Goh (seated, second left) leading a group of FCAS leaders getting ready to paddle the dragon boat while Wong (seated on the left) gestures to beat the ceremonial drum, to mark the launch of the 9th FCAS International Dragon Boat Race, Wednesday.
KOTA KINABALU: Teams participating in this year’s 9th Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah’s (FCAS) International Dragon Boat Race, to be held next month, can start their training sessions from today onwards to prepare for the competition, said its President Tan Sri T C Goh.
He said from today onwards, teams which have registered for the race can start their training sessions (free of charge) from 8 am to 6 pm at the Kinabalu Yacht Club and the Gayang River Pier, in Tuaran, until June 7.
Goh, who is also President of The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) said this after presiding over its brief launching ceremony at the Tanjung Aru Yacht Club here, Wednesday. Also present during the occasion were the group of FCAS leaders including its Deputy President cum Organising Chairman of the race Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen, Vice Presidents Kapitan Fung Chun Fatt and Chang Jeng Yung, among others.
The launching ceremony saw the group boarding the dragon boat and enthusiastically paddled forward with the rhythm of drumming conducted by Wong, symbolizing courage and smooth sailing.
Noting that last year the race was a great success where it broke records attracting over 150 teams, Goh hopes this year it would continue to receive strong support from all sectors and teams from home and abroad this year. He believes this would again turn this annual cultural event into a great tourist attraction, besides promoting the unity, harmony and excellent culture and traditions of Sabah.
He continued that this year’s competition will have 11 categories, with a total prize money of RM 94,000, and that participants from all walks of life are welcomed to sign up enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, Wong said that participating teams can contact the organising authorities to arrange training dates and times.
She added that the Organising Committee will prepare the dragon boats at the designated locations for a period of 43 days. She thus hoped that all participating teams will start training, as soon as possible, so that they could achieve excellent results in the Race.
She disclosed that the competition will consist of 11 categories, including the Sabah TYT Cup, the Sabah Chief Minister Cup, the FCAS International Dragon Boat Race Cup, the FCAS Cup (for FCAS members), the FCAS Cup (Chinese Mixed Team), the FCAS Cup (Chinese Men’s Team), the Kinabalu Cup (Youth Team), the Kinabalu Cup (Men’s Team), the Kinabalu Cup (Mixed Team), the Kinabalu Cup (Women’s Team), and the Huazong President Cup (Mixed Team).
She further said that in conjunction with the competition, there will also be a host of interesting side events, including sunset beach parties, sunset run, rice dumpling tasting sessions and food stalls serving local delicatessen, etc.
The registration fee for the 9th FCAS International Dragon Boat Race is RM300 per team, and the registration deadline is May 27 (Monday).
For those interested in obtaining registration forms or more details, please contact the Secretariat: +6012 411 5534 (Regina); +60 88 253 433 (FCAS landline), +60 11 5555 9428 (FCAS mobile phone/WhatsApp), fcasinfo@gmail.com (email).
