The News

More physical events in Sarawak soon

October 6, 2021 KUCHING: Sarawak is looking into organising more physical events soon with the on-going efforts to vaccinate nearly 90 per cent of the population in the state.

Sarawak Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Hamzah said, however, staging such events would require adopting several measures to minimise threats posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the launching of the event Sarawak Adventure Challenge 5.0 here today, he said, for instance, sports tourism would provide an excellent vehicle to promote the state through the involvement of local communities.

Karim said such multi-sport events could help to promote the people’s culture and heritage, as well as the adventure-and-recreation tourism potential of the state to both locals and foreigners.

He said this was evident from the increasing local participation in the event, which was also an excellent platform to highlight spectacular scenery and natural attractions in Sarawak.

Karim said the home-grown event had been held annually since in 2017.

He said the popular event had attracted participants from throughout the region including Brunei, Singapore, West Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan.

However, as of now, the event remained limited to domestic participation due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

“Even with these restrictions, the event was successfully held with about 240 locals enjoying the challenge last year.”

Karim said the Sarawak Adventure Challenge 5.0 would be flagged off from Siniawan Bazaar in Bau on Nov 7.

The theme for this year’s event is “The Evolution Trail” as a tribute to the local communities and the area’s significant history.

The challenging race will feature a variety of trails passing through local communities, attractions, orchards, and plantations with Bung Muan as a central feature.

The competitors will be vying for cash prizes and ‘bragging rights’ by participating in a number of formats and categories using mountain biking and trail running with distances of 40km for the biking and 12km for the running.

Karim said organisers would manage the Standard Operating Procedure to ensure the health safety of both local residents and participants.

He said the organisers would also implement event safety and health protocols including social distancing measures and use of electronic timing for the competitors.

Source: New Straits Time