Sarawak’s inaugural CNY grand open house expected to host 5,000 guests

KUCHING: The inaugural statelevel Chinese New Year (CNY) grand open house, to take place at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) this this Feb 10, is expected to host at least 5,000 invited guests.

The event, to run from 9am to 3pm that day, will have the newly-appointed Yang diPertua Negeri Sarawak Tun Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and his wife Toh Puan Fauziah Mohd Sanusi attending, as well as Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg and his wife Datuk Amar Juma’ani Tuanku Bujang.

Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian is the ministerin-charge of this programme.

“We have sent our invitations to federal and state Cabinet ministers, heads of departments, representatives of associations, representatives of houses of worship, community leaders, as well as the general public.

“We estimate that at least 5,000 invited guests will be present to celebrate this festival together,” Dr Sim told a press conference here yesterday.

According to him, the activities lined up will include the ‘yee sang’ tossing ceremony and greetings by the dignitaries, the staging of cultural showcases, traditional dances, and also singing performances by the Agura Band from the Sarawak Arts Council.

The Deputy Premier pointed

We have sent our invitations to federal and state Cabinet ministers, heads of departments, representatives of associations, representatives of houses of worship, community leaders, as well as the general public. We estimate that at least 5,000 invited guests will be present to celebrate this festival together.

Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian

out that the state government had previously sponsored statelevel open houses for Gawai Dayak and Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

“As the Premier is always fair to all races in the state, the state government has decided to hold a state-level CNY open house.

“We’ve always seen state-level open houses for Gawai and Hari Raya, so this time around the state government decided to hold the state-level CNY open house – we don’t want the people to just ‘tengok saja’ (just look).

“Traditionally, the CNY Open House event is organised by SUPP (Sarawak United People’s Party), but because the state government will be hosting its CNY Open House, the one organised by SUPP this year will be moved to another date, and the open house will take place in Sibu.

“Deputy Minister II for Public Health, Housing and Local Government Datuk Michael Tiang will be the chairman of this year’s edition of the SUPP’s CNY Open House,” he said.

Dr Sim added that he had received open house invitations from organisations such as the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia.

However, Dr Sim said he politely declined the invitations and extended his apologies in favour of the state-level event.

“It’s not that I don’t support them, but home first. This is a Sarawak affair, Sarawak first,” he said.

Among those present at the press conference yesterday were Batu Kitang assemblyman Datuk Lo Khere Chiang, Kota Sentosa assemblyman Wilfred Yap, and Deputy State Secretary Datu Hii Chang Kee.