Eye-catching: A Kuching South City Council personnel dressing up the iconic cat statue in Padungan for Chinese New Year.
KUCHING: The iconic cat statue at Padungan here is all set for Chinese New Year with its latest costume.
It has been dressed in a traditional red jacket with black buttons and yellow collar. A yellow soft cap sits on its head while a festive banner hangs from its paw.
The costume, sponsored by an anonymous city resident, was unveiled by Kuching South mayor Datuk James Chan yesterday.
“The dressing of the cat was sponsored by someone who loves Kuching. He doesn’t want to reveal his name, only that he is proud to be part of the city,” Chan said.
Also present at the unveiling ceremony was Keiko Nakamura, who heads the secretariat of the Alliance for Healthy Cities, of which Kuching is a founding city.
“I’m very happy to be here to celebrate the New Year with the cat, which is always here for the people of Kuching as well as tourists,” she said.
The cat never misses a single Sarawak festive season and is dressed up accordingly to each celebration, such as Gawai, Hari Raya and Christmas.
Last year it even wore sports attire complete with jersey, bib and headband for the inaugural Kuching Marathon.
Meanwhile, Local Government and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh hoped for positive changes and community spirit in the Year of the Monkey.
“The monkey is a very agile, flexible and active animal, so I hope the Year of the Monkey will bring us a lot of activity and changes for the better,” he said.
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