however most converted to Christianity recently. Estimates for the Dayak population range from 2 to 4 million.

Dayak would visit their friends and relatives on this gawai day. Such visits are more commonly known as "ngabang" in the Iban language. Those too far away to visit would receive greeting cards or wishing gawai greetings via radio broadcasting. If there is a formal invitation to visit, the guest welcoming (ngalu pengabang) procession will be performed by the inviting longhouse.

Preparation before Gawai Dayak

The mode of celebration varies from place to place. Preparation starts early. In fact, after the longhouse agrees to hold a big festival, the Dayaks may need to plant paddy in farms adjacent to each other and to implement a labour-exchange program called "bedurok", which is meant to ensure getting enough paddy at the end of the year in readiness for the big feast. Nowadays, some cash may be needed to buy rice from towns for the purpose of celebrating the gawai day particularly in places where paddy farming is no longer carried out or when the yield is not sufficient to cater the certain number of invited guests.

First of all, tuak (rice wine), the traditional drink of Dayaks, is brewed at least one month before the celebration. The drink is brewed using the glutinous rice from the recent bountiful harvest mixed with home-made yeast for fermentation. In the old days, tuak used to be a genuine liquid from the glutinuous rice so that a large quantity of is fermented but nowadays, only a small amount is used because a lot of water after being mixed with sugar is added into the rice which has been mixed with yeast called "ciping". Beside tuak, the Ibans also make a stronger alcoholic drink called "langkau". This drink is similar to vodka and brewed by heating fermented tuak with fire to vaporise the alcohol, then cooling the alcohol with water and collecting it in a container. Among the Bidayuhs, this is called "arak tonok" which means burnt spirit.

The longhouse itself may be cleaned, repaired and repainted by co-operation (gotong-royong in Malay) among the longhouse dwellers, if necessary, in time for the celebration. The longhouse itself is constructed in a unique way as a living home and ritual place of worship with the main tiang pemun post and the designated start point of all building materials ("pun ramu"). So, this architecture must remain intact. Timber and wooden materials may be obtained from nearby reserve forests (e.g. "pulau galau, pulau ban"), if still available. Otherwise, these have to be bought from towns.

The inside walls of the longhouse may be decorated with "ukir" pictorial murals with tree and wild animal motifs, and split bamboo designs by men with the decorating skills. The Orang Ulu are famous for their colourful paintings of tree of life on their house walls and their house posts are elaborately-carved. Some men will get traditional tattoos on their bodies to signify their adventures and experiences with land and marine life motifs in time for the gawai.

Highly decorated shields may be made and displayed near the family room door. Old human skulls obtained during headhunting raids, if still kept, are cleaned and shown for exposition. Heirloom jars may be cleaned for exhibition.

Deer horns may be hung on the longhouse posts to hang highly decorated swords and other household items.

"Pantar" (long chair) may be built along the upper area of the ruai gallery for sitting guests especially in traditional longhouses. This is a specially raised chair with the tanju verandah wall as the back rest. Therefore, this day is sometimes called "ari mantar". Now, modern furniture like tables and chairs may be bought for comfort. Electric fans or even air-conditioners may be purchased if electricity supply has reached the longhouse. Old wooden longhouse ("rumah kayu") may be replaced with concrete and bricks to build it into a terraced longhouse ("rumah batu") either single or double storey if income and finance permits and when all family agrees to do so.

Just before the gawai, traditional cake delicacies are prepared from glutinous rice flour mixed with sugar like sarang semut" (ant nest cake), "cuwan" (molded cake) and "kui sepit" (twisted cake) which can last long while kept tight inside a jar because they are deep-fried until hardened but quite brittle when eaten. "Penganan iri" (discus-shaped cake) are only made nearer to the celebration because it cannot last long. This is because during cooking, it is lifted from the hot frying oil while not fully hardened and still contains moisture. The sugar used can be the brown nipah sugar or sugar cane.

As the big day approaches, everyone will be busy with general tidying up, grave visiting, paddy drying and milling, collecting and preparing foods for the festival and final house decoration, where necessary.

A visit to clean the graveyard is conducted and offerings made to the dead before the actual festival. After the visit, it is important to bathe before entering the longhouse to ward off bad luck.

Before milling the paddy, it needs to be sufficiently dry to make the grains stronger by getting off of any moisture and not broken while milling. In the old days, traditional tools like rice miller, rice mortar and winnowing basket are used to turn the paddy into rice. This process is quite lengthy and time-consuming, therefore done in groups. Nowadays, modern rice milling machines are available. Those who do not plant rice now will buy rice from towns if they can afford to do so.

Before the Gawai eve, the longhouse folks may organise a hunting or fishing trip if forest is still available in the rural areas to get wild meats and fish from rivers or even seas if nearby. Both can be preserved with salt in a jar or smoked over the firewood platform above the cooking earth in the kitchen, in waiting for the coming feast. Now, poultry may be bought from towns.

Any wild animal parts like the horn, teeth and claws, and bird horns and feathers will be used to decorate and repair their traditional costumes for the coming big feasts.

Celebration on first day of Gawai Dayak

On the Gawai Eve, people will take sago, aping, sawit or coconut palm shoots which are mostly for making soup with meats and collect other vegetables like the wild miding fern, fiddlehead fern, bamboo shoots, tapioca leaves and Dayak round brinjals from nearby jungles, farms or gardens early in the morning.

Upon their return, some poultry and chickens will be slaughtered for the festival. Some of their meats will be cooked in middle-aged thin-wall bamboo logs to make the traditional dish called "pansoh" or "lulun" in the Iban language.

The meats will be first mixed with traditional herbs like lemon grass, ginger, bungkang leaves and salt to taste before putting them into the bamboo logs.

The remaining meats will be preserved in salt if too much to be cooked at once or straight away cooked, either fried or souped in mixture with palm shoots. Some of the meats especially the animal heads will be roasted over the open fire for consumption right away while still hot with some tuak served. Traditional cooking is made over open fire from wood as fuel and the cooking implements are made from small tree logs.

Some glutinous rice is cooked in bamboo logs to get the special aroma from the bamboo and thus delicious to be served with the meat cooked in a bamboo log. Normal rice will be cooked using pots at the kitchen with fire made from wood. The fire wood will give the cooked rice a distinctive aroma. Some Dayaks especially Orang Ulu may wrap up rice in the "long" green leaves before steaming it inside a pot to get a special aroma. Nowadays, rice is cooked using a gas stock or rice cooker with several pandan leaves put in to give a delicious smell. Therefore, nowadays Dayaks may have both types of the cooking facility with the modern one inside the kitchen while the traditional one just outside the kitchen to let the smoke out of the family room.

Meanwhile in the longhouse, highly decorated mats will be laid out on the gallery which runs through the entire length of the longhouse for guests to sit on. There are various types of Dayaks' traditional hand-woven mats which are used for seating guests, These are the reed mat woven with colourful designs, "lampit" rattan mat, "bidai" tree bark mat and "peradani" mat. The walls of most family rooms and gallery are decorated with traditional blankets like the woven Pua Kumbu or tied cloth ("kain kebat") which are made with unique Dayak designs. The women are very much keen to showcase their hard labour of mat-making and hand-weaving during the festival. Even some wonderful traditional baskets can be seen during the gawai.

Celebration on first night of Gawai Dayak

The celebration starts on the evening of 31 May. In most Iban longhouses, it starts with a ceremony to cast away the spirit of greed (Muai Antu Rua), signifying the non-interference of the spirit of bad luck in the celebration. Two children or men each dragging a winnowing basket (chapan) will pass each family's room. Every family will throw some unwanted article into the basket. The unwanted articles will be tossed to the ground from the end of the longhouse for the spirit of bad luck.

Around 6 pm or as the sun sets, a ritual offering ceremony (miring or bedara) will take place at every family room, one after another in turn. Before the ceremony, ritual music called gendang rayah is performed. Old ceramic plates, tabak (big brass chalice) or containers made of split bamboo skins (called kelingkang) will be used to put on the offerings to deities.

The Iban Dayaks believe in seven deities whose names are Sengalang Burong (the god of war which is represented by the brahminy kite in this world), Biku Bunsu Petara (the great priest second in command), Menjaya Manang (the first shaman and god of medicine), Sempulang Gana with Semerugah (the god of agrriculture and land), Selampadai (as the god of creation and procreativity), Ini Inee/Andan as the god of justice and Anda Mara as the god of wealth.

In addition, Iban Dayaks will call upon the legendary and mythical people of Panggau Libau and Gelong, and some good helpful spirits or ghosts to the feast.

The number of offering sets to be prepared may include at least nine sets which are at the four corners of the family room, one each at the kitchen, the rice containing jar, the gallery, the tanju and the farm. Other highly prized possessions such as precious old jars and modern items like rice milling engine, boat engine and car may be also be given offerings for continuous usability and safety of use. Any pengaroh (charm) will be brought out for this offering session to ensure its continuous effectiveness and to avoid madness to the owner. Even nowadays, wallets will be placed among the offering to increase its tuah or fortune of the owners.

Each offering set for festivals normally contains seven traditional items, namely: the cigarette nipah leaves and tobacco, betel nut and sireh leaves, glutinous rice in hand-woven leave container (senupat), rice cake (tumpi), sungki (glutinous rice cooked in buwan leaves), glutinuos rice cooked in bamboo logs (asi pulut lulun), penganan iri (cake of glutinous rice flour mixed with nipah sugar), ant nest cake and moulded cake, poprice (made from glutinous paddy grains heated in a wok or pot), hard-boiled chicken eggs and last but not the least, the tuak rice wine poured over or contained in a small bamboo cup.

After all the offering sets are completed, the Feast Chief thanks the gods for the good harvest, and asks for guidance, blessings and long life as he waves a cockerel over the offerings ("bebiau"). The cockerel will then be sacrificed by slicing its neck and its wing feathers are pulled out and brushed onto its bleeding neck after which each feather is placed as sacrifice ("genselan") onto each of the offering sets. The offerings are now placed onto their respective designated locations.

Once the offering ceremony is done, dinner for the family is served at the gallery which is contributed by every family in the longhouse. This dinner is called "makai di ruai" (meal at gallery) or makai rami" (festival meal). All the best traditional foods, delicacies and drinks that have been prepared so far are showcased for this family dinner reunion.

Relatives and friends are invited to join in this get together dinner.

Just before midnight, a spirit-welcoming procession (called Ngalu Petara in Iban) up and down the gallery seven times is performed. During this procession, a beauty pageant to choose the festival's queen and king (Kumang and Keling Gawai) is sometimes conducted based on completeness of traditional costume and of course a bit of beauty and handsomeness.

Meanwhile, foods and drinks including traditional cakes and delicacies are continued to be served either at the gallery or within the family room and ready for consumption by anyone based on the open house concept. It is time to show generosity and friendliness to all!

Just before the merrymaking starts, an advising session called "begeliga" by the chief and elders will be held with all those present in the longhouse to remind everybody to keep order, peace and harmony in general and to maintain the happy occasion and festive mood. Heavy fines (ukom) will be imposed on those who break the customary "adat" and festive ground rules such as quarrelling and fighting. Anyone got drunk and looking for a fight or breaking up household items may be caught and tied down onto the floor until recovery.

At midnight, the gong is beaten to call the celebrants to attention. The longhouse Chief (tuai rumah) or Festival Chief will lead everyone to drink the longevity drink (Ai Pengayu in Iban) to mark the ending of the current year and the coming of the new year! This drink is normally the newly made tuak from the bountiful harvest. The chief will say aloud a short prayer (sampi) before everybody drinks the longevity water after which the longhouse dwellers wish each other "Longevity, Wellness and Wealth while living on this world".

In Iban, the famous line of festival greeting of "Gayu Guru, Gerai Nyamai, Senang Lantang Nguan Menua" is repeatedly wished to each other. Apologies for any past mistakes or quarrels may be made to forgive and forget to maintain harmony and peace within the community. Where a bard is available, he may be asked to recite a short chant called "timang ai pengayu" to bless the longevity water before the chief says the short prayer.

The celebration now turns merrier and less formal with some festival programs organised. Among others, a tree of life called "ranyai" in Iban will be set up at the gallery for celebration purposes and to showcase the traditional ngajat dance, sword dance (bepencha) or self-defence martial art (bekuntau) and other merry making activities around the tree according to the sound of traditional music played.

One main activity is called badigir (Lining up) of those present or guests, perhaps according to their social ranking status. These men are offered by ladies in costumes a bowl (jalong) of tuak rice wine, possibly encouraged with a pantun song sung by one of the ladies and some food delicacies (tabas). The winner would be awarded a coconut which symbolizes a trophy head skull. There may be several line-ups such for senior men, youth, women or ladies.

Another event is for a group of youth to finish drinking tuak rice wine from a medium-sized jar called "kebok" and in return they are requested to donate some amount of money as a toke of appreciation.

There are many variations of the traditional ngajat dance which basically revolve around the male dance and female dance which consist of graceful and precise movements of the body, hands and feet with occasional shouts of battle cry. The famous and interesting themes are called "ngajat lesong" (rice mortar dance) and warrior dance for men while ngajat pua kumbu (ritual cloth dance) for women.

A ngajat dance contest may be held during this time at the ranyai tree of life. There are various types of ngajat traditional dance which are performed by ladies and gentlemen as mentioned above. The Iban male traditional dance is meant to show strength and bravery and may imitate the movements of a hornbill which is regarded as the king of worldly birds by the Iban Dayaks. Beside ganjat, the Iban men may perform bekuntau (self=defence martial art) and bepencha (sword dance). The Iban female dance involves more graceful movements of their body, hands and feet.

The ngajat dance is accompanied by a traditional musical set which is made of an engkerumong set (percussion), tawak (big gong), bebendai (small gong) and bedup (drum) which are each played by an individual. The Orang Ulu music is played using the sape. Nowadays, the traditional musics and native songs have been recorded so can be played easily.

Another important activity is singing traditional poems for entertainment purposes like pantun, ramban, jawang, sanggai and pelandai while merry-making (bebungah or bebuti) and offering drinks to guests or other persons. Important guests may be asked to break up a coconut as a game (uti) to symbolise the great occasion by Sengalang Burong (the god of war) during the Iban timang incantation which is called "ngelanpang" (chopping off the head skull to present various kinds of beneficial seeds to humankind).

For Bidayuh Dayaks, their traditional dances comprises tolak bala (danger repealing) dance performed before the harvesting season to ask for blessing and to protect the community from danger, totokng dance that is performed during the harvest festival to welcome the paddy soul and guests, langi julang ritual dance which is performed at the closing of the harvest festival to thank gods for bestowing good health and rich harvest and the eagle-warrior fight dance to win over a girl as a wife which is usually performed after the harvest season as a form of entertainment for guests of the longhouse with the outstretched hands of the dancers imitate the movements of the eagles as they flap their wings in flight and then they attack each other with the eagle eventually fell unconscious so leaving the warrior as the winner.

Orang Ulu will play their musical instrument called "sape" to accompany their "datun lansan" dance. Nowadays, other ethnic groups also may dance in tune to sape musics.

Other activities that may follow on or extend to the next few days include (blowpipe) sumpit contest, traditional game contest, cockfighting matches (nyabong), mini sports and fun games.

The Dayaks love to rear chickens for food and cockerels for cockfighting which is part of their ritual festivals and their favourite past time. They have recognised many types of the cockerel feathers based on similarities with other birds and fishes, and intimate knowledge to read the luck and fate of the cockerels based on the scales on their feet.

The blowpipe is a very long straight cylindrical tube (about 3 metres) made of a hard wood with a circular hole drilled through its middle centreline and its arrow tip is poisoned to kill animals and birds while hunting after being hit.

Other traditional game competitions include the tuak drinking, arm-wrestling (bibat lengan), small log pulling (betarit lampong), rope pulling (tarit tali) and foot-banging (bapatis) contests.

Mini sports may be organised on the ground during the day e.g. football, sepak takraw (rattan kickball) and futsal which is popular nowadays among the youth. Fun games are organised for adults and children such as egg-rolling, plate passing according to the taboh music, running in gunny sacks and balloon blowing.

Of course, nowadays karaoke and joget dance becomes one of the favourite activities to celebrate the gawai.

Celebration on second day of Gawai Dayak

On the first day of June, homes of the Dayaks are opened to visitors and guests. This practice is called "ngabang" in Iban. Open house may also be organised by Dayak associations or non-government organisations several days afterwards until the end of June where the gawai will be closed a ngiling bidai (mat rolling up) ceremony. It is time to showcase their traditional foods and drinks, cultural performances, ritual ceremonies and the Dayak hospitality in general.

Normally during gawai, ladies and gentlemen wear their traditional colourful costumes called "ngepan" in Iban, especially for welcoming guests, before changing to modern clothes. The traditional attire set of Iban gentlemen include a loincloth (sirat or cawat), animal skin protective coat (gagong), headgear with peacock and hornbill feathers (lelanjang), chains over the neck (marik), silver armlets and anklelets along with a shield, sword and spear. However, Dayaks now wear modern clothing and traditional costumes are not easily obtainable.

Of course, the body of gentlemen may already be decorated with tribal tattoos (kalingai or pantang in Iban) which signify their life experience and journey. Nowadays, temporary tattoos can be made onto the body just for the celebrations except specific signatures like the frog design on the front of the man's neck and tegulun design on the backs of the hand, which both indicate someone had successfully chopped off human heads during headhunting or killed enemy during military combats in modern days. However, some designs are based on marine life which are meant for protection and rescue of the wearers if they are in danger or if their boats capsize or sink in the rivers or seas while travelling elsewhere in search of fortune and better life.

The traditional costume set of Iban ladies consists of a hand-woven cloth (kain betating) worn around the waist, rattan and brass ring high corset around the upper body, selampai (long piece of scalp) worn over the shoulders, a woven bead chain over the neck and shoulders called marik empang, decorated high-comb (sugu tinggi) over the hair lump (called sanggul), silver belt (lampit), armlet, anklet and orb fruit purse. The other Dayak tribes would showcase their own traditional costumes during the festival. In the past, it is customary for Dayak ladies to show off their bare breasts as a sign of beauty to all guests during festivals but this is no longer practised.

For Bidayuh Dayaks, Dayung Boris are the maidens of the Gawai Festival, dressed in traditional dresses. Their traditional community building is called the “baruk” which is a roundhouse that rises about five feet off the ground. This serves as the granary and the meeting house for the settlement’s community. Longhouses were typical in the olden days, similar to that of the Ibans but many now live in separate houses in a village style.

The traditional costumes will show more or less the economic status of the wearers as not all can make or afford the woven clothes and silvers. Hand weaving is a highly skilled job and only a few ladies will eventually become accomplished master weavers. Certain designs used in the weaving are sacred and the woven cloths are only used for ritual festivals. The social ranking of Iban ladies will be determined after her death during their Gawai Antu where the traditional customary law called the widow fee (adat tebalu in Iban) will be paid in her honour and accomplishments in life.

Therefore, weaving is the top skill for ladies to master while the men master the art of agriculture especially rice farming and later on planting of economic crops, and headhunting when it was still practised. In addition, the men are encouraged to go on journeys in search of better life and fortune e.g. wild rubber tapping in the past and working offshore nowadays. The men are also expected to learn skills for hunting, fishing and honey taking from high tapang trees. The social ranking for Iban men are determined during taking their widower fee during the Gawai Antu.

Traditionally, when guests just enter or arrive at a longhouse, the reception ladies will quickly line up to form two rows on the left and right hand sides of the ladder and the door to welcome, shake hands nowadays and offer the guests tuak while the guests pass in between them. These are called the welcoming drink (ai tiki) followed by the thirst-quenching drink (ai aus). This guest reception occasion is called "nyambut pengabang" in Iban.

From time to time, the guests while seated are served several more rounds of tuak as the washing drink (ai basu), profit drink (ai untong) and respect drink (ai basa). This activity to show hospitality is called the watering of guests or "nyibur temuai" in Iban. Non-alcoholic drinks and non-pork foods are also served to respect certain guests according to their religion, health conditions or simply personal preference.

During conversations, it is very common among Dayaks to trace their family ties using genealogy (tusut in Iban) for which a tusut drink may be offered. Before ngajat dancing or nowadays karaoke singing, a drink of tuak is also offered. Before making any speeches, a glass of tuak is given to the speakers to encourage and motivate them. One type of a special speech called jaku ansah (sharpening speech) is recited before the guests of honour stand up to speak.

For formal invitations, the guests of honour will be received with a "miring" offering ceremony at the ground nearby the longhouse. Upon approcahing the longhouse's ladder, the key guest is offered to open a fort (called "muka kuta" in Iban) which is signified by slashing using a sword a bamboo fence set up crossing the path towards the longhouse after a recital of special speech by a talented poet. This is followed by an animal-spearing occasion (mancak in Iban) at the foot of the longhouse ladder before stepping up into the longhouse.

Then a guest procession (ngalu pengabang) along the longhouse gallery ensues at least one round before the guest and company are seated at the gallery of the headman, the inviting feast chief or any designated family. This procession is led by a group of traditional ngajat dancers (normally a man and few ladies) who are followed by the important persons with the entourage and finally the traditional musician crew.

After one round procession, the guests are seated at and around the gallery of the headman or the feast chief. After that, a guest prayer (biau pengabang) is recited by a talented speaker like the headman or the lemambang bard while swaying and holding a chicken over the heads of guests. Once recital is completed, several rounds of drinks (nyibur temuai) are offered again to guests while a simple offering is prepared by selected guests. Then some speeches and formality may follow. Modern furniture complete with a modern public announcement system may be available on this special occasion.

Before the guests are offered foods, a special speech (called "muka kujuk" in Iban) to open the traditional cloth covering over food containers is recited. In the past, guests are seated in lines and served foods in plates by the inviting persons to evenly distribute and ensure everyone got foods but nowadays, self-service or buffet style is practised.

Next, a set of specially made ground rules of conduct for the festival is announced to all guests and the longhouse own dwellers by the headman or the feast chief before merry-making starts. This is called "begeliga" in Iban. It normally contains rules of discipline and reminders along with heavy fines for making disturbance, trouble, quarrelling or fighting among those present.

After the formality has passed, all guests will be invited to visit any of the families in the longhouse, usually one after another following the stronger invitations or family connections and skipping a few family rooms where necessary.

A short longhouse may consist of ten to thirty family rooms in a row while moderately long ones can reach between above thirty to fifty family rooms and the really long ones can be between above fifty to one hundred family rooms.

The really long ones can be split into several terraced houses with one headman in charge.

Another merry-making activity here is called bantil (persuaded drinking) of men by ladies to ensure guests are wellserved with drinks to overcome their shyness. It is common to reject several first offers of food and drinks among the guests while it is a custom to offer food and drinks to guests several times as a sign of hospitality and respect to fellow others. The ladies may sing the traditional poem called pantun to request and entice the men to drink a large amount of drinks such as tuak contained is a big bowl or jalong.

In another hospitality game called uti by the Ibans, some very important persons (VIPs) may be offered to cut open a coconut placed on a ceramic plate using a blunt knife without touching the coconut or breaking the plate. Successful attempt is rewarded with plenty of tuak drinks and tabas food. A coconut is usually used to check on the conditions of someone's heart and fate where a white coconut flesh is a good indication but a black one would be a bad one.

Celebration of ritual festivals around Gawai Dayak

Gawai Dayak celebrations may last for around a month or so, which can be very busy several days before and after 1 June. It is during this time of year that many Dayak weddings (Melah Pinang or Gawai Lelabi) take place, as it is one of the rare occasions when all the members of the community return home to their ancestral longhouse.

Some longhouses and individual Dayaks will take this opportunity to hold one or several of the traditional original festivals. Within the same longhouse, there can be several types of festival going on, depending on the needs of the individual Dayak families.

Most Iban will hold minor rites called bedara which can be bedara mata (unripe offering) inside the family bilek room and bedara mansau (ripe offering) at the family ruai gallery. Berunsur (Cleansing) is held at the family tanju verandah.

The next intermediate ritual festivals called gawa and thus often celebrated are the Sandau Ari (Mid-Day Festival), Tresang Mansau (Red Bamboo Pole) and Gawai Kalingkang which is the early stage of Bird or Proper Festival celebration.

In the Saribas and Skrang region, the Iban Dayaks living here can choose one of the following traditional feasts to hold: Gawai Bumai (Farm-related Festivals) such as Gawai Batu (Whetstone Festival) to sharpen their knives and axes for jungle clearing of the next rice farming cycle or Gawai Benih (Paddy Seed Festival) to pray for bountiful harvests, Gawai Burong (Bird Festival) especially in the old days to honour the god of war and his entourage. and Gawai Antu (Festival of the Dead) for any dead family members.

In the Baleh region, the Iban can decide to celebrate Gawai Baintu-intu (Wellness-related Festival), Gawai Bumai (Farming Festival), Gawai Amat (Proper Festival) to request for divine supernatural assistance) and Gawai Ngelumbung (Tomb Building Festival). Some may decide to stage a Gawai Mimpi (Dream Festival) when told by spirits in their dreams while sleeping. Some Iban will sleep covered by the pua kumbu blanket while sleeping to seek certain dreams.

Fortune-related festivals include Gawai Tuah (Fortune Festival) to seek and welcome luck in Gawai Ngiga Tuah (Fortune-Seeking Festival) and Gawai Namaka Tuah (Fortune-Welcome Festival) and Gawai Tajau (Jar Festival) to welcome recently obtained precious ceramic jars.

For any newly completed longhouses, a Main House Post Banging Festival (Gawai Mangkong Tiang) is celebrated upon migrating into the new home as a house warming party and to ritually request for good health, long life and prosperity for its inhabitants from gods.

Some Ibans may decide to hold Gawai Sakit (Sickness Healing Festival) for those who seek divine magical healing by a deity during the Gawai Dayak season when rice is plenty and a bit of money is available and after preceding traditional ceremonies called "belian" by manang shamans, "sugi sakit" and "renong sakit" by lemambang bards have failed to produce any positive results.

During any of these festivals, it is vital to serve at least sufficient foods and drinks to please the invited deity with his entourage and all guests to seek generous bestowment and to avoid any embarrassment. Therefore, those guests who come do chip in their respective contributions to the feast chief as they deem fit and necessary, which is on a voluntary basis.

Each of these festivals have their own processes and procedures although the basic outline may be similar to each other. Some more important feasts like Bird Festival will be held earlier than other festivals within the same longhouse to avoid the spoil of the rice wine by a certain spirit known as "Indai Bilai" during the Festival for the Dead. The Gawai Antu or Ngelumbong which is for the dead will be normally held after the ritual festivals and the Gawai Dayak itself which are meant for the living.

For most of these traditional festivals, a sacred invocation incantations called pengap or timang is recited by an appointed group of one leading bard supported by several assistants for the whole night till morning to formally invite a certain deity with his entourage to come to the feast and most importantly, to bring along with them assistance, charms and medicines. These items are believed to facilitate easier and luckier livings of Dayaks during their main endeavours like headhunting in the past which is now prohibited and rightly replaced by adventures and employment-seeking sojourns domestically or overseas, rice farming, planting of economic crops, education for the youth, career building and even trading business ventures.

Christian Dayaks will replace the traditional offering ceremony with a prayer session within his family room. They normally attend a church mass service led by their prayer leader called "tuai sembiang". They may celebrate the various festivals in the Christian way to meet their traditional and customary obligations by offering prayers to their almighty God. In fact, the Gawai Dayak celebration is generic in nature and meant to mark the festive season for all Dayaks regardless of their tribes and geographical locations. This celebration signifies their common identity!

The gawai celebrations are most likely led and coordinated by the longhouse chief or a selected representative who is usually assisted by the village's development and security committee.

Celebration of Pre-Gawai Dayak In urban areas, Dayaks will organise pre-gawai gatherings at community centres or restaurants to celebrate the

evening just like in the longhouses. Nowadays, a pre-gawai celebration in the form of pre-gawai dinners is common before those Dayaks going home for the actual gawai celebration with their family in the longhouse or village. These gatherings are nrmally organized by Dayak associations. It is considered a time for family cum community reunion once a year. A ngajat dancing and karaoke session may be made available while singing and joget-dancing to the Dayak modern native songs.

Closing of Gawai Dayak

The ending of Gawai Dayak takes place around one month from 1 June which is towards the end of June. The closing ceremony is signified by symbolically rolling back a miring-ceremony mat called bidai by each family within the longhouse. It is popularly known as "Ngiling Bidai" among the Iban Dayaks.

After all the celebrations and festival are completed, the Dayak people return to their normal life while those who work in towns and elsewhere will go back to their jobs to continue life as usual until the next coming festive season.

Constitution Day Denmark - June 05

On June 5, Denmark celebrates Constitution Day. It is held to commemorate the both the original constitution created in 1849 and the amended constitution in 1953.

History A complex series of political

and diplomatic issues occurred in and around Denmark in the late 1830s that awakened thoughts of independence in the people in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. The two duchies were intertwined through the 1460 Treaty of Ribe which prohibited the two from being separated.

Both duchies were heavily German, and Denmark’s talks of pulling Schleswig into Denmark while leaving Holstein behind caused increased tensions between Denmark and the German Confederation. On January 28, 1848, King Christian VIII proclaimed that a new constitution would be created that would incorporate both duchies into Denmark.

Schleswig and Holstein appealed to the German Confederation seeking incorporation into its structure. These differing opinions led to an uprising that forced the next King, Frederick VII, to rescind the constitutional idea, amending it to a more liberal format that would include only Schleswig. Differences in opinion and the inclusion of Prussia in the situation lead to the First War of Schleswig.

During this war, on June 5, 1849, Denmark finally signed into law a new constitution making Denmark a constitutional monarchy. To the disgruntlement of some Danes, however, both Schleswig and Holstein were given their own constitutions that brought control of the regions to a wealthy class of German landowners. The rights to the two duchies would in 1864 eventually be given up by Denmark upon its defeat in the Second War of Schleswig.

Later in the mid-20th century, a significant number of changes were proposed for Denmark’s constitution, and on June 5, 1953, the new constitution was signed into law. Changes included the allowance of female succession to the throne, the addition of a unicameral legislature, and the granting of colonial status to Greenland.

Celebrations

Denmark’s Constitution Day typically sees politicians giving speeches about the state of government in the country.

Many businesses shut down after noon.

Father's Day Denmark - June 05

Father's Day is a celebration honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. Many countries celebrate it on the third Sunday of June but it is also celebrated widely on other days. Father's Day complements Mother's Day, a celebration honoring mothers.

In Denmark, Father's Day is celebrated on June 5. It coincides with Constitution Day, which is a public holiday.

Dame Lois Browne-Evans Day Bermuda - Jun 01

Dame Lois Marie Browne-Evans DBE JP (1 June 1927 – 29 May 2007) was a lawyer and political figure in Bermuda. She led the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) in opposition before being appointed Bermuda's first female Attorney-General. She first gained recognition in 1953 as Bermuda's first female barrister. BrowneEvans died of a suspected stroke on 29 May 2007, three days before her 80th birthday.

Background

Browne-Evans was educated at King's College London, and became Bermuda's first female barrister in 1953 after being called to the bar at Middle Temple in June 1953. She was the first black woman to be elected to the House of Assembly of Bermuda, defeating the long-serving incumbent Sir Bayard Dill, becoming the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Devonshire North constituency in 1963. Five years later she became the leader of the PLP, gaining worldwide recognition as the first female Leader of the Opposition in the British Commonwealth. In 1972 she stepped down as leader but took on the role of Jamaica’s Honorary Consul in Bermuda, the first Bermudian to serve in that capacity. From 1976-85 she again led the PLP in opposition.

In 1998, the PLP achieved its first electoral victory. Browne-Evans was appointed Minister of Legislative Affairs and became the country's first female Attorney-General in 1999. That year, she circumvented a party ban on accepting British honours when she accepted the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire from Queen Elizabeth II, forcing the PLP to abandon its boycott.

She debated at the London and Bermuda Constitutional Conferences and served as delegate to numerous international conferences in Africa, New Zealand, the USA and the Caribbean. Outside of politics, Browne-Evans was a member of the International Federation of Women Lawyers and a founding member of the Bermuda Business and Professional Women's Club. She was the first female member of the Devonshire Recreation Club and a founding partner of Browne & Wade Chambers in Hamilton.

Position on independence

Despite her damehood, Lois Browne-Evans said after a keynote address by Premier Alex Scott at a Founder's Day Luncheon in 2004 that Bermuda would achieve independence from the UK within five years.

Republic Day Italy - Jun 02

A constitutional referendum was held in Italy on 2 June 1946, a key event ofItalian contemporary history. Until 1946, Italy was a kingdom ruled by the House of Savoy, kings of Italy since the Risorgimento and previously rulers of Savoy. However, Benito Mussolini, enjoying the support of the reigning monarch, imposed fascism after the 28 October 1922 March on Rome, eventually engaging Italy in World War II alongside Nazi Germany. In 1946, Italy became a republicafter the results of a popular referendum. Monarchists advanced suspicions of fraud that were never proved. A Constituent Assembly was elected at the same time.

Background The Italian referendum was intended only to determine

whether the head of stateshould come from a family dynasty or be elected by popular vote. Democracywas not a new concept in Italian politics. The Kingdom of Piedmont had become a constitutional monarchy with the liberalizing reforms of King Charles Albert's famous Albertine Statute in 1848. Suffrage, initially limited to select citizens, was gradually expanded; in 1911, the government of Giovanni Giolitti introduced universal suffrage for male citizens.

In this period, the provisions of the Statute were often not observed, however. Instead, the elected Chamber and the Head of Government took major roles. At the beginning of the 20th century, many observers thought that, by comparison to other countries, Italy was developing in the direction of a modern democracy. Essential issues that needed to be resolved included the relationship of the Kingdom with the Roman Catholic Church.

A crisis arose in Italian society as a result of the First World War, social inequalities, and the consequent tension between Marxist and other left-wing parties on one side and conservative liberals on the other. This crisis led to the advent of Fascism, which destroyed freedoms and civil rights and established a dictatorship, breaking the continuity of the still fragile new parliamentary tradition. The support of the ruling elite and especially the monarchy was crucial for the seizure of power by Benito Mussolini. After the March on Rome, King Victor Emmanuel IIIrefused to sign a decree to declare a state of siege, and asked Mussolini to form a new government. The King's decisions were made in accordance with the Statuto, but in opposition to the parliamentary practices of the Italian liberal state, the Fascist Party having a little number of MPs only.

After the invasion of Italy by Allied forces in 1943, Italy and its government were split in two. Mussolini's Grand Fascist Council, with the co-operation of the King, overthrew Mussolini and established a new government headed by Marshal Pietro Badoglio.Germany, concerned with the new government's intentions to negotiate peace with the Allies, invaded and occupied Northern Italy. German paratroopers rescued Mussolini from the hilltop hotel in which he had been imprisoned by the new government. Under pressure from Adolf Hitler, Mussolini established the Italian Social Republic to administer the German-occupied territory. Mussolini declared that the monarchy had been overthrown, and began to establish the apparatus of the new state. The Italian Social Republic was headquartered in the town of Salò, and is commonly known as the Republic of Salò.

Southern Italy, meanwhile, was nominally under the control of the new legitimist government of Badoglio, continuing as the Kingdom of Italy. Rome descended into chaos as fighting erupted between Mussolini loyalists and supporters of the new government, as well as leftist opponents of fascism who emerged from hiding. The King and the Badoglio government left Rome to seek the protection of the Allied forces that occupied the South. With half of Italian territory occupied by the Germans and the rest by the Allies, the restoration of civil rights was abandoned due to the complete disorder in the country. The pre-Fascist-era parties had been disbanded, had only clandestine limited activity and had become out of touch with the population. Consequently, the relationships between these parties, and the balance of power was left to be decided at a later, quieter time. Some political forces organized the Resistance and received a strong popular consensus, but it was impossible to determine what they represented without an election, which could not be held because of the chaotic situation. Almost all the Resistance was anti-monarchist. A temporary alliance between them and the Badoglio government was created by the decision ofJoseph Stalin and Palmiro Togliatti, secretary of the Italian Communist Party, to postpone the problem of the state organisation and focus all efforts on the struggle against Hitler's puppet state in the North.

At the end of the war, Italy was a severely damaged country, with innumerable victims, a destroyed economy, and a desperate general condition. The defeat left the country deprived of the Empire it had fought for in the past two decades, and occupied by foreign soldiers. For some years after 1945, internal, politically motivated fighting continued. The emergence of political forces to replace fascism could not occur until the internal conflict ended and elections could be held. After fighting had died down, a few months were needed before attention could be given to institutional matters.

The first important question regarded the royal family, blamed by many for the fascist regime, the war, and the defeat.

Republican traditions in Italy traditionally hark back to the Roman Republic and the Medieval Communes but remained largely theoretical, as in the conclusion of Machiavelli's Il Principe. The struggle for a Republican Italy independent of foreign powers had been started by Giuseppe Mazzini in the 19th century. The movement Giustizia e Libertà, which continued the traditional Mazzinian ideology, was the second important force during the resistance. It posed the question of the form of the state as a fundamental precondition to developing any further agreements with the other parties.

Giustizia e Libertà joined the Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale (National Liberation Committee, CLN). The various competing political factions agreed that a popular referendum would be held to determine the future choice of Head of State.

Aftermath The new republican constitution was released together with a group of minor dispositions, the 13th of which prescribed

that the male descendants of the Savoy family have to stay in perpetual exile. This disposition was abolished in October 2002, and Vittorio Emanuele, Umberto II's son, entered Italy with his family in the following December, for a short formal visit to the Pope. The abolition of the exile followed an extensive political and juridical discussion that lasted several decades.

Day of Botev and heroes died for Bulgarian freedom Bulgaria - Jun 02

Every year on June 2 at noon, for three minutes the air raid sirens across Bulgaria sound in alarm. Cars stop, pedestrians bow their heads and students rise at their desks. Everyone observes a moment of dignified silence.

The sirens have long since stopped warning of imminent danger – there are no enemy airplanes over Sofia, no foreign armies marching across the Thracian plains. The sirens sound to remind us of those Bulgarians who died for Bulgaria’s freedom and present-day peace.

On June 2 Bulgaria remembers the armies of khan Tervel, who defended Europe against the Arabs, the defenders of Medieval Tarnovo, the heroes of the April uprising, the martyrs of Shipka, the young Bulgarian flying aces who defended Sofia from English bombers, as well as countless other known and unknown Bulgarians who laid their lives in the name of our sovereignty.

On June 2, 1876, Hristo Botev, one of the most celebrated Bulgarians in history, was killed in battle in the crags of Stara Planina near Vratza. A poet, a journalist and a revolutionary, Botev was also extremely intelligent and fervent in his ideals. Deeply convinced of the need for the armed liberation of Bulgaria and a sympathizer of the Paris Commune, Botev takes an active role in the planning activities of the revolutionary committees outside Bulgaria’s borders.

Martyr's Day Uganda - J u n e 0 3

The Uganda Martyrs were Christian converts who were murdered for their faith in the historical kingdom of Buganda, now part of Uganda.

Charles Lwanga and his companions Saint Charles (Carl) Lwanga and his com-

panions, Martyrs of Uganda, were a group of Christians (both Roman Catholics and Anglicans) who were murdered by Mwanga II, the Kabaka (King) of Buganda, between 1885 and 1887. These deaths were part of a three-way religious struggle for political control of the Buganda royal court. In 1877, the Church Missionary Society in London had sent Protestant missionaries to the court, followed two years later by the French Catholic White Fathers. These two competed with each other and the Zanzibar-based Muslim traders for converts and influence. By the mid-1880s, many members of the Buganda court had converted and become proxies for the religious and nationalist conflict being played out in the court. Kabaka Mwanga II, upon his ascent to the throne, attempted to destroy the foreign influences he felt threatened the Buganda state, but was instead deposed by armed converts in 1888.

Anglican James Hannington, the Protomartyr, had been dispatched to be the bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa, but he was executed with his companions before they could enter Buganda.

Twenty-two of the martyrs were Roman Catholics and were canonized by Pope Paul VI on October 18, 1964. Although the Anglicans were not canonized in the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope did mention them. Their feast day is June 3. They were: 1.

Achileo Kiwanuka 2.

Adolphus Ludigo-Mukasa 3.

Ambrosius Kibuuka 4.

Anatoli Kiriggwajjo 5.

Anderea Kaggwa 6.

Antanansio Bazzekuketta 7.

Bruno Sserunkuuma 8.

Charles Lwanga 9.

Denis Ssebuggwawo Wasswa 10.

Gonzaga Gonza 11.

Gyavira Musoke 12.

James Buuzaabalyaawo 13.

John Maria Muzeeyi 14.

Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe 15.

Kizito 16.

Lukka Baanabakintu 17.

Matiya Mulumba 18.

Mbaga Tuzinde 19.

Mugagga Lubowa 20.

Mukasa Kiriwawanvu 21.

Nowa Mawaggali 22.

Ponsiano Ngondwe The Ugandan Martyrs were featured in the film Millions.

The two martyrs of Paimol

The martyrs, Blessed Daudi Okelo and Blessed Jildo Irwa, were two young catechists from Uganda. They belonged to the Acholi tribe, a subdivision of the large Luo group. They lived and were martyred in the years immediately following the foundation of the mission of Kitgum by the Comboni Missionaries in 1915.

Archbishop Janani Luwum

When commemorating the martyrs of Uganda, the Church of England includes Archbishop Janani Luwum, who was murdered in 1977 by Idi Amin's henchmen; they also commemorate Luwum separately on February 17.

Mabo Day Australia-June 03

Mabo Day occurs annually on 3 June. It commemorates Eddie Koiki Mabo (c. 29 June 1936–21 January 1992) a Torres Strait Islander whose campaign for Indigenous land rights led to a landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that, on 3 June 1992, overturned the legal fiction of terra nullius which had characterised Australian law with regards to land and title since the voyage of James Cook in 1770.

Mabo Day is a gazetted bank holiday in Queensland. In 2010 a campaign was launched to make it a national holiday in Australia It has been suggested that Mabo Day is more significant to Australians than the Queen's Birthday (a national holiday in Australia), since it 'marks the day that non-indigenous Australians were given the opportunity to reverse the damage caused by the colonisation process'. In 2002, on the tenth anniversary of the High Court decision, Mabo's widow, Bonita Mabo, called for a national public holiday on 3 June. On the eleventh anniversary, in 2003, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) launched a petition to make 3 June an Australian Public Holiday. Eddie Mabo Jnr, for the Mabo family, said: We believe that a public holiday would be fitting to honour and recognise the contribution to the High Court decision of not only my father and his co-plaintiffs, James Rice, Father Dave Passi, Sam Passi and Celuia Salee, but also to acknowledge all Indigenous Australians who have empowered and inspired each other.

To date we have not had a public holiday that acknowledges Indigenous people and which recognises our contribution, achievements and survival in Australia.

A public holiday would be a celebration all Australians can share in with pride – a celebration of truth that unites Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and a celebration of justice that overturned the legal myth of terra nullius Mabo symbolises truth and justice and is a cornerstone of Reconciliation.

Liberation Day Se y c he lle s - J un 0 5

Less than a year after gaining independence (see above), a coup overthrew the government. Two major political parties had developed in Seychelles, the Seychelles Democratic Party (SDP) and the Seychelles People's United Party (SPUP). James Mancham, the leader of the SDP party, which won the majority vote, became president, and France Albert Rene became prime minister. Rene's supporters led the overthrow and ousted Mancham on June 5, 1977, an event commemorated as a public holiday on Liberation Day.

President's Birthday Equatorial Guinea - June 05

Equatorial Guinea annually celebrates President's Day on June 5. This holiday was established to commemorate birthday of current President of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

Obiang was born on June 5, 1942. He attended Military Academy in Spain and achieved the rank of lieutenant. His uncle Francisco Macías Nguema was elected the first president of Equatorial Guinea and he gave Obiang various jobs, including governor of the island Bioko and leader of the National Guard.

Macías Nguema's presidency ended, after he had ordered the murder of several members of his family, including Obiang's brother.

Obiang and Macías's inner circle were afraid, that the leader had gone insane. Obiang overthrew his uncle in a bloody revolt on August 3, 1979. Up today Obiang holds the position of the head of the state.

World Environment Day Worldwide - June 05

World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated every year on 5 June to raise global awareness to take positive environmental action to protect nature and the planet Earth. It is run by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

History

It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 on the day that United Nations Conference on the Human Environment began.

Celebrity endorsements Media and celebrities have encouraged World Environment Day

Celebrations by endorsing and taking part in it. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) goodwill ambassadors including supermodel Gisele Bündchen are sending an SOS to the world to take action for World Environment Day 2014 by joining one of their teams to combat climate change. Their call to action, Message in the Bottle, asks individuals around the world to join one of the celebrities’ teams and make a difference by pledging to take action in support of World Environment Day, which culminates globally on 5 June 2014.

Media campaigns Community Radio Stations (CRS) in all over Nepal Republic launches the Campaign. All the National TV & Radio

Breakings are replaced by Environment Slogans and Informations. Nepal Government launches various programs in collabration with UNESCO. It also sends the Gurkha Army out of barracks on the road to clean the environment and for afforestation programmes where all the media personalles also gathers giving the live coverage.

Zee News launched 'My Earth, My Duty’ campaign. This campaign has entered the Limca Book of Records for a novel effort: for planting more than 73 lakh (7,300,000) trees in one single day across 34 cities and 2.5 lakh (250,000) villages on 25 August 2010. NDTV launched "Greenathon" Campaign. This campaign was launched in the year 2008 and served as India’s first ever-nationwide campaign to save the environment.

Children's efforts

In Nepal Republic all the Students from Grade 1 to A level are compulsory to attend the afforestation programmes on their respective locality with the supervision of SOS Villages and Nepal Government. Many Arts and drawing competitions are held on environmental day and Nepal Government declares the Scholorship for 15 Students from every cities who have major contribution for the environment mainly selected from Madhesi, an backward Community in Nepal. In 2012, Project Earth, an Online Eco Platform teamed up withRio+20 and Launched ' World Environment Day Global School Contest 2012 ' to promote awareness among today's youth. Every country had a winner. Project GreenOman,The winner from Oman, was an Eco organization founded by Hridith Sudev and is a full-fledged kid's Eco Organization now.

Events associated with World Environment Day

Eco Action Day is celebrated since 2007 in Singapore to inspire individuals to reduce energy use at the workplace.

Swatantra Theatre, Pune performed in world environment day 2013.

World Environment Day Anthem

"Earth Anthem" by poet-diplomat Abhay K was launched in June 2013 on the occasion of the World Environment Day

by Kapil Sibal and Shashi Tharoor, Union Ministers of India at a function organized by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations in New Delhi. It is in eight languages including all official languages of the United Nations which are- . Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish.The other two languages are Hindi and Nepali.

D-Day U.S. - June 06

D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar terms. On the same principle, equivalent terms are Dagen D (Swedish),Dan D (Slovenian), E eguna (Basque), Jour J (French), Lá L (Irish), Tag X(German), and Ziua-Z (Romanian). The initial D in D-Day has been given various meanings in the past, while more recently it has obtained the connotation of "Day" itself, thereby creating the phrase "Day-Day", or "Day of Days".

The best known D-Day is June 6, 1944 — the day of the Normandy landings — initiating the Western Allied effort to liberate mainland Europe from Nazi occupation during World War II. However, many other invasions and operations had a designated D-Day, both before and after that operation.

The terms D-Day and H-Hour are used for the day and hour on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated.

They designate the day and hour of the operation when the day and hour have not yet been determined, or where secrecy is essential. For a given operation, the same D-Day and H-Hour apply for all units participating in it.

When used in combination with numbers, and plus or minus signs, these terms indicate the point of time preceding or following a specific action. Thus, H−3 means 3 hours before H-Hour, and D+3 means 3 days after D-Day. (By extension, H+75 minutes is used for H-Hour plus 1 hour and 15 minutes.)

Planning papers for large-scale operations are made up in detail long before specific dates are set. Thus, orders are issued for the various steps to be carried out on the D-Day or H-Hour minus or plus a certain number of days, hours, or minutes. At the appropriate time, a subsequent order is issued that states the actual day and times.

In spacecraft launchings, NASA utilizes the term 'T-Time' for the timing of the launch sequence down to the second (rather than M-Minute and S-Second), as in the expression "T minus 10 seconds and counting" for their countdown clock.

When referencing a local time zone, "Zulu" refers to Universal Co-ordinated Time (formerly Greenwich Mean Time).

History

The earliest use of these terms by the U.S. Army that the United States Army Center of Military History has been able to find was during World War I.In Field Order Number 9, First Army, American Expeditionary Forces, dated 7 September 1918: "The First Army will attack at H hour on D day with the object of forcing the evacuation of the St. Mihiel Salient."

D-Day for the invasion of Normandy by the Allies was originally set for June 5, 1944, but bad weather and heavy seas caused Gen. Dwight D Eisenhower to delay until June 6 and that date has been popularly referred to ever since by the short title "D-Day". Because of the connotation with the invasion of Normandy, planners of later military operations sometimes avoided the term to prevent confusion. For example, Douglas MacArthur's invasion of Leyte began on "ADay", and the invasion of Okinawa began on "L-Day". The Allies' proposed invasions of Japan would have begun on "X-Day" (on Kyūshū, scheduled for November 1945) and "Y-Day" (on Honshū, scheduled for March 1946).

Memorial Day S o u t h K o r e a - June 06

The South Korean (officially the Republic of Korea) Memorial Day (Korean: 현충일 (顯忠日), Hyeonchung-il) is held every June 6 to commemorate men and women who died while in military service, during the Korean War and other significant wars or battles.

On this day, a memorial ceremony is held in the National Cemetery in Seoul. Also, the South Korean flag is flown at half-staff.

Flag Day Sweden - June 06

National Day of Sweden (Sveriges nationaldag) is a national holiday so observed inSweden on 6 June every year. The day was renamed and justified as the national day by Riksdagen, the Swedish parliament, in 1983. Previously it was commemorated as Svenska flaggans dag (Swedish flag day).

History

The tradition of celebrating this date began 1916 at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium, in honour of the election of King Gustav Vasa in 1523, as this was considered the foundation of modern Sweden.

Some question the validity of this as a national holiday, as it was not observed as a holiday until decades later. However this event does signify the end of the Danish-ruled Kalmar Union, so in a sense it is a marking of Swedish independence, though the event occurred so long ago that it does not have as strong of a presence in the social consciousness as does, for example, Norway's Syttende Mai (17 May).

In 2005 it became an official Swedish public holiday, taking that honour from Whit Monday. This change led to fewer days off from work (more working-days) as the 6th of June will periodically fall on the weekend, unlike Whit Monday, which was always celebrated on a Monday. This has in turn led to complaints from some Swedish unions.

Pushkin's Birthday Russia - June 06

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (6 June 1799 – 10 February 1837) was a Russian author of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature.

Pushkin was born into Russian nobility in Moscow. His matrilineal great grandfather – Abram Gannibal – was brought over as a slave from Africa and had risen to become an aristocrat.

Pushkin published his first poem at the age of fifteen, and was widely recognized by the literary establishment by the time of his graduation from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.

While under the strict surveillance of the Tsar's political police and unable to publish, Pushkin wrote his most famous play, the drama Boris Godunov. His novel in verse, Eugene Onegin, was serialized between 1825 and 1832.

Notoriously touchy about his honour, Pushkin fought as many as twenty-nine duels, and was fatally wounded in such an encounter with Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès. Pushkin had accused D'Anthès, a French officer serving with the Chevalier Guard Regiment of attempting to seduce the poet's wife, Natalya Pushkina.