SIBU: The beauty of Sarawak is yet to be discovered and introduced to people within and outside of the state.
Stating this, Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts (TCIPA) Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the Bumi Kenyalang exhibits notable diversity in ethnicity, culture and language with her 34 ethnic groups of which 31 are pribumi or indigenous ethnic groups of Sarawak.
“All the culture and traditions of Sarawak’s ethnic groups must be recorded in pictures or videos so that these can become a source of reference for the younger generations. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.
“Our younger generation will learn to appreciate, apprehend and possibly imbue the gratitude for the beautiful culture, traditions, lifestyles, rituals, etcetera through pictures,” he said when officiating at the opening ceremony of the Ukit Ethnic Culture Photography Exhibition held at the premises of University Technology of Sarawak (UTC) here today.
The exhibition to run from December 27 till January 2, 2023, is organised by Sibu Photographer Association (SPA) in collaboration with TCIPA and UTS.
The Asajaya assemblyman pointed out that the state’s heritage has very high value and is extremely unique, reflecting the people’s values and shaping their identities.
He said preserving and transmitting this knowledge is especially relevant to ethnic groups socially and economically.
“In order for our heritage to stay alive, we need to play our part in keeping them relevant. These history, traditions and culture that define us should be practised and learned within communities and between generations regularly to ensure the constant transmission of knowledge, skills and meaning,” he asserted.
According to Abdul Karim, this year the state government has allocated a special fund known as the Facilitation Fund to help promote awareness of the importance of heritage, arts and culture.
Besides stimulating the recovery of the heritage, arts and culture sector in Sarawak from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said the fund also helped to enhance the capacity building in programmes related to Sarawak’s unique heritage, arts and culture.
While congratulating the SPA for completing the task as planned, he was happy that we have a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that has the same mission and vision as the Ministry of Tourism Board in terms of documenting, recording, maintaining and promoting the culture and traditions of ethnic groups in Sarawak.
He pointed out that documenting the culture and traditions of Ukit tribe by having photographs of them is one of the very good ways of introducing them to people in and outside of Sarawak.
He said Ukit ethnic group is one of the minority ethnic groups in Sarawak and it is the eighth group that was documented by the president of SPA Edwin Ong and his members.
With the title, ‘Shoot before they’re gone’, he said SPA has the same vision and mission with his ministry.
“We will continue to support and promote the beauty of Sarawak through activities that contribute to capacity building in Sarawak’s heritage, arts and culture sectors.
“I am proud that we have a Sarawakian who is none other than Edwin Ong who is famous throughout the world. As the grand prize winner of HIPA (Hamdan International Photography Award) – the world’s largest photography award founded in 2011 under the patronage of the crown prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan Rashid Mohammed Al Maktoum, he is actively involved in documenting the minority ethnics in Sarawak.
“I wish more people will have inspired by his artwork and follow his footstep participating in many international competitions,” he enthused.
Abdul Karim expressed his gratitude to UTS for supporting and collaborating with SPA in making this event a successful one.
He said the collaboration between the state government, NGO and UTS proved that they can work together in promotion of the beauty of Sarawak.
The minister also hoped that the students of UTS would take the opportunity through a workshop photography organised by SPA especially for them to learn and know more about the ethnic groups in Sarawak and on the other hand, learn more skills and techniques in photographing from the professional photographers.
Also present at the opening ceremony were Bukit Assek assemblyman Joseph Chieng Jin Ek, permanent secretary for TCIPA, Datuk Hii Chang Kee, TCIPA’s head of Arts, Culture and Heritage Section Dr Elena Chai, Vice Chancellor of UTS Professor Datuk Dr Khairuddin Abdul Hamid, Councillor Joshua Ting Fu Ying and president of SPA Edwin Ong.
