KOTA KINABALU, May 29 -- As Kaamatan and Gawai Dayak approach, Malaysians will once again turn their attention to the cultural celebrations of their Bornean counterparts.

But for many in peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak are still casually bundled together as "East Malaysia" - or worse, reduced to the catch-all category of "others" on forms and official documents.

In reality, the two states are vastly different, shaped by distinct indigenous communities, languages, cuisines, histories and landscapes despite sharing the same island.

"Malayans often see Sabah and Sarawak as one cultural block called 'East Malaysia', but to Sabahans and Sarawakians, the differences are obvious," said Universiti Malaysia Sabah linguistics professor Ja...