MIRI: Despite the rain and strong winds which started barely five minutes after its flag-off, the nearly 45,000 participants from 15 churches persevered and went on with the Miri City Christmas Parade 2018 scheduled for 7.30pm on Saturday.The five-kilometre procession which started at Miri City Fan was flagged off by Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Dr Sim Hui Kian who represented Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
Uggah, in his opening speech which was read by Dr Sim, said that the people in Sarawak were very blessed for they were able to practise their religions without any problem, encumbrances or threat. “We are also very fortunate that Sarawakians have deep respect for each other’s faiths and in fact gaily joined in the merry-making and opened houses,” he said.
He called on Sarawakians to guard this freedom and privilege zealously against any religious bigotry and moral erosion that could happen with the passing of time. “It is an undeniable fact that both our state and federal governments are not oppressive or suppressive of religious freedom,” he said.
“We can see and testify to the freedom of Christians to gather for worship, to celebrate and to live our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. Tonight’s Christmas parade is an excellent example.” He said it was not just for Christians, but also for everyone to enjoy the colourful spectacle and songs of joy.
“This is a community-building event where people come out to socialise and share the spirit of Christmas,” he said. Also present were Miri MP Dr Michael Teo, Senator Alan Ling, DUN’s deputy speaker Gerawat Gala, Telang Usan assemblyman Dennis Ngau, Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon, assemblyman Datuk Sebastian Ting, Miri mayor Adam Yii and the Bishop of the Catholic Church Right Reverend Richard Ng. During the event, the VIPs (from GPS including the opposition pact from DAP and PKR) have pledged funds totalling RM140,000 to the organising committee of the event.
The streets were full of parade goers marching and singing Christmas songs all along the routes. The parade, which was in its 11th edition, carried the theme “Heaven’s Gift of Love”. In his speech during the opening ceremony, the city’s mayor Adam Yii praised the participants and described what took place at the event as the true meaning of unity.
“For the first time in decades here in Miri, we have gone back to the old ways of Christmas carolling, that is singing and dancing with praise and joy in the streets,” he said. “The parade has now become one of the programmes in the Sarawak Annual Calendar of Events for Tourism Promotion.”
