Traditional hobby: Enthusiasts flying kites during the 25th Pasir Gudang World Kite Festival at Bukit Layang-Layang. — AFP
PASIR GUDANG: The Pasir Gudang World Kite Festival saw international participants from 25 countries, says Malaysian Kite Flyers Council president Datuk A. Rahim Nin.
He added that the five-day festival, which began on Feb 22, also drew in over 400,000 visitors.
Rahim said participants were given a chance to don traditional Malaysian attire while flying their kites at Bukit Layang-Layang.
“We wanted to bring in something different for this year’s event and something memorable for our international participants.
“Because they had never flown the wau (traditional Malaysian kites) before, we gave them the opportunity to fly the many types of traditional kites that we have in Malaysia while wearing baju Melayu,” he told reporters.
Some of the traditional kites that were flown included the Wau Merak, Wau Kuching, Wau Bulan and Wau Jalabudi.
Kite flyers included enthusiasts from Australia, Cambodia, Japan, Korea, Poland, Portugal, Canada, Brunei, Ukraine and Indonesia.
Martina Plattje, from Holland, said donning the lun bawang attire from Sarawak was a fun experience for her.
The 56-year-old said this was also her first visit to Malaysia.
“So far, I have only been to the hotel and Bukit Layang-Layang, so wearing this attire is a good way to experience local cultures,” she said, adding she was planning to sightsee in Johor Baru before returning home.
Jeah Wan Oh, from South Korea, said Pasir Gudang was his fifth kite festival destination and hoped to be invited again next year.
“We came from Satun, Thailand, for the kite festival there, and after this we will be going to Kabong, Sarawak. But I hope that I can make some time to tour Johor,” said the 51-year-old.
Meanwhile, the participants also etched their names in the Malaysia Book of Records for the most amount of people flying traditional kites simultaneously.
The Malaysia Book of Records was represented by its record consultants Edwin Yeoh and Siti Nurhanim Mohd Noh.
Yeoh said that the record is quite unique as the annual event had never kept a tally on participants.
“The organisers have previously kept records on the most number of kites and the type of kites being flown, but this is the first time that it involves international participants flying kites while wearing traditional attire,” said Yeoh.
“We do hope that this was a good experience for them, so that they can spread the word (about it) once they return home,” he said.
The festival, which drew to a close yesterday, was last open to foreign participation in 2019.
The event was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was scaled down to a national-level event last year due to related border restrictions.
