Visit
Sarawak Campaign Logo unveiled
October 16, 2018
I’ve yet to
visit Sarawak but what I saw at the recent unveiling of the new Visit Sarawak
Year logo at JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, on October 16 has got me all excited. It’s
now definitely on my bucket list of places to visit.
Doing the
honours was Sarawak Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth & Sports,
Datuk Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
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| Datuk Haji Abdul Karim at the launch of the new logo. Note the old logo in the background |
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| Datuk Haji Abdul Karim (holding spear) and Sharzede (on his left) after the new logo is revealed |
Earlier,
Sarawak Tourism Board CEO Sharzede Haji Datu Salleh Askor said the logo, the
anchor emblem for the Visit Sarawak Year campaign, is designed to connote fun
and friendliness with the word Sarawak spelt out in stylised script. The letter
“a” in the centre has been replaced with an illustration of a hornbill as
Sarawak is known as Bumi Kenyalang or Land Of The Hornbill. The bird is also an
important symbol of good luck for the indigenous people of Sarawak.
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| At the start of the event in JW Marriott KL |
The colours
red and yellow represent the State flag, orange for a strong spirit and vibrant
energy of the various ethnic communities, shades of green for its verdant
rainforests and wildlife while blues represent its long coastline and the calm
ocean.
The Sarawak
Tourism Board also plans to position the State as a plethora of Culture,
Adventure, Nature, Food and Festivals not found anywhere else in the world;
hence the tagline, as in Sarawak, there’s always “More To Discover”.
Also spotted
at the event were members of the media and trade representatives who were
treated to dance and cultural performances as well as a special appearance by
Sarawakian singer Dayang Nurfaizah.
Sarawak is
home to 27 ethnic groups speaking 45 languages and dialects. Each has its own
stories, culture, traditions and beliefs which add up to make Sarawak a
cultural hotpot. These include the Iban tribe which continues to maintain its
many customs and rituals although the people’s former reputation as head
hunters is now firmly a page in history.
Then there’s
Orang Ulu or People From Upriver. Orang Ulu is used to loosely describe a
collection of diverse tribes such as Kayan, Kenyah, Lun Bawang and Kelabit
which speak different dialects and have different cultural practices.
Datuk Haji
Abdul Karim says there’s always so much happening in Sarawak, especially for
adventure seekers who can go jungle trekking, caving, mountain climbing, jungle
expeditions or go for watersports such as diving, fishing, water-skiing and
sailing.
Or go back
to Nature. While Sarawak has 56 totally protected areas, there are 37 gazetted
national parks, 5 wildlife sanctuaries and 14 nature reserves. These are home
to an amazing number of flora and fauna, including hornbill, orang utan,
proboscis monkey and the world’s largest and smelliest flower, the Rafflesia.
Its Mulu
National Park is Malaysia’s only gazetted natural built park in the UNESCO
World Heritage Site listings while Paleolithic and Neolithic burial sites from
40,000 years ago have been uncovered in its Niah National Park.
City
slickers can admire the varied architecture and go shopping for (or even learn)
the arts and crafts that Sarawak is famous for. The Orang Ulu are skilled in
beadwork and the Iban in cloth weaving. The Melanau and Bidayuh are good at
utilising bamboo, rattan and tree bark to weave baskets, hats and mats.
Festivals…
Sarawak’s calendar is filled with festivals of both culture and music. Cultural
festivals include the Gawai Harvest Festival, Kaul which is celebrated by the
Melanau fishing community, Borneo Cultural Festival and Pesta Meow, a feline
celebration in Kuching that lures cat lovers. As for music, apart from the
world renowned Rainforest Music Festival, there’s Borneo Jazz and the Kuching
Waterfront Jazz Festival.
Finally, the
one thing to rule them all: Food.
Since it was tea time, guests at the event were given a tantalising
tasting of the foods of Sarawak, from kompia sliders and umai to manok pansuh
and Sarawak laksa. Umai is raw seafood marinated with calamansi juice, shallots
and chilli padi while manok pansuh is chicken cooked in bamboo with tapioca
leaves, shallots, garlic, ginger, tamarind and chilli padi.
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| Umai is a native dish of the Melanau people |
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| The late Anthony Bourdain referred to Sarawak laksa as "Breakfast of the Gods" |
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| Manok pansuh is marinated meat cooked in bamboo hollow |
Sarawak
laksa is totally different from what is available in the peninsula and the late
Anthony Bourdain called it “breakfast of the gods”.
More information at sarawaktourism.com
All of us also
received a Batique batik bag filled with thoughtful, practical gifts of Bario
highland rice and black peppercorns. 
