The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac), in collaboration with the Sarawak government, is in the process of elevating the city of Kuching to be recognised in the Unesco Creative Cities Network (UCCN) under the gastronomy category.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said the main objective of UCCN, an initiative introduced by Unesco in 2004, was to foster innovation and creativity as a driver towards sustainable city development.
She said there were seven main categories of creative cities that had been outlined by Unesco, namely knowledge and literature, film, music, design, traditional crafts and arts, gastronomy and media arts.
According to Nancy, Malaysia’s intention to nominate Kuching as one of the creative cities is a pragmatic effort and will have a positive impact on local socio-economic development.
“It will also increase the visibility and positive image of both Malaysia and Sarawak, especially on the international stage.
“The diversity of heritage menus and ethnic-based dishes makes Kuching the top choice to be designated as a creative city in the gastronomy category while its rich biodiversity with various herbs can also be used as a food source, ” she said in a statement recently.
Nancy added that Motact has also agreed to allocate RM5mil to the Sarawak Cultural Village to upgrade its infrastructure.
A new hub
Meanwhile, Badan Bahasa dan Sastera Sabah (Bahasa), a non-governmental organisation based in the state, is focusing on making Sabah a literature and cultural hub in the region.
Bahasa chairman Datuk Jasni Matlani said the efforts are showing positive results from collaborations formed with several writers’ organisations in Asean, from Indonesia, Brunei, southern Thailand and Singapore.
“The idea to make Sabah as the literature and cultural hub in the region started from the Sabah Writers’ Festival, organised with the cooperation of Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka and the state government.
“At the opening of Sabah Writers’ Festival in March, the Humanity Literature and Asean Diplomacy Award was bestowed on its first recipient, Denny JA (a poet and social media icon) from Indonesia, ” Jasni said.
Jasni, 59, said the criteria to select the award recipient include the icon’s contribution to literature on building of humanity and works that promote relationship between Asean countries.
He added that the closing of the festival, which is in its 10th edition this year, is expected to be held in Pitas from June 25 to 27 and will be filled with discussions on the works of Sabah writers.
Among those to present their paper works include 2012 SEA Writer Award recipient S.M Zakir and Universiti Malaya lecturer Dr Mohd Saleeh Rahamad. – Bernama
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