Should we just said Selamat Gawai or Selamat Gawai Dayak? In facebook there lots of comments about this issue. When this celebration submitted and approved by the government as public holiday in the State, its was clearly stated as GAWAI DAYAK not Gawai only. As such, as one of the Dayak native i strongly beleived that in any function or occasion, the name of this festival should not change as Selamat Gawai. It should be written in full as Selamat Gawai Dayak.
If we look at the real meaning of the words Gawai mean celebration and Dayak mean the native who celebrate the festival. As such if we just put it as Selamat Gawai meaning that Happy Celebration which mean it does not carry any weight the the festival to the Dayak community.
Its similar to Tadau Ke'amatan in Sabah. I am sure they still keep the whole words when used it in any occasion. Hope we as Sarawakian in particular and as Malaysian in general should be more sensitive about this issue. This is one way where we still can keep the uniqueness of our culture and share the originality with the future generation.