BY NUR FARIHAN RAZALI
MUKAH: Local MP Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib has stressed the importance of striking a balance in celebrating the diversity of races and religions.
“We don’t want to prioritise only one race or religion only because this will cause others to feel left out,” she said.
Hanifah who is Deputy Economy Minister made these remarks after launching the three-day Mukah Christmas Festival at Dataran Pehin Setia Raja, today.
She said the Christmas Festival was one of the initiatives taken by her side.
“We want to maintain unity and ensure people come together to celebrate,” she explained.
Towards this end she said it is incumbent of elected representatives and community leaders to not only make sure development proceeds smoothly but also take the initiative to make the people happy.
She said in this instance Tellian assemblyman Royston Valentine and Balingian assemblyman Abdul Yakub Arbi were equally involved in making the festival a reality.
On his part Royston said it demonstrated that although from different backgrounds, people can still celebrate various festivals together.
“We hope to be able to implement the celebrations in Mukah on a larger scale,” he said.
Apart from strengthening unity among the people, the festival also provides economic opportunities to the people.
“This is because we give space to entrepreneurs to carry out business during the festival because we understand that with the current economic situation, many entrepreneurs are struggling in their businesses,” he added.
At the launching, 200 students from 37 schools received Back To School donations from Ekuiti Nasional Berhad (Ekuinas) and the Ministry of Economy and 200 people received food basket donations from Yayasan Petronas.
Petronas Sarawak General Manager Zulaihi Mohd Mantali was also present.
