SONG: More than 300 people comprising the various communities in this district attended a community gathering at Song Community Hall, recently.
The event was officiated at by Kapit Resident, Joseph Belayong Punan. In his speech Belayong said that the gathering was initiated by the government with the theme ‘Sarawak celebrates’.
“Sarawak celebrates four main festivals namely Chinese New Year/Chap Goh Mei (Chinese), Gawai (Dayak), Hari Raya Aidilfitri (Muslims) and Christmas (Christians).
“These four festivals must be celebrated in all the 40 districts in the state headed by the respective District Officers. By right we should be celebrating Chinese New Year but this year the directive comes a little bit late and that is why we chose to celebrate the Chap Goh Mei instead,” said Belayong.
He added that the programme is one of the government’s initiatives towards enhancing closer rapport among the various races in the state. “In Kapit we do not differentiate each other. We celebrate each other’s festival together in the spirit of oneness. There is nothing wrong for us to celebrate any festive together. This is a multi-cultural event where we can show the true spirit of the 1Malaysia concept which is practiced in Sarawak,” stressed Belayong.
He also lauded Song District Office for successfully organising the gathering by inviting the various communities and various government departments and agencies include non-governmental organisations despite the short notice.
Among those present at the gathering were the organising chairperson who is also Song District Officer, Jackline Bte August, Deputy Resident of Kapit, Galong Luang, Bukit Mabong District Officer, Douglas Pungga, Secretary of Kapit District Council, Jabang Juntan and Penghulu Lim Eng Hock who also spoke at the function.
Penghulu Lim on behalf of the Chinese community in Song district thanked the organising committee and the presence of the various races to make the event a success.
