KUCHING, Apr 30: The Babulang Charity Golf, which took place in Miri yesterday and served as a warm-up for the Buffalo Race and other Babulang Festival events, was a huge success.
According to a statement issued today by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Port Development (MIPD), 124 golfers from Sarawak, Labuan, and Kuala Lumpur, as well as the Sang Jati Dusun and Gurkha Regiment Golf Team of Brunei, participated in the event held at the Miri Golf Club.
Some 24 members of the Pantai Mentiri Golf Club from Brunei, led by its chairman Col(R) Zahrin Zunaidi, also participated.
During his speech at the prize-giving ceremony, Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department (Labour, Immigration, and Project Monitoring) Dato Gerawat Gala, who was the guest of honour, praised the Bisaya for their ability to organise large events such as the Babulang Festival and Buffalo Race, one of the events on the Sarawak Tourism Calendar, despite being a small community.
He also commended the community’s strong cooperation and their elders’ emphasis on nurturing leaders to keep solidarity intact.
Furthermore, Gerawat stated that this could be demonstrated by the smooth transition of the Sarawak Bisaya Association’s leadership over the years, with the most recent one taking place in 2021 when Datu Antonio Kahti Galis, handed over the presidency to the current president, Joseph Blandoi.
Meanwhile, during Blandoi’s speech, he stated that, as in previous years, the game was organised to raise funds to assist the community’s underprivileged members.
He stated that a portion of the proceeds from last year’s game was used to assist 33 underprivileged members of the community.
He also invited everyone who attended the game to this year’s festival, which will take place from June 2 to June 4.
In addition, in support of the event, Deputy Premier of Sarawak Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas and Minister for Food Industry, Commodity, and Regional Development Sarawak (M-Ficord) Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom had both pledged to contribute RM50,000 each to help organise this year’s Babulang Festival and Buffalo Race.
Gerawat had pledged RM15,000, Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts (MTCP) deputy minister Datuk Sebastian Ting had pledged RM3,000, and Miri Mayor Adam Yii had pledged RM2,000.
Sime Darby Oils, Wilmar, Perunding SL, Persafe Plantation, Plantmax, Envlp Construction, Columbia Asia Hospital chief medical officer Dr Roland Dom Mattu, and other individuals also contributed.
In addition to Gerawat, Yii and Kahti also participated in the game. — DayakDaily
