Liew (seated, right) discussing the festival with Teo (second left) and Ngui (third left) at her office in Wisma Tun Fuad Stephens.
KOTA KINABALU: Sandakan-based Future Alam Borneo (FAB) is seeking partnership with the Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry (KePKAS) in organising the Borneo Rhythms of Rimba 2024 (Borneo ROR) Festival this year.
KePKAS Minister Datuk Christina Liew is agreeable to the idea of collaboration with the non-governmental organisation (NGO) to ensure success of the event which is being revived after it was discontinued in 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Formed in 2014, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the foundation of the organisation.
“We will render the necessary assistance to Future Alam Borneo so that it can achieve its objective of raising public awareness of the importance of protecting and conserving the environment for future generations.
“I am glad the organisers are capitalising on Sandakan’s rich natural heritage to hold a meaningful festival in the interest of public education,” Liew said after receiving a courtesy call by a delegation from FAB, recently.
The Minister commended FAB for its effort to resume the festival on September 21 and 22 at the Rainforest Discovery Centre in Sepilok, Sandakan (under the Sabah Forestry Department).
In his briefing, Organising Chairman Anton Ngui Tze Vun said the Borneo ROR Festival 2024 will serve as a platform to raise the level of environmental awareness through engagements with the general public, particularly young people.
“Through this festival, we want to expose Sabah’s rich heritage and biodiversity to the rest of the world. We expect more than 5,000 people to come over the two days. Our target groups are Malaysians, international guests and local communities.
“We are trying to get well-known environmentalists or conservationists from the US, UK and Southeast Asian countries like Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam to come and share their experiences,” he said, adding that environment experts from the Sabah Forestry Department, Environment Protection Department, Sabah Wildlife Department, and other related agencies will have a role to play, too.
According to Ngui, it will be a packed programme that includes workshops on recycling, ‘Experience the Pristine Rainforests’ via tree-climbing, and a music segment, among other components.
“There will be something to suit everybody’s taste. Children will have hands-on experience through art and craft activities,” he said.
FAB Treasurer Teo Chee Kim said as the organisers, they want to make the festival “more fun” and “more colourful” to attract participation from the young generation, while getting the message of environmental preservation across at the same time.
“It’s a family-oriented festival with nature and knowledge-based content. Our focus is on all vital aspects of the environment.
“We want to get more people on board. Previously, there was not much crowd, probably because the programme was less fun-filled,” he added.
