FCAS officials led by Goh (5th left) and Susan (4th left) posing with Liew (6th left), during the courtesy call.
KOTA KINABALU: The annual Sabah International Dragon Boat Race hosted by the Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) will be listed as one of the main events for the 38th National Chinese Cultural Festival this year, the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) President Tan Sri T C Goh.
He said this year, besides the annual international dragon boat race, FCAS will also be hosting the 38th National Chinese Cultural Festival.
Hence, starting from June till October this year, FCAS will be rolling out a series of cultural programmes and activities.
He hoped both the Federal and State Governments could provide funding for organising the cultural programmes and activities, so as to alleviate financial burden of the Chinese community and FCAS, in promoting unique Malaysian culture.
Goh, who is also President of FCAS, said this while leading a delegation from FCAS in a courtesy call on State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew today. Also in attendance were Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen, FCAS Deputy President cum Organising Chairman for the 38th National Chinese Cultural Festival, FCAS Vice Presidents Fung Chun Fatt, Ng Young Wah, Treasurer-General Chen Ee Sheng, its Vice President cum Women Chief Sherley Wong, and its Vice President cum Youth Chief Chang Jeng Yung, among others.
Meanwhile, Susan also briefed Liew on the progress of the preparations for organising the two cultural events i.e. the annual dragon boat race and the cultural festival.
Liew responded positively to Wong’s briefing and gave assurance that she will instruct the various government departments and agencies to provide the necessary support and cooperation to the organising committee of the two events.
She also promised to secure the necessary state funding requested by Goh earlier, in aid of the organising of the two programmes.
In his briefing, Goh informed Liew that the annual FCAS international dragon boat race has become increasingly popular over the years, and its overhead too has increased, where it could easily run up to RM1 mil. And, this year, FCAS will also be hosting the 38th National Chinese Cultural Festival. Hence, the overhead for hosting a series of programmes and activities starting from June this year, is expected to exceed RM 2 mil.
He thus hoped the State Government and businesses in the state which are supportive of cultural development, could continue to give their support and cooperation to FCAS, in hosting the two significant annual cultural programmes.
Besides this, he also welcomed the Sabah Tourism Board’s intention to send its contingent to partake in the dragon boat race, describing it as a great move towards promoting racial and cultural harmony among Malaysians of different races in Sabah.
Congratulating Liew for being reappointed to lead the Ministry again, Goh expressed confidence that with her vast experience in politics and tourism, she would be able to bring Sabah tourism industry to the next level, especially in attracting more tourists from overseas to visit Sabah.
