Chong: Preserve culture and forge better ties
TIME-honoured traditional and cultural festivals preserve customs as well as enable understanding and integration. They also promote positive values in all levels of society, said MCA youth chief Datuk Chong Sin Woon.
He said good ethics and behaviour are needed to solve prevalent issues such as bullying and gangsterism.
“Values such as tolerance, appreciation and gratitude need to be ingrained in people as only then can we curb social problems,” he said, pointing out that bullying happens everywhere and in cyberspace too, and not just on school grounds.
Chong who is also Deputy Education Minister said this when announcing the launch of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s (UKM) 38th Lantern Festival, which will start at the IOI City Mall, Putrajaya on Oct 28.
The varsity organises the festival annually, he added, saying that this year it will feature a charity run, exhibitions with traditional themes, as well as performances from popular artistes.
He said the registration fee for the charity run is RM50 of which RM5 will be donated to Life Line Association Malaysia – an NGO that provides support to individuals in crisis.
As part of the event, stage performances will also be held on Nov 25, in UKM’s Dewan Canselor Tun Abdul Razak.
The lantern festival, will incorporate positive values through the H.E.A.R concept (heart, ear, assistance, reaction) to remind the public, especially the youth, that there are ways to curb societal issues they face.
Chong, described the programme as “spiritual” and “positive”.
He praised UKM and its students for continuously putting in effort to keep the tradition going.
“It is a feat for UKM to have organised this event consecutively for 38 years.
“The efforts of the young genera- tion is what keeps Malaysia’s unique culture and tradition alive,” he said.
He encouraged students to keep on organising activities beyond campus grounds, and urged the public to participate in the festivals.
“Cultural festivals allow understanding and integration in our society that’s fun and interesting.
“It also reminds us of positive values and practices that we should apply in our daily lives to create a ‘loving society’,” he said.
Chong also encouraged future cultural festivals to be conducted in dual languages.
“We should be considerate as others may not be able to understand the language used. To be a better country, everyone has to make an effort to take the first step,” he said.
For more information about the festival, visit www.ptukm.com.