KUCHING: The annual folk dance event held as part of the Kuching Festival has got a lot more city folk twirling and rollicking away along with some of the world’s renowned folk dancers.
Thousands participated in the event that saw more than 800 dancers from 56 groups performing on Saturday.
The dancers came from Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia – Sarawak included. Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, who officiated at the Kuching Festival Folk Dance held at the Sarawak Hockey Stadium, Jalan Padungan here, said: “The folk dance people, they celebrate with dances.
Those who want to eat, they can go and eat nearby at the Kuching Festival. Those who want to do zumba, they do zumba. The long and short of it is, we have everything here in this city to make the life of city folk interesting and spiritful.”
Dr Sim said while the folk dance showcased the different cultures of their performers, the act of dancing is good for health.
“My vision for this city is to have a population of healthy people. If Kuchingites are healthy, then the city, too, will be healthy.” Kuching South City Council (MBKS) councillor Kho Teck Wan, the organising chairperson, said, “The folk dance has been with us for over 35 years and it has become very much a part of the city life.
“This time we have these dancers, I can foresee that in the years to come many more dancers around the world will converge here.
“One thing I can tell you is that folk dances mirror people’s culture and traditions, thus it is an art…a heritage. “We are organising this event because Kuching is now the partner in the United Nation’s Healthy City programme.
“We are also embarking on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) which is part of the UN programme,” she explained. Kho called on the public to continue to support the event as a means to socialise in a healthy manner. “My hope is that on the local front, many more non-Chinese dancers will join the event in future,” she said.
