Harmony Arch signboard up for 10th anniversary

KUCHING: The Harmony Arch at the entrance of Carpenter Street had its refurbished signboard reinstalled yesterday for its tenth anniversary, as preparations for the upcoming Kuching Intercultural Mooncake Festival filled the area with buzz.

The arch and signboard proved to be an icon in the area, said Datuk Sim Swee Yong, who is Federation of Kuching Division Community Associations president and Kuching Old Market Community Association chairman.

“It was launched on 8 March, 2007 by Tun ( Pehin Sri) Abdul Taib Mahmud when he was Chief Minister,” he told reporters.

Sim was at Carpenter Street yesterday to witness the installation of the signboard, together with Kuching Intercultural Mooncake Festival organising chairman Sim Kiang Chiok, Kuching North City (DBKU) commissioner Datuk Wee Hong Seng and DBKU Monitoring Service Department principal assistant director Morshidi Ahmad.

The arch is located at the historic Carpenter Street where shops reflect the Chinese lifestyle and how they have integrated with the other races in Kuching.

It is a symbol of togetherness and working for the progress of the state, signifying how the state’s multi- ethnic groups coexist harmoniously.

With the theme ‘ Sight, Sound and Taste for Unity in Diversity in our Unity City’, Kuching Intercultural Mooncake Festival 2017 starts today (Sept 28) and ends on Oct 4.

(From second left) Wee, Datuk Sim Swee Yong, Sim Kiang Chiok, Morshidi and others with the freshly-refurbished sign outside Carpenter Street. — Photos by Muhd Rais Sanusi

Workers in a skylift installing the sign on the Harmony Arch at the beginning of Carpenter Street.