KUCHING: A New Year countdown programme themed ‘Let’s Celebrate Together’ will be held on Dec 31 at Kuching Waterfront.
The programme, organised by Sarawak Arts Council (MSS), will start early in the morning with multiple events such as musical performances and performing arts displays, followed by the evening highlights that will see performances from Zeppo Youngsterz, and popular Malaysian artistes like Datuk Awie and Datuk Wan Aishah Wan Ariffin.
At a press conference on Friday (Dec 9), Sarawak Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah noted that it had been awhile since a countdown for the new year was held physically.
“We have had a great year in 2022, carrying on from the momentum we had last year when GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) won big in the Sarawak election and later on we did well in the general election so we want to close the year with a bang.
“This year we decided to have this countdown programme physically with our guest of honour being our Premier (Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg) and I hope he will be able to make it.
“There will be fireworks this time around so Darul Hana Bridge will be closed from Dec 28 onwards for the preparations to be done.
“Here’s hoping that we can carry on to have a good year in 2023 as well,” Abdul Karim said.
He added that Sarawakians would be able to watch the programme live on TVS and Ukas (Sarawak Public Communications Unit) and he reminded those attending physically to be responsible.
“I would like to call on Sarawakians to be responsible citizens and be like the Japanese at the World Cup where they would clean up the stadiums even when their national team is not playing.
“So, please be a responsible citizen, pick up the trash and throw it into the bins provided. Please do not throw your rubbish everywhere as I believe there are a lot of bins provided by the councils.
“Other than that, I would like to call Sarawakians living in Kota Samarahan and Lundu to come and join in the fun.
“To avoid congestion around the Waterfront area, I would like to urge the public to find parking spots somewhere else like maybe (Jalan) Haji Taha and walk from there in the evening,” Abdul Karim advised.
He revealed that Saarwak had reached this year’s target of 1.2 million visitor arrivals, with the number at 1.6 million as of the end of November.
“At this pace, we will probably hit 1.8 million by the end of the year and here, I would like to thank those from the ministry and tourism industry for their cooperation.
“I would like to also thank the Sarawak government for the support and the people for their patience in the past couple of years and their support towards our programmes this year.”
