KUCHING: Sarawak has once again entered the Malaysia Book of Records (MBOR) – this time for having the most number of sape players performing simultaneously at one time.
Two hundred and fifty-seven musicians of the traditional lute of the Orang Ulu community performed together during the ‘Rentak Kamek Urang’ Sape Concert at the closing night of the Citrawarna Keluarga Malaysia 2022 event on Sunday.
Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah who spoke to the media after the show thanked Putrajaya and the national Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (MOTAC), among others, for making the Citrawarna festival a success.
“I believe that the people of Malaysia were truly entertained by all the performances throughout the Citrawarna festival which was broadcast live on television,” he said on Sunday (Feb 27).
Abdul Karim also witnessed the presentation of the certificate from MBOR chief operating officer Christopher Wong Hong Wai to MOTAC deputy secretary general (Culture) Datuk Saraya Arbi.
On the state tourism sector’s latest development, the minister said there had been an increase of nearly 500 per cent in visitors who came to the state in the first two months of this year against the same period in 2021.
“Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, an average of 4.5 million visitors would make their way to Sarawak each year and this number declined rapidly during the pandemic.
“However, with the current rate of visitors, the state is projected to see about 1.2 million visitors this year. This is a conservative estimate due to some existing restrictions and the low confidence level of the people,” he added.
He said the visitors are estimated to generate RM2 billion in revenue for the state’s tourism industry.
He also assured that annual tourism events such as the Sarawak Regatta, Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF), Borneo Jazz Festival (BJF) and Sarawak Spartan Race would make a comeback.
“If we cannot hold the events on a large scale, we will do it on a small scale at least so that we can increase the people’s level of confidence that the situation is returning to normal,” he said.
