KUCHING: Australian War Graves Department gave credit to Sarawak Wartime Heritage following reports of the successful wartime heritage events participated by Australian war veterans visiting Sarawak.Kathy Upton Mitchell deputy director of the Australian War Graves Department, accompanied by Commander Nick Hart, deputy defence advisor of Australian High Commission Kuala Lumpur, made the remarks when she paid a special call and meeting with the chairman of Heritage Development Committee of Sarawak Tourism Federation (STF) Lim Kian Hock.
They had stopped over in Kuching after attending the Sandakan Day Memorial Service.
The meeting was held in Batu Lintang Mini Museum, where senior lecturer Dr Hamimah and the RAC architect and landscape consultants were also present.
Lim briefed them on the development of the committee and the wartime historical heritage of World War II with its starting point at Batu Lintang in 1997.
They were also briefed on the historical installation of the Bario Memorial Sculpture on March 25 this year to commemorate the contribution of some 2,000 local tribal warriors supporting the group of British and Australian commandos who parachute- landed in Bario 65 years ago on March 26 1945 to start ‘Operation Semut’ against the Japanese to liberate Sarawak and Borneo.
Progress on the current restoration and landscaping works of the WWII Heroes Graves at Jalan Taman Budaya and the inspiring Wartime Heritage Exhibition at Sarawak Museum were also explained.
She enjoyed the film entitled ‘Brotherhood Patriots and Commonwealth Sacrifice’ which is about the Indonesian confrontation and communist insurgency in Sarawak produced by Ministry of Tourism and Heritage based on a script written by Lim Kian Hock and Suria Bujang.
Kathy Upton Mitchell and her team were then taken on a visit to Batu Lintang POW Memorial, the only remaining Punjabi regiment barrack, the ammunition bunker, WWII Heroes Graves and the Wartime Heritage Exhibition at Sarawak Museum – with the theme ‘Borneo WWII – Sarawak Liberation and Reconciliation’.
She was impressed by the strong and persistent effort and progress made by the committee with the support of STF and the government agencies.
She congratulated the chairman of the committee for his spirit of volunteerism and looked forward for more collaboration.
She also visited other places of interest in Kuching before leaving for Australia.