KUCHING: The Old Kuching Smart Heritage (OKSHe) initiative is expected to extend to areas under Kuching South City Council (MBKS).
Its mayor Datuk Wee Hong Seng said this to reporters when met after a dengue awareness programme yesterday here at Song Kheng Hai Hawker Centre.
He stated that the state government has already set up the OKSHe and has already started in areas under the Kuching North City Commission (DBKU).
“Therefore, I will pay a visit to Deputy State Secretary Datuk Dr Sabariah Putit to request that OKSHe be extended to areas under our jurisdiction, especially in Padungan.
“From the beauty of it, you see a lot of nice old structured buildings or shophouses and some of them are covered by signboards,” he said.
He added that he will talk to the shopowners, stakeholders and the community to see how they can build back Padungan’s heritage.
Wee explained that when tourists visit, they know where Chinatown is and that the town does not sleep, “but to me, our Chinatown in Padungan seems to sleep early by 7pm or 8pm and you will not find any shops still open at that time.”
Earlier in his speech, he informed that in conjunction with the Mooncake Festival, MBKS will soon be decorating the streets of Padungan and Friendship Park for the youth and families to enjoy the festival.
“With that, I would like this coming festival to brighten up these places and I also hope to engage with the community, shopowners and stakeholders to find out how we can promote Padungan,” he said.
