HELLO THERE: Chan (right) and MBKS officials greeting the silat performers who were among eight groups performing a martial arts exhibition at the State Hockey Stadium, Jalan Padungan last Saturday.
KUCHING: An exhibition by eight martial arts groups was the highlight of an event here last Saturday held by the Kuching South City Council (MBKS).
The eight groups displayed their martial skills in this year’s annual event to honour martials arts at the State Hockey Stadium, Jalan Padungan.
They were the armed forces, tai chi group and state associations for wushu, muaythai, taekwondo, aikido, silambam and silat.
In his address MBKS mayor Dato James Chan re-affirmed the council’s support for martial arts.
“As we all know, martial arts is a fine display of discipline and arts. This event is to commemorate martial arts and we shall continue to honour it for as long as we can do it,” he said.
State exponents in the various disciplines received special mention during the event.
State silambam coach Dave Raj Muniappan was happy that silambam was invited to do an exhibition.
“Silambam in Sarawak is relatively new. I am nevertheless glad that MBKS called us to do an exhibition today,” he said.
Dave’s view was echoed by his wushu counterpart Ling Ung Hee who felt that the festival was a good way to promote awareness of martial arts.
Azmi Karim, who is state muaythai coach, hoped that more events will be organised in the future to promote martial arts which are relatively new in Sarawak.
“There is a growing interest in muaythai here in Sarawak. With this kind of event we hope more will know about us as well,” he said.
A total of 1,185 martial artists participated in the event which was attended by heads of various state martial arts associations and MBKS officials.