Lee invites CCTV to promote Sarawak in China

KUCHING: A state assistant minister has invited China’s state television broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV), to film promotional videos on Sarawak.

Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Lee Kim Shin observed that most mainland Chinese had knowledge about tourist destinations in Sabah but shrugged when asked about Sarawak.

He believed that some effort engaged by CCTV would help promote Sarawak to the people of China, a nation with over 1.3 billion population.

“If you’ve been to China, you’d know that many of them are familiar with Sabah. But when you ask them about Sarawak, most of them haven’t a clue,” he said during a luncheon hosted by the ministry yesterday. The luncheon, which took place at Lau Ya Keng Foodcourt at Carpenter Street here, was to welcome performers from China who will be entertaining guests at the 16th Kuching Intercultural Mooncake Festival 2017.

Lee hoped that these performers would enjoy their stay in the city and share their experience with family and friends when they return to China. He informed them that visitors from China would not face major language barrier because one-fourth of the population in Sarawak are Chinese.

“Even some of our Bumiputeras can speak Mandarin. There are 27 ethnic groups in the state of Sarawak,” he enthused.

He continued to enlighten the guests from China that Chinese in the state had been observing and celebrating traditional festivals including Mid-autumn Festival and Winter Solstice Day.

Lee also pointed out that the government had been supportive of Chinese education while Sarawakians enjoy freedom of religion.

According to him, the government is in the process of establishing a direct route between Kuching and Shenzhen.

He is confident that people of Shenzhen would not have difficulty going around the capital city of Sarawak because communication would not be an issue.

Lee was quick to add that the mainland Chinese could visit the state for not just tourism but also investment purposes.

“We welcome foreign investments in various industries such as agriculture and hotel business. They can also visit and find out more about the potential of our local produce.

“If they are interested in bringing our unique food laksa to China for some chain of store business, we can look into that,” he said.

This year’s Kuching Intercultural Mooncake Festival at Carpenter Street ends tomorrow (Oct 4).