By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, July 17: This year’s 722 Sarawak Independence Day programme will be held at Tasik Biru in Bau next Wednesday (July 22), starting at 9am, and will feature a flag-raising ceremony, cultural parades, traditional performances, and live music.
The organisers also noted that, for the first time, local authorities have organised a Gawai Cultural Parade through Bau Bazaar, reflecting how the spirit of 722 has taken root within the community.
“As such, this year’s event may be the final celebration in Bau Bazaar under the committee’s stewardship—making it a symbolic ‘handover’ to the local authorities and younger generations,” it said in a press release.
It also said that Alim GA Mideh, a pioneer 722 activist who is an advisor in the organising committee, believes that its mission has been achieved as more Bau people now know and appreciate the meaning of the historic day.
Meanwhile, organising chairman Francis James has encouraged Sarawakians to dress in their traditional attire and attend the programme to celebrate the journey of unity, identity, and independence.
The 722 movement began in 2013, when it was first proposed that July 22 be commemorated as the day Sarawak gained independence from British colonial rule. From parades in Kuching, the celebration grew into mass gatherings across Serian, Bau, Sibu, Bintulu, and Padawan.
In 2016, the late Chief Minister Pehin Sri Adenan Satem officially declared July 22 as Sarawak Independence Day, a recognition of the people’s struggles. — DayakDaily
