By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Oct 4: The new Federation of Chinese Associations Sarawak building will be located next to the Kenyalang Park Post Office.
Its president Dato Richard Wee thanked Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg for allocating the plot of land which is located at Simpang Tiga, behind the Spring Shopping Mall for the purpose of erecting a building for the use of the federation.
“We are currently in the process of finalising the details with the Land and Survey Department and we hope to complete the process very soon. Our preliminary estimate is that it may cost between RM10 million to RM15 million to construct the building.
“We shall initiate our fundraising exercise once we have the title in hand. In this respect, I am appealing to YAB Premier for the government to provide us an assistance of a one-to-one matching grant for our fund raising exercise for us to realise the dream of having our own home,” said Wee at the installation of Federation of Chinese Associations Sarawak cum Federation of Chinese Associations of Kuching, Samarahan and Serian held at a local hotel here on Oct 3.
Wee’s request triggered a positive response from Abang Johari, who was one of the invited witnesses to the installation of office bearers of both the federations and the guest of honour at the event.
On the building itself, Wee said preliminary designs were available but only in the form of proposals which have yet to be approved by the committee.
“We are still at a very preliminary stage in terms of construction of the building itself. As it is just a proposal, we don’t even have a figure for the total building cost as we have yet to approve it before we can tender it,” Wee told DayakDaily.
He was confident however, that once completed, the building will serve many purposes. Apart from a chic office of contemporary design and layout, there will be spaces for meetings and functions including cultural music performances following the creation of a concert hall within the premises.
There will also be recreational spaces for gatherings and training.
“It will be a place of our own, a place we can call home,” said Wee, envisaging a bustling building, with students coming and going for various activities such as cultural dance practices or musical ensembles, debates and discussions and even for groups checking in for recreational activities such as aerobic dance and Taichi. — DayakDaily
