Karim (third right) speaks during the press conference while (from third left) Snowdan, Nancy, Afiq and others look on.
KUCHING (Jan 28): The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture may consider organising the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) virtually this year due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Its minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the decision on whether to organise the prestigious festival will depend very much on the current situation of the pandemic.
“It is not only RWMF that is affected; there are many other music events also affected such as the Jazz Festival and sports events such as Spartan Race and Sukan Sarawak (Suksar) and our planning will comply with instructions from the Sarawak State Disaster Committee.
“At the moment, there is no plan to postpone the RWMF. We will be looking into organising a virtual RMWF but the experience and atmosphere will not be the same as the live presentation with spectators,” Karim told reporters in a press conference for the MYSS EFootball PES21 Stay At Home at D-Virtual Park in Samarahan today.
On the complaint by hotel operators in Sarawak that their business had been badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Karim said not only the hotel industry was affected but other industries such as the food and beverages, restaurants, travel and tour.
“At the beginning of the pandemic last year, we know that the hotel industry is affected but when the hotels in Kuching, Sibu, Miri and Bintulu are used as quarantine centres, that has helped their business.
“As l look at it, the occupancy rate of the hotels now is higher than that of the time before the Covid-19 pandemic,” he pointed out.
Karim hoped that the hotel operators will be patient and persevere in this difficult time and that all will pray that the pandemic will end soon.
Also present were Youth and Sports assistant minister Datuk Snowdan Lawan, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Nancy Jolhi, Sarawak Esports Association president Afiq Fadhli Narawi and other guests.