Christmas parade lights up in Bau town
BAU: This year’s Christmas celebration in Bau was made even more special and memorable following the successfully-held inaugural Christmas Parade for the district on Saturday evening.
Close to 2,000 people sang carols as they walked along selected routes around Bau town while Christmas-themed floats from the participating churches gave the event a festival-feel.
Tasik Biru assemblyman Dato Henry Harry Jinep led the parade which started at about 6pm from the Petra Methodist Church Bau and went on until the night.
Jointly organised by the Methodist Church, the Roman Catholic Church and Borneo Evangelical Mission ( BEM), this parade was mooted not just to promote Bau but also to make the district more lively and vibrant during this joyous occasion of Christmas.
The BEM Church led the praise and worship while the Methodist Church led the closing prayer.
I may not able to mention every single name but we know who have really worked hard tirelessly in bringing in the joy of Christmas to everyone in Bau. We will continue to make Bau a place of peace, love, harmony and good living. Thank God. Amen.
Gifts were presented at the ceremony.
About 200 choir singers from the three churches took turns in leading the singing of carols.
The procession ended at the taxi parking lots where Christmas trees had been erected. Henry, as the guest of honour, performed the symbolic lighting of the trees, which was followed by brief fireworks display.
In his remarks, Henry congratulated those whom had thrown every effort to make the Christmas parade a big success.
“I may not able to mention every single name but we know who have really worked hard tirelessly in bringing in the joy of Christmas to everyone in Bau. We will continue to make Bau a place of peace, love, harmony and good living. Thank God. Amen,” he said.
The parade co- ordinator William Ding, who is also Bau District Council deputy chairman, said he was happy the event was a success despite it being organised for the first time.
“It showed the people of Bau support such idea to hold an event to make Bau more lively and worth visiting by tourists,” he said.
He did not rule out the possibility of making this parade an annual event in Bau.
Dato Henry Harry Jinep, Tasik Biru assemblyman