International Lighthouse Day observed for the first time in Miri

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HISTORICAL SITE: Tanjung Lobang Lighthouse.

MIRI: International Lighthouse Day was observed for the first time here last Saturday by some 30 people.

The celebration was aimed at promoting greater public awareness on the importance of lighthouses in communication.

The celebration was organised jointly by the Amateur Radio Club and the Marine Department.

Among those present were the department’s director Zahidin Dor, vice-president of the club Aldrin Wat and Sarawak Society of English Writers Northern Zone (Soswe) secretary Jennie Soh.

The group gathered early in the morning at the lighthouse at Tanjong Lobang, one of the historical sites here where the first lighthouse was located near it, built by the British in the 1940s and was later destroyed by the Japanese in 1942.

Soswe members were invited as they had shown interest in the recently set up historical corner in the city to enhance preservation and appreciation of Miri’s lost history.

“The members had an opportunity to experience radio call communication with frequencies set from the lighthouse,” she said.

Meanwhile, Aldrin said on that day, they successfully communicated with lighthouses in Cape Recardo Port Dickson and that in Pulau Pinang.

“Our radio signal on that day was quite bad, and we only managed to get in touch with a few lighthouses like in Port Dickson. Next year, we might choose a different location probably in Tanjung Dato in Kuching,” he said.