Wan Junaidi (third, left) seen putting on a traditional Malay male headgear known as the ‘tengkolok’ on one of the Japanese individuals during the event last night. — Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (Sept 3): Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has expressed his delight at seeing the 10 Japanese individuals who have come to Sarawak to study Sarawakian Malay culture and language.
According to him, they made the right choice in learning about the Sarawakian Malay language and culture as the language differs from its Peninsula counterpart.
Wan Junaidi had the opportunity to meet the 10 Japanese individuals, who are currently on a visiting programme, at Kampung Santubong here at an event held at the Rumah WI parking lot on Friday night.
“I would like to congratulate these 10 individuals for their efforts in coming to this coutnry to learn the Malay culture and language. Learning cultures and languages apart from your own is always beneficial,” he said in his speech during the event.
He also expressed his hopes that Sarawakians will also visit Japan one day to do the same thing by organising a visiting programme to learn Japanese culture and language.
According to the programme’s organisers, their visit to Sarawak is the first stop in their 17-day programme.
Meanwhile, in a post on Wan Junaidi’s Facebook page, he expressed his delight over their visit to Sarawak.
“It was a beautiful beginning of September when I had the opportunity to meet 10 young people from Japan during this event known as ‘Kembara Anak Samurai ke Sarawak’. These big-hearted individuals are between 18 and 21 years old.
“Along with this group of young people, there are two senior students studying the Malay language and culture. This shows that age is not a barrier in learning,” he said in the post, which was written in Malay.
In the post, he also said as a native of Sarawak, he was proud to see how earnest they were in approaching and deepening the culture of the Sarawak community, especially in Santubong.
He also said he was happy to see them attend the event wearing traditional Malay attire.
“These children are exposed to the Malay culture of the state of Sarawak, especially the daily life of the people of Kampung Santubong. I enjoyed watching their very creative and harmonious performances while I was also amazed to see their earnestness to speak in Malay.
“Hopefully, this ceremony will be a sweet memory for them. What they see and experience tonight is just a small part of the 1,001 uniqueness and beauty of the beloved land of Santubong,” he said.
The event started with a ‘haderah’ performance and was followed by a ‘pencak silat’ show.
The 10 individuals will next visit Johor, Malacca, Perak, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya as well as the neighbouring country of Singapore.