Liew (second left) symbolically presents the sponsorship to Wee. – Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (July 15): More than 130 smaller stalls at the Kuching Festival Food Fair are being subsidised to provide young entrepreneurs with an affordable platform to test the market, said Kuching South Mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng.
Addressing recurring claims that Kuching South City Council (MBKS) was profiting from high booth prices, Wee explained that higher bids received for stalls put up for tender helped subsidise the lower rates offered to smaller traders.
“We have a price for them to quote. We cannot stop anyone who wants to quote higher.
“So whatever pricing that is quoted higher, the subsidies will go to all these small stalls,” he explained during the handing over of Magnum’s sponsorship for the Kuching Festival Food Fair 2026.
He said the subsidised stalls, priced at slightly over RM600 for the entire 26-day festival, were intended to give young entrepreneurs an affordable opportunity to test the market, with the rate at less than RM30 a day.
“I can challenge, in the whole of Sarawak, nobody is offering such a rate to any food vendors, whether they are in shopping malls or at private events.
“These are the things that nobody highlights. But even if nobody highlights them, we continuously support small entrepreneurs and the youth,” he said.
Wee urged the public not to politicise the issue, saying the festival had been built up through decades of effort.
“Don’t politicise it again because we don’t want anybody to spoil what our efforts have built up for the past 40 years.
“It was through sweat that this brand was built,” he said.
This year’s Kuching Festival Food Fair will run from July 22 to Aug 16 and feature 314 stalls.
The official opening on July 24 will be marked with a fireworks display.
The Chinese Home Cook Delicacy Corner will also return, with nine Chinese associations taking turns to showcase traditional home-cooked dishes throughout the festival.
The Federation of Chinese Associations of Kuching, Samarahan and Serian Division, Sarawak will participate from July 22-23, followed by Kuching Hainan Association from July 24-26, Kuching Hing Ann Association from July 27-29, and Kuching Foochow Association from July 30 to Aug 1.
They will be followed by Kuching Teochew Association from Aug 2-4, Sarawak Hakka Community Association from Aug 5-7, Kuching Hokkien Association from Aug 8-10, Kuching Kwong Wai Siew Association from Aug 11-13, and Sarawak Chawan Association from Aug 14-16.
Wee received RM45,000 sponsorship from Magnum vice-president and East Malaysia regional head Liew Kee Chuan.
Magnum is one of MBKS’ longest-standing corporate partners for the festival.
Wee thanked the company for supporting the event for more than 20 years, saying such partnerships had contributed to the festival’s continued growth.