Sabah and Sarawak, two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo, are home to a rich tapestry of cultural diversity shaped by centuries of migration, trade, intermarriage, and adaptation. This diversity is expressed not only in ethnicity but also in language, ecology, livelihoods, and ritual practices that often vary even within the same community across different regions.

While festivals such as Kaamatan in Sabah and Gawai in Sarawak visibly celebrate this heritage, experts warn that the most vulnerable aspect of these cultures is the intangible heritage—oral languages, histories, environmental knowledge, customary laws, and traditional practices—that sustains communal identities on a daily basis. These elements face threats from urbanisation, migration, formal education systems, and the rising prominence of national and global languages.

“Language carries collective memory and unique worldviews,” noted Prof Datuk Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi, dean of the Academy of Malay Studies at Universiti Malaya and a native of Sarawak. He emphasized that the erosion of these languages endangers the very core of cultural identity. Preservation, he stated, requires more than museums or cultural performances; it depends on the transmission of knowledge within families and communities, through schools and initiatives that recognize elders as custodians of tradition. Digital tools and creative industries may aid preservation efforts, but the sustainability of heritage hinges on continuous, lived experiences in daily life.

Prof Awang Azman described the communities in Sabah and Sarawak as cultural mosaics rather than homogeneous groups. The diversity extends beyond ethnicity to differences shaped by various factors including geography, livelihood, and historical experiences. For instance, groups such as the Kadazan-Dusun, Bajau, Murut, and Rungus in Sabah, along with the Iban, Bidayuh, Melanau, Orang Ulu, and Malay in Sarawak, each encompass distinct subcultures varying by region and environment. Coastal, highland, and riverine communities developed unique traditions due to differing interactions with trade, land, and neighboring groups.

Ariff Adi Putera Anwar, research associate at the Institute for Development Studies Sabah, highlighted the distinctive nature of the cultural identity in both states. Sarawak has cultivated a strong state identity through more than a century of continuous political and institutional development, which fosters a sense of Sarawakian consciousness that integrates ethnic and religious diversity. Conversely, Sabah's sense of territorial belonging emerged from a historical constellation of diverse communities and trading networks subject to overlapping external authorities. Despite this fragmented past, communities such as the Kadazan-Dusun, Bajau, Murut, Chinese, and Bruneian Malay have developed a shared consciousness as Sabahans.

The preservation of everyday cultural knowledge, including languages, oral histories, traditional farming, medicinal practices, customary laws, and environmental wisdom, remains a pressing concern. Prof Awang Azman cautioned that these elements, often passed down orally, risk extinction if not actively maintained, potentially reducing Sabah and Sarawak’s vibrant cultural landscapes to static exhibits rather than living, evolving realities.