(From right) Wee, Abang Johari, Junaidi, Dr Sim and Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi waving the flag celebrating the 33rd anniversary of Kuching being elevated to a city status during the playing of the ‘Kuching Festival Song’.
KUCHING (Aug 1): The 33rd anniversary celebration of Kuching being elevated to a city status was held at the State Legislative Assembly building complex today in a hybrid format.
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the celebration this year was only held on a modest scale, with about 100 guests attending the celebration physically, while the rest joined the celebration virtually.
As a convention, the Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) and Kuching South City Council (MBKS) take turn to host the celebration every year and this year’s celebration was hosted by DBKU.
Themed ‘Digital Transformation Towards a Smart Kuching’, the themed was in line with the focus of the state government’s Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy 2018-2022.
In adherence to the strict standard operating procedures (SOP) by state Health Department and State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), the performances were conducted in a combination of physical and virtual platforms through pre-recorded videos.
The modest yet significant event began with the singing of the ‘Negaraku’ and ‘Ibu Pertiwiku’ songs, and prayers recital before a special address by Kuching North Datuk Bandar Datu Junaidi Reduan, followed by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
After that, a pre-recorded video of a flag raising ceremony in conjunction the 33rd anniversary celebration of Kuching being elevated to a city status at the compound of DBKU building was played.
A pre-recorded video showing the raising of the flag celebrating the 33rd anniversary of Kuching being elevated to a city status.
Abang Johari launched the celebration by symbolically pointing a laser at the LED screen and a special video titled ‘Kuching towards a Smart City’ highlighting the smart initiatives by both MBKS and DBKU was shown to the audience.
The hour-long ceremony ended with a video performance of a song entitled ‘Kuching Festival Song’.
Among the activities that will be held as part of the celebration include ‘Kejiranan Mesra’ (KJM) Landscape Competition from Aug 9 to 28, Maal Hijrah Carnival (Aug 9), Innovation Challenge (Aug 16), BMX Community Outreach Programme (online) on Aug 21, Mobile Legend Kuching City Cup (Aug 27 to 29), Siol Trail Run (Virtual) on Aug 28, and Succulent Terrarium Competition (Sept 11 to 19).
The closing ceremony of the celebration will be held on Sept 26.
Kuching was elevated to a city on Aug 1, 1988. The 33rd anniversary celebration ceremony was broadcast live via the state Public Communications Unit (Ukas) on Facebook and on TV Sarawak channel.
Among those present during the ceremony were Local Government and Housing Minister Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian, Assistant Minister of Islamic Affairs and DBKU Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi, Assistant Minister of Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali and Kuching South Mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng.