Sarawak's Baram Regatta - Full of history

BY STEPHEN THEN

MIRI: When the Baram Regatta first took place in the remote town of Marudi 106 years ago, it marked the end of the gruesome practice of headhunting and sealed a peace deal among dozens of warring ethnic tribes.

Today, Sarawak wants due recognition to be given to the event.

The state government is appealing to the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry and Tourism Ministry to recognise the regatta as a national event and include it in the national tourism calendar.

Marudi state assemblyman Sylvester Entri Muran said not many people were aware of the regatta's role in racial unification, seeing it only as a sports event.

“The Baram Regatta has tremendous historical significance because quote it was the event that marked the end of the tribal wars among the warring groups and stopped the practice of headhunting,” he said.

According to him, the first regatta was staged 106 years ago following a treaty signed by the British and all the warring tribes.

Through negotiations conducted by the then British district officer Dr Charles Hose and the tribal leaders, it was agreed that the tribes would use the regatta to challenge each other through river races instead of violent conflicts.

“The Baram Regatta is the mother of all regattas in Sarawak. It signalled the start of racial and ethnic unity and consolidation.

“The Government should give this event the recognition it deserves so that the present generation will realise how important it is,” Entri, also state Assistant Minister for Water Supply, said yesterday in an interview.

The first regatta was held in Marudi town (known as Claude Town during the British era) on April 9, 1899. It saw participation from thousands of natives who had previously engaged in violent confrontations over territorial rights.

As heads were considered trophies, the practice of chopping off the heads of rivals was common at that time.

Prospective bridegrooms also used headhunting as a way to prove their masculinity to women in their communities.

Entri said he had spoken with Tourism Minister Datuk Leo Michael Toyad on the matter.

The state, he added, had also invited Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim to this year’s regatta, to be held on Sept 24.

The regatta is held in Marudi town once every three years. Various forms of river races are staged.

Marudi is located some 200km inland from Miri, and serves as the main transit point into the remote Baram district, the heartland of northern Sarawak.

Courtesy of The Star

Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu pledges not to start price war

BY MUGUNTAN VANAR IN KOTA KINABALU

LE MERIDIEN has opened its second hotel in Malaysia with a promise not to kick off a price war among hotels.

Giving the assurance at the soft opening last week, the hotel’s general manager Winston Reinboth said that the promotional price of RM270 against the normal RM350 for a standard room was about the going rate of five-star hotels in the state capital.

“I know there are many people in the industry here watching our pricing.

“But, we don’t intend to go into a price war,” he said at the soft launch of the 307-room hotel, which is expected to be fully operational by early November this year.

Reinboth said the Meridien in Sabah was a blend between a business and leisure hotel that was not in direct competition with the other five-star hotels and resorts in the city.

Reinboth, who personally helped check in the hotel’s first guest, Indonesian business executive Mariany Ham, said that the hotel would be working with state tourism players to bring in tourists.

He was confident that more tourists would be brought in through the Meridien group of hotels worldwide, as well as corporate groups keen to hold meetings in Sabah.

“When Meridien started in Phuket (Thailand), we were among the pioneer hotels and today, the place is booming with tourists,” said Reinboth.

Courtesy of The Star

Chartered MAS flights to bring in tourists to Miri

BY STEPHEN THEN

FOR the first time next month, Sarawak tourism authorities will bring in two groups of tourists from Beijing and Seoul to Miri by chartered Malaysia Airlines flights.

The South Koreans and Chinese will be flown in separately to visit Miri city, world heritage site Mulu National Park, the prehistoric Niah Caves and for golf and diving at a date to be finalised.

Sarawak Tourism Board chief executive officer Gracie Geikie said that golf and diving were included in the itinerary as part of a plan to promote culture, adventure and nature.

“Golf is becoming a very popular among South Koreans while more and more mainland Chinese are taking up diving as a hobby.

“We hope to attract them to Sarawak, especially the region surrounding Miri which has great golf and diving spots,” she said when interviewed recently.

Next month, MAS will bring in three groups of tourists by chartered flights from Shanghai.

Currently, only the state capital Kuching has direct international air links.

Geikie stressed it was important to establish direct international air links to Miri so that foreign travellers could have another direct gateway to Sarawak.

“Sarawak is big and it is vital to have more direct entry points so that we can offer a better choice of tour programmes and destinations,” she said.

Courtesy of The Star

Water exciting final day at the Sarawak Regatta

KUCHING: Overturned longboats that threw paddlers into the water provided the extra excitement on the last day of the Sarawak Regatta at the waterfront here.

Some of the teams lost their balance after being hit by the waves during the races which drew thousands of spectators to the Sarawak River bank yesterday.

The annual Tourism Malaysia Calendar event attracted a record 250 entries, including four teams from Brunei, Singapore and Dubai vying for the honours in the tourism category.

The much-publicised all-women team from Dubai was beaten to second placing by the Bruneian team in the 20-paddler event.

The women were trailing some 100m behind. One of the two Singaporean teams came in third.

The Sarawak Regatta, first held in 1872 to herald the New Year during the Rajah Brooke era, has distinct historical and cultural significance.

Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin presented the prizes to the winners.

Courtesy of The Star

KKIA expansion ready in 30 months

Kota Kinabalu: Major works on the expansion of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) terminals and runway will begin this year.

In announcing this, Deputy Chief Minister and State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Tan Sri Datuk Chong Kah Kiat said the project is expected to be completed within 30 months to cater for the projected increase in air traffic.

"KKIA is well positioned to be the eastern gateway into Malaysia and the strategic air-hub for this region.

"Being the second busiest airport in the country after Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), the KKIA has served some 3.9 million passengers last year, an increase of 56 per cent above its operating capacity of 2.5 million passengers," he said at the presentation ceremony of the Sabah Tourism Awards 2005 at Sutera harbour Resort here last night.

On the tourism industry, Chong said Sabah had continued to witness the dramatic growth of the industry due to many direct flights from Australia, China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand.

For example, visitor arrivals from China increased 98.5 per cent in 2004 over the previous year with the operation of direct MAS flights from cities such as Guangzhou (four times weekly) and Shanghai (thrice weekly).

The introduction of the twice weekly Osaka flights and the additional third Tokyo flight to Kota Kinabalu further boosted Japanese arrivals from 24,500 in 2003 to 44,006 in 2004, an increase of 79.6 per cent, Chong disclosed.

He said with the projected growth of visitor arrivals we expect to see a corresponding growth and development of tourism infrastructure and facilities in the state to cater for the increase.

However, the nature of Sabah's touristic assets and resources calls for sensitive and sustainable development which demands not only in the development of appropriate physical infrastructure but also in the development and maintenance of high standards of services and creation of innovative packages.

New Straits Times journalist Jaswinder Kaur grabbed the Best Tourism Article Award under the Best Malaysia-based Writer category while her sister Harjinder Kler from The Borneo Post grabbed the Best Malaysia-based Writer (Sabah) award.

The Minister's Special Recognition Award went to Reto Klauser, the ex-general manager of the Shangrila's Rasa Ria Resort, Tuaran.

Numerous other awards were also given under various categories such as The Cleanest Town, Best Shopping Complex, Best Entertainment Spot, Best Restaurant, Best Tour Guide, Best Tour Operator, Best Tourist Attraction and Best Hotel Services.

Courtesy of Daily Express