KUCHING: Nine beauty queens will vie for the Dayung Sangon Gawea Tematu title in the Tematu Gawai Carnival 2022 which started today.
The Gawai Carnival goes into its seventh edition this year and will see the beauty contest as the main highlight of the event tomorrow (Saturday July 2).
Top prizes of RM1,500; RM1,000 and RM1,000 respectively for champion, first runner-up and third place are up for grabs. Winners will also be given a tiara/crown, flower bouquet, sash, trophy, hamper and certificate each.
Each of the other contestants will respectively receive RM100 cash, a hamper and a certificate.
Subsidiary titles such as Miss Talent, Miss Tourism, Miss Popularity, Miss Photogenic, Miss Best Costume, Miss Traditional are all up for grabs for the nine finalists. The winner for each subsidiary title will receive RM200 cash, a trophy and a sash.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday (June 30), Batu Kitang assemblyman Lo Khere Chiang said that he could see the potential for this event to be organised on a larger scale in the future.
“I believe in years to come, we will be able to hold a bigger event. I would like to see this Dayung Sangon competition be included as an international event,” he said.
Noting that under his constituency there are four major Bidayuh villages, namely Kampung Tematu, Kampung Semeba, Kampung Sudat and Kampung Bumbok, Lo also encourages the village chiefs to work together and take turns to organise such events.
He also pointed out that the two-day Gawai Carnival has the potential to attract more visitors as there will be many side activities such as exhibition booths, blood donation, food sales and many others.
Deputy Premier Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian is expected to officiate at the opening ceremony.
Also present at the press conference were organising chairman John Pata and the main sponsor for the Gawai Carnival, Lester Ong, who is founder and managing director of Greenleaf Food and Beverages.
