LOOK HERE!: A mother taking pictures of her sons at the beach.
HAVING A GOOD TIME: Vendors enjoy brisk business during the event.
FAMILY TIME: Ibrahim (seated left) with his family at the competition.
DIRTY TIME: A girl shows her dirty hands after digging a hole in the sand.
FUN TIME: Three-month-old Winnie having fun chasing a boy
SIBU: Belawai has become a popular beach resort for people from the hinterland of Sarawak’s central region as evidenced by the huge turnouts at the recent recreational events held at the beach.
One such event was the 2nd Belawai Shimano Beach Fishing Competition which a participant, Mohtadar Wan from Belawai, described as a good get-together for friends and families.
Mohtadar and family were with a friend, 54-year-old Ibrahim Jem, at the competition.
Mohtadar is a regular at fishing competitions, but he has never won any prize.
“I participated in the Safari Tanjung Manis, Safari Mukah and the Belawai fishing competition last March.
“I won nothing from these competitions, except fun. I met old friends as well as made new friends,” he said.
Mohtadar, a 57-year-old retiree, said fishing had been his hobby since he was a little boy, and his favourite was deep sea fishing.
“I used to go out to the sea with friends.
“The excitement of beach fishing cannot beat the excitement of deep sea fishing. Beach fishing is more for leisure and it doesn’t give as much thrill as deep sea fishing.
“There are more fish in the sea so it is definitely more fun to cast your rod in the deep sea, especially when you catch a fish you start pulling your rod. The feeling is indescribable as you do not think of anything else,” he enthused.
His friend, Ibrahim, on the other hand said: “I am a fisherman, and normally I spend about five days at sea every week. I catch fish for a living. Deep sea fishing is just simply the best.”
Like Mohtadar, Ibrahim did not win any prize at the recent Belawai beach fishing competition.
Another participant, Zaini Razak, 45, had come all the way from Sarikei for the competition held last Sunday.
He said: “This was the second time I joined the competition. I liked it because it was fun especially when you had friends with you.”
The event attracted hundreds of holiday-makers.
A family from here said they would only go to Belawai beach if there were events.
“We do not go there very often. Only when there are events. In fact, my kids love to go there,” a woman here said.