Chinese consulate contributes to dragon boat race
KOTA KINABALU: Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Kota Kinabalu, Liang Caide, will be attending the sunset beach party and opening ceremony of the fifth Sabah FCAS International Dragon Boat Race 2018 on May 11 and 13 respectively.
The organizing committee, led by the Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) president Tan Sri Dr T.C. Goh, called on Liang on Thursday to extend the invitation to the events.
The Chinese consulate once again announced a contribution of RMB50,000 (RM30,000) in support of the dragon boat race.
Goh expressed his gratitude to the consulate for its tremendous support for the event.
He said the State Government has entrusted FCAS with organizing the international event in conjunction with the Duanwu Festival.
Besides participants from Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia, Goh said the race has also attracted international teams from Guangdong province, China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia. “We hope to see more participants in the future,” said Goh. He said that FCAS has become quite well-known in Sabah, a sign that the dragon boat race has become a vibrant event celebrated by the community.
Similar to the year before, Goh said more than 100 teams would compete in the race this year.
Meanwhile, organizing chairperson Datuk Susan Wong Siew Guen said the Ying Ao Shunde Xingtan dragon boat team from Guangdong, China would be making a comeback this year, following its excellent performance in 2016.
She hoped that Liang would also organize a team to participate in the race.
Also present at the courtesy call were FCAS deputy president Datuk Jimmy Yong Kyok Ming, vice president Chua Soon Ping and vice president cum Youth chief Dennis Gan.