KUCHING: The Sarawak government has always put unity and harmony among Sarawakians first, regardless of races and religions.
Political secretary to the Premier Tan Kai said this during his speech when he represented Deputy Premier Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian to attend the Yue Hai Ting Cemetery Winter Memorial Ceremonial Worship at Kuching Civic Centre here today.
“The Kuching Teochew Association is happy that we have an enlightened Sarawak government that attached great importance to non-Muslim religions and beliefs through UNIFOR (The Unit for Other Religions).
“Over the years, the Sarawak government has continuously allocated funds to support, with an allocation budget as high as RM100 million for next year, the association will no doubt also be one of the many beneficiaries.
“Therefore, for all our non-Muslim religious and belief units, we are grateful and shall make good use of this unique enlightened policy in Sarawak to actively promote the unity and harmony among various religions and beliefs,” Tan said.
“Our ancestors may have been here since 180 to 190 years ago with the fact that this cemetery has a history of 160 years.
“Kuching Teochew Association organised this event today to commemorate the 160-year long history of this cemetery and to pay homage to the great spirit of the ancestors who came from South China to cultivate the land, start a business and a family here.
“Maybe our people (Chinese) have been here for 180 to 190 years as this cemetery has been here for 160 years,” he said.
As such, he thanked the government for giving support, especially to the temples in Sarawak in the past two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have to cherish this as it is not easy to be found in Malaysia where all of us from different races, religions and beliefs living in peace and harmony,” he said.
