From roots to shoots: What About Kuching festival to focus on talented youth

 

Sarawak Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah (seated centre in white) is surrounded by young performers who will showcase their talent in this year's What About Kuching festival.

KUCHING: This year's What About Kuching (WAK) festival will see its biggest conceptual change from just showcasing Sarawak's cultural roots to focus on unearthing young talents.

The theme for last year's fest was 'Roots' and this year 'Shoots', which organisers, taking the analogy of the plant, used to describe the evolution of the fest now in its eighth edition.

"From the roots, it grows into a shoot. So, that's how we are trying to explain and trying to get new ideas and new beginnings.

"It's organic so the content every year is also different," festival director Donald Tan said at its launch on Saturday (Oct 3).

This year there will be over 400 events and performances scattered in various locations in three cities – Kuching, Sibu and Miri.

The programme for this year's month-long community-driven fest covers 14 genres, including art, comedy, culture, music, theatre, sports, food, film and wellness.

The listed events include Sidewalk Fest at Lebuh Java, Food Adventure Trail 3.0, Wild About Nature photography, Stinky Toe 2.0, the WAK Pickleball Challenge, Celebrating Us and Sidewalk Rhythms.

Tan said a week-long international stand-up comedy show will also be making its debut in Kuching.

Sarawak Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah summed it all by saying "there's something for everyone".

Some of last year's events will still be there, he added, but this year the focus is on youth to showcase their talent, creative start-ups, first-time voices and new genres.

"This is a platform for them. Otherwise where are they going to go?" he said after launching the fest at a shopping mall here.

Abdul Karim said he was delighted WAK had become a platform for youngsters to showcase their talent in painting, drawing, food, aerobic and even information media.

This year's festival will have 83 unique events, compared to only 67 last year, featuring 49 collaborations across 14 genres.

Launched in 2017, the festival was created to spotlight the local creative community and make Sarawak an artistic hub.

Rather than concentrating around conventional arts venues, the organisers have used the whole city - heritage buildings, museums, cafés, hotels, galleries, performance spaces and "unexpected corners" – to stage the various events. - Star

Melaka polls could be held as early as Oct 31, says Ab Rauf

 

Caretaker Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh speaking to The Star when met at his home in Kampung Pulau, Masjid Tanah, on Saturday (Oct 3). — RSN MURALI /The Star

MELAKA: Voters could go to the polls as early as Oct 31, with Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh outlining three possible election timetables ahead of the Election Commission’s (EC) decision on Melaka polls.

The caretaker Chief Minister said the earliest option would be nomination on Oct 17 followed by polling on Oct 31, while another possibility was nomination on Oct 24 and polling on Nov 7.

“However, the EC may consider another option as Nov 7 falls on the eve of Deepavali, which is on Nov 8.

"The third possibility is nomination on Oct 31 and polling on Nov 14,” he told The Star when met at his home in Kampung Pulau, Masjid Tanah, here on Saturday (Oct 3).

Ab Rauf said these were possible dates, with the election timetable to be determined by the EC at its special meeting on Oct 7.

He said Barisan was ready to face the election whenever it was held, citing its work through the Wakil Rakyat Untuk Rakyat (WRUR) programme across all 28 state constituencies over the past three years.

“We have served constituents throughout Melaka, including those in Opposition-held seats, through WRUR,” he said.

Ab Rauf said WRUR had recorded an 80% approval rate among the grassroots, adding that he expected the support and welfare assistance provided through the programme to translate into votes for incumbent representatives, particularly those from Barisan.

 He said more than 100,000 people had attended WRUR programmes across the 28 constituencies, with 5,170 complaints received for action and resolution.

Ab Rauf, who is also Melaka Barisan chairman, said the coalition was confident of retaining all 21 seats it won in the 2021 state election.

“With the positive sentiment at the grassroots, we believe we can win more than 21 seats, depending on the electoral pact that is being negotiated,” he said.

Asked about talks with other political parties on cooperation for the coming polls, Ab Rauf said negotiations were still in progress.

“I have been given the mandate by the leadership to negotiate.

"We are looking for partners who can safeguard the interests of all races and ensure the state continues to progress,” he said.

He said the outcome of the negotiations would be referred to the Barisan leadership for a final decision on its election partners.

Ab Rauf also pointed to seven awards received by the Melaka government under the 2025 Public Complaints Recognition initiative, presented recently by Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, as recognition of its efforts to address public concerns.

“These figures are more than just numbers. They are evidence of work carried out with commitment,” he added

The EC’s Oct 7 meeting will discuss arrangements for Melaka’s 16th state election following the dissolution of its legislative assembly.

Ab Rauf announced the dissolution on Sept 22, with it taking effect the following day. The election will be held for all 28 seats in the assembly, whose term would otherwise have expired on Dec 27.  - Star

Imagine rightist Rohingya refugee has audacity to tell local Chinese woman to “balik Tongsan”

 

ACCORDING to the Cambridge Dictionary, the phrase “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” means a person should adapt to the local customs, rules or behaviours of the place or situation he or she is visiting.

It advises a change in habits to match the people around you to better fit in.

Perhaps it is this mindset that certain Rohingya refugees have adopted in their attempts to better fit in Malaysia.

Seeing how certain Malay-Muslim politicians and their social media herd behave towards local minority groups, it is little wonder why some Rohingya refugees may have thought it was a good idea to ape such attitudes and mannerisms.

This is when Threader •-• 李愉霖 (@lynnyu1987) recounted a recent incident in Wangsa Maju whereby she was bluntly told to “balik China” (literally, “go back to China”) by a very non-local, non-identity card-holding Rohingya man.

In expressing surprise at how her post has attracted so much attention and comments on “the immigration issue”, the semi-affronted poster admitted to finding it somewhat amusing to be labelled a “pendatang” (illegal alien) by an actual foreign interloper.

The poster also clarified that she did not take pictures of the offending individual though she actually regretted not doing so.

She was also at pains to stress that she “didn’t vote for them to be let into the country”, surmising that the reaction to this particular thread highlighted that “we’re not so different from them in mentality as a whole.”

The said post has generated 29.3K likes, 838 comments, 1.5K re-posts and 790 shares at the time of writing, an indication that the actions of this rightist Rohingya had struck a nerve among many Malaysians.

Highlighting “the stranger in a strange land” feeling that envelopes locals when in the vicinity of Wangsa Maju, this put-off citizen remarked that he, too, experienced the same racist warning.

However, there was the added irony of being told to “balik China” when he is a Malay!

One bold commenter was of the opinion that the Rohingya refugees had the mindset that since they were Muslim, they, too, were entitled to same privileges as the Bumiputera.

Recalling broaching the subject with a Chinese cab passenger, it was suggested that the local Chinese community would be greatly angered by the demands of the recently arrived Rohingya.

The reply was that it was “our own fault for being too kind in welcoming them in and now they are overstepping their boundaries”.

Unimpressed that some of these Rohingya refugees have started to behave like Malay Bumiputera, it was contended that they will “later start saying this land belongs to them”.

It was further contended that some Rohingya have been emboldened to behave in such a manner is because they see locals doing the same – making disparaging, racist remarks about local Chinese.

Another commenter simply called it for what she saw as “Rohingya already become Bumiputera.”

The anti-Rohingya sentiment was evident in a comment that recounted a Chinese Uncle telling a Rohingya off by stating that he possessed a valid identity card.

It was also contended that the Rohingyas should not “talk so much” when they were relying on charity compared to the Bangladeshi foreign worker who was in Malaysia with a valid permit.

This comparison among migrants was also highlighted in another comment where it was felt that the Bangladeshis are “more humble” while the Rohingyas are emboldened by the authorities to behave in an entitled manner.

Another concerned netizen highlighted that the Bangladeshis did not bring their entire family along unlike the Rohingyas.

The sentiments were largely, if not overwhelmingly, negative towards the Rohingya in Malaysia.

Calls ranged from “deportation” to “smashing their face” underlined what many Malaysians are beginning to feel at the moment over the presence of the Rohingya in their midst.

No doubt the Rohingya refugee crisis is a complex issue and cannot be solved with knee-jerk reactions.

However, the plight of the Rohingya is not helped by incidents such as this where locals are made to feel like aliens in their own homeland.

Perhaps it would help if locals didn’t themselves provide bad examples of such racist behaviour for the Rohingya to emulate in the first place. –  Focus Malaysia