KUCHING, Feb 9: The stereotype that Chinese New Year (CNY) is a celebration only for the Chinese community is no longer valid.
As a matter of fact, people of all races and religions are now equally excited to welcome the coming of the new Lunar Year.
This was evident through the participation of contestants of multiracial backgrounds at the Little Miss Cheongsam competition at Sarawak Plaza recently.
The competition which was jointly organised by the management of Sarawak Plaza, Persatuan Kreatif Sarawak, Manoy Handicraft, Plant A Seed Project and Sarawak Chubby Queens saw the involvement of 32 participants of all races aged from 3 to 14-years-old.
Gracing the occasion were Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Deputy Secretary-General-cum-Patron of Persatuan Kreatif Sarawak Sih Hua Tong; Chairman of Persatuan Kreatif Sarawak-cum-founder of Manoy Handicraft Abdul Nazri Abdullah, who is also the newly-appointed state director of Miss Sarawak Earth 2018; and curator of Plant A Seed Project, Eric Tan.
Ell Qaseh emerged as the overall winner in the Little Miss Cheongsam category A for children aged 3 to 8-years-old while Eva Chung bagged home the champion’s title for category B for children aged 9 to 14-years-old.
The judges’ panel included Miss Malaysia Earth Eco Beauty 2017 Jean Seymour Harry, Sekolah Seni Malaysia Sarawak principal director for Visual Art and Culture Jackie Jane Lima and local Iban singer, Angela Martin who is also the founder of Sarawak Beautiful Queen.
In addition to the Little Miss Cheongsam competition, the management of Sarawak Plaza also arranged for lion dance and Chinese orchestra performances for its shoppers on separate occasions in celebration of the coming CNY. — DayakDaily
