LANTERN FESTIVAL - 10,000 attend launching of Sibu lantern festival

10,000 attend launching of Sibu lantern festival
By PHILIP HII
philiphii@thestar.com.my

SOME 10,000 people from all walks of life converged on Sibu Town Square to witness the launching of the Second Sibu Lantern Festival on Thursday night.

Sibu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) in collaboration with several other Sibu-based Chinese organisations organised the three-week event, the biggest ever held in Sarawak.

Flooded: 13,000 lanterns have been hung in Sibu.

A giant lantern, designed with a 1Malaysia logo and 13,000 other lanterns of different sizes and colours were put up on display at the Sibu Town Square Phase One and Phase Two.

Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh officially launched the festival after he hoisted the Jalur Gemilang to mark the Malaysia Day celebration yesterday. Joining him were organising chairman for the festival Daniel Ngieng, who is the Sibu Municipal Council deputy chairman and SCCCI president Hii Yu Siong.

Innovative: Lanterns made by JKR and Rajang Port Authority.

“This year’s lantern festival is made more significant and meaningful as it coincided with the first Malaysia Day celebration,” he said in his speech. Wong said the lantern festival belonged to all the people of Sibu irrespective of their cultural and religious backgrounds.

“This festival holds various meanings. Beside being a joyous occasion of gaiety and recreation, it is also of educational and historical significance. It is therefore important that we all treasure it,” he pointed out.

Wong hoped the lantern festival would gradually put Sibu on the world tourism map, adding that the festival had been included in the Sarawak’s calendar of events.

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Plans were also underway to organise the event on a grander scale next year in efforts to attract regional and international tourists to Sibu, he added.

Adding cheers to the festival were a fun fair, food fair and trade fair and a nightly stage performances by artistes both local and from Peninsular Malaysia.

Several competitions such as lantern counting contest, lantern making contest, photography contest, singing and dance contest and mid-autumn story-telling competition are also organised in conjunction with the festival.

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