BY NEVILLE TIMOTHY SANDERS & TANIA MATU
KUCHING: It is important for Sarawakians to defend and preserve the existence of gendang tradition for future generations to come.
Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said that such a matter should be uplifted and maintain from now onwards.
“We are very lucky and blessed that this tradition is still kept alive here in almost every part of Sarawak.
“As we all know, bermukun and gendang tradition is only available in Sarawak, not in other states in Malaysia,” he said.
He said this in his speech at the officiating ceremony of Sarawak Gendang Festival 2022 at Kuching Waterfront on yesterday (Nov 5).
Abdul Karim added that in the challenging era of globalisation, the traditional heritage art should be in line with the identity of its people.
“This is because if we observe other developing countries, no matter how progressive they are, their arts and culture are still maintained, thus it is preserved,” he said.
He then also pointed out that arts and culture are what made a country had its own balance from the aspect of its outward progress.
“Society will appreciate the norm and value with the input in themselves on how important it is to preserve the arts and tradition because it contains a truly good philosophy of life,” he added.
He also said that it was important for those who had the knowledge on the arts and traditional culture of Sarawak to inculcate the knowledge and understanding to the current generation so that they could also learn and pass it on to the future generations.
Sarawak Gendang Festival 2022, which is being held for three days from Nov 4 to 6, is the eighth edition ever since it was first introduced in 2014.
Also present during the ceremony were caretaker Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, and other guests.
