KUCHING: Taking Oktoberfest as a beer drinking festival seems crude, says Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sports and Youth, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
“In Sarawak, the so-called beer drinking festival is called Oktoberfest, just like it is known in its country of origin, Germany.
“Extreme mindsets will distort this. Even though it is a celebration originating in Germany, it can be celebrated here responsibly,” said Karim in a recent interview with New Sarawak Tribune.
“If we were to study what is the Oktoberfest, the Germans celebrate it with a lot of food and beer, as it is the German culture to drink beer.
“It is similar to our Pesta Gawai Dayak which we celebrate every year. If we were to call it Pesta Arak, it would not help propagate the correct meaning of the festival,” said Karim.
He pointed out that one shopping mall in West Malaysia had promoted Oktoberfest as a beer drinking competition festival, and compelling the public to try which beer tastes better.
Meanwhile, the minister said there is an increase in 10 per cent tourists coming to Sarawak in the last three months up to yesterday, as compared to statistics during the same period last year.
He was confident Sarawak will be able to achieve its target of 5 million tourist arrivals this year.
“We are expecting more tourist arrivals in October and in 2018,” he said.
