Chinese Cultural Village proposed in Sandakan
SANDAKAN: A leading Sabah Chinese cultural association has proposed for the establishment of a Chinese Cultural Village in Sandakan to attract more tourists to visit the district and to jumpstart its dwindling economy.
Proposing this was Dr Danny Kok, President of Sabah Dragon, Unicorn and Lion Dance Association, while speaking at the fourth anniversary celebration of the Kwong Ngai Lion Dance Sandakan (Kwong Ngai) at the auditorium of Sandakan Hakka Association (SHA) here on Saturday.
Sandakan-hailed Kok opined that the district has great potential for such a significant cultural cum tourism set up citing its longestablished historical background that is closely associated with the Chinese emigration, especially those from Hong Kong, to the extent that it was once popularly known as ‘mini Hong Kong’.
“The name of Sandakan was also often cited in various Hong Kong action films and popular TV series, in the past.
“Sandakan is also home to several Chinese clans like Jiujiang, Punyu, Nan Hai, Sanjiang and Hakka. Besides this, it also has several historical Buddhist and Taoist temples such as the Puu Jih Shi and the Tam Kung Temple.
“Hence, I humbly call upon all the Chinese elected representatives from Sandakan to work together to find a suitable piece of land to establish a Chinese Cultural Village and to transform Sandakan into a popular tourist destination,” he urged.
Citing the example of Foshan City in Guangdong Province, he further suggested that the said cultural village shall also be a centre for Chinese culture preservation and lion dance training.
He was convinced that if properly set up and managed, the cultural village could become a significant place for the Chinese worldwide to trace their ancestral roots.
Kok revealed that the idea of the cultural village came to him during the courtesy call on Youth and Sports Minister Frankie Poon Ming Fung recently, when the latter told him that one of his aspirations after winning the 14th general election, was to revive the economy of Sandakan.
“As far as I know, currently there’s no such Chinese cultural village in Malaysia. Hence, I hope our Chinese elected representatives from Sandakan could strive to work together to establish the first of such cultural village in Sandakan,” he reiterated.
Earlier, Kok expressed both regret and concern over the mushrooming of many ‘motley crews’ among the lion dance troupes in the state, over the years.
“These ‘motley crews’ who lack proper training, supervision and management have been going around canvassing for commercial engagement at low cost. Such ‘unscrupulous competition’ has not only affected the livelihood of those professionally-trained-andmanaged lion dance troupes but also significantly impacted the preservation and development of our Chinese culture and tradition,” he lamented.
Noting that it requires substantial funds to properly and professionally maintain a lion dance troupe, he acknowledged that in order for the ancient Chinese culture and tradition of dragon, lion and unicorn dance to continue to thrive, they can’t depend solely on the charity of the Chinese community alone, but more importantly have sufficient support from the government of the day.
He then noted that although following the request by the association back in 2009, the State government had been distributing new lion heads to various lion dance troupes during the Chinese New Year celebration, such a gesture was nonetheless insufficient to ease the financial burden faced by the lion dance troupes.
However, Kok was grateful that Poon had during the recent courtesy call by the association favourably responded to his request and agreed to also include the unicorn heads in the annual distribution list, starting from next year.
On the commendable achievement of Malaysian lion dance in the world arena, especially the worldrenowned high-pole lion dance routine, he urged the lion dance troupes in the state to continue to adopt a ‘creative-and-innovative’ attitude in their training and performance.
Towards this end, he suggested the State government allocate funds to set up a performing arts training center similar to the Liu Sanjie School of Performing Arts in Guilin City, at the proposed Chinese Cultural Village, to provide training for Chinese cultural performance to the people of Sabah, regardless of their race and religion.
Earlier, Kok also commended Kwong Ngai for their perseverance and dedication in preserving and promoting the art and tradition of dragon, lion and unicorn dances.
Also in attendance at the occasion were Clement Tan, Chairman of International Kwong Ngai Lion Dance.