Sun (left) presents a souvenir to Chan.
KUCHING: Kuching South City Council (MBKS), host of the World Toilet Conference 2016 from Oct 27-29, has invited Zhenjiang mayor Zhu Xiaoming to be a speaker.
MBKS mayor Datuk James Chan said his Chinese counterpart was expected to present a paper on ‘Government and Policy on Toilet’.
He added that four mayors would be invited to speak at the conference that would have at least 500 delegates from around the world.
“Apart from the mayor from Zhenjiang, we are also sending letters to the mayors of Guro (South Korea), Bangkok (Thailand) and Bandung (Indonesia),” he said when receiving a courtesy call yesterday from a cultural delegation from Zhenjiang, led by Zhenjiang Bureau of Culture, Broadcasting, Television, Press and Publication deputy director Sun Xiaomei.
Chan opined that mayors ought to be concerned about the conditions of toilets in their cities because clean and hygienic toilets would help make a good impression on tourists.
Sun, who pledged to bring home the invitation letter to Zhu, said the city of Zhenjiang would be hosting the International Friendship Cities Conference in November this year.
She then invited Chan to be present at that conference themed ‘Low Carbon Cities’.
It is understood that representatives of 17 cities from 13 countries would be expected at the global event.
In his speech earlier, Chan, who has visited Zhenjiang, suggested that Kuching and Zhenjiang work on addressing a global concern – food security.
“I have visited a farm in Zhenjiang, a city whereby agriculture is still a major sector. Maybe we can look into how both cities can collaborate in this aspect.”
Saying he had been paying attention to the politics of China, Chan said MBKS’ principle was the same as that preached by the Chinese top leadership. It focused on transparency and integrity.
“I read China’s politics and learn from the Chinese. Besides, local Chinese look up to China because China is an expert in calligraphy, tea and arts. We hope to visit Zhenjiang again to gain more knowledge.”
He then informed the delegates that the Kuching Festival Fair had always been for the people.
For instance, he said the council had already lined up Kuching Zumba Fiesta at the State Hockey Stadium on Aug 19.
“Some 2,000 people are expected at the Zumba event. All our events, including entertainment, sports and cultural-related ones, are people-centric.”