JOHOR BARU: The festive spirit is flying high at the Pasir Gudang World Kite Festival here with the sight of horses dancing in the sky to usher in Chinese New Year.
According to Tan Xin Bo, a participant from China who has been taking part in the festival since 1999, the kite was brought in from his home country to welcome the Year of the Horse.
“Every year, we try to bring something unique that also reflects our culture and history.
“Previously, we brought other animals in the Chinese lunar calendar such as snake and dragon as well as panda, an animal synonym with China.
“This time, we decided to display horses, which is perfect as we will be entering the Year of the Horse and celebrating Chinese New Year in just about two weeks.
“In a way, we are sharing our culture with people from all around the world while also kicking off the festive spirit,” he said when met at Bukit Layang-Layang yesterday.
Culture on display: Tan with the horse kites flying behind him. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
The 60-year-old said the kite features four horses, each about 6m long and 4m tall.
“So far, we have put up three of the horses and will fly the fourth in the coming days.
“The kite is being flown with the teamwork of all 20 participants from eight different cities in China.
“We take turns to handle the kite, which needs to be flown by four people at one time,” he said, adding that it took one month and four kite makers to produce the kite.
Tan was among 155 international participants from 56 countries, taking part in the 28th World Kite Festival, which is being held at Bukit Layang-Layang between Feb 4 and 8.
Malaysian Kite Council president Datuk A. Rahim Nin said this is the first time the festival was able to get participants from six continents.
“When we began this flagship event in 1995, we only had 11 international participants from five countries joining us.
“Today, we have more than 10 times that number. As such, we will attempt to break the Malaysia Book of Records for a kite festival that has received the participation of people from six continents (except Antartica),” he said.
He said that if successful, the kite festival will receive the recognition during its officiating ceremony tomorrow night.
