KUCHING: A group of Japanese students were treated to a sampling of Malay Malay culture when they visited a village in Santubong, near here.
The 13 students aged between 18 to 21 from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS) including two senior students aged 75 and 77 were given a warm welcome at Kampung Santubong by the local community last night.
The programme, held at the Rumah Wi parking lot of Kampung Santubong, started with the ‘haderah’ programme and followed by a ‘pencak silat’ performance.
The students, most of them clad in traditional Malay costumes, were treated to local food while being entertained with traditional dances and music performances.
During dinner, students were also able to enjoy the sape music by performers from the Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV).
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who is also Santubong MP took time out to get to know the students.
In his speech, Wan Junaidi said that he was delighted that Santubong had been chosen as one of the destinations for their knowledge learning programme to learn about Malay culture and language.
“Santubong once upon a time was the Malay Kingdom of Sarawak, and has a long history of more than 1,000 years.
“Therefore, I welcome you, ‘anak-anak Samurai’ to Santubong, a village with lots of history and legends,” he said.
Wan Junaidi hoped that their visit will be memorable for the students.
“What they see and experience tonight is just a small part of the 1,001 uniqueness and beauty of the beloved land of Santubong,” he said.
He said for the students to learn cultures and languages other than their own will be of benefit to them.
“At the same time, I hope Sarawakians can also do the same by visiting Japan to learn about the Japanese culture and language,” he said.
The Japanese students, led by their visiting lecturer Faridah Mohamed, are in Kuching for five days from Sept 1 to 5 to experience the local culture in Sarawak.
The students’ visit is part of the 17-day programme to Malaysia and Sarawak was chosen as their first destination.
The New Sarawak Tribune and its sister paper, Suara Sarawak are hosting the students’ visit.
New Sarawak Tribune and Suara Sarawak chief executive officer Dr Jeniri Amir conveyed his appreciation to Wan Junaidi for his support towards the programme.
“I also hope that through this programme, the students can learn and understand more about the culture here,” he said.
Later, the students also got the opportunity to witness and join in the ‘bermukun’ activities with the local community.
The crowd was also thrilled by the recitation of poems by the Japanese students in Bahasa Melayu.
One of the most memorable moments for the locals was when the Japanese students performed the famous Doraemon anime theme song which saw the locals cheer and singing along.
Meanwhile, Wan Junaidi also presented Minor Rural Project (MRP) grants to 10 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the Santubong area.
