Children from Kiddoz Place visit Sibu with their parents
SIBU: Thirty children of Kiddoz Place and their parents spent five days exploring Sibu, visiting various places of interest in the town and its surrounding areas.
Kiddoz Place founder Samantha Lee said Kiddoz Place is a children’s learning centre based in Kuala Lumpur, and their visit to Sibu was their fi rst educational tour in Sarawak.
Lee, who is also the activity coordinator, said they chose Sibu because they believe it had a lot to offer as a traditional and modern town.
“In fact, my choice of Sibu surprised everyone, including my husband, who is from Sibu.
“Every time I come to Sibu and ask about the town’s specialty, the answer is always ‘Sibu has nothing, just kampua’. But I believe there must be something that is striking and unique about Sibu.”
Lee did some research before deciding to bring the children here.
Among the places they visited were Sibu Heritage Centre, Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum, Sibu Central Market, a pepper garden, a goat farm, and a longhouse in Bawang Assan.
They had a great time on a river cruise, enjoyed a meal at Hock Chiu Lou Restaurant, a visit to a mee sua (long life noodles) cottage, Melanau villages and Mukah Fish Market.
During these visits, the children attempted making mee sua, plucked pepper from its vine, sampled umai and sago worm, flew kites and so forth.
They sketched what they saw and took down notes, and had fun interacting with the animals at TYC Goat Farm.
Lee recalled an incident in Mukah where a woman invited them to stay in her house and, in return, she could stay in their houses when she visits Kuala Lumpur.
“I have never experienced it before; the amount of trust she put in us was surprising,” she said.
Lee said Sibu people should be proud of their town.
“One of the things Sibu should be proud of is Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum which I believe is the only one of its kind in Malaysia.”
Lee said they got to experience first hand racial harmony in Sibu.
“We went to the Pasar Malam and saw people of various races trading peacefully at the same place. You hardly see this in Kuala Lumpur,” she said.
Meanwhile, Lee said Sarawak needed to do more to promote its cultural places.
“Lamin Dana, for example, is mostly found on foreign websites or blogs. I think a lot of Malaysians are not aware of such places in Sarawak unlike European tourists,” she said.
During their visit to Bawang Assan, the children donated about 120 books to its Community Centre Library.