Bonding with Gaya Street Sept 6
Kota Kinabalu: Newly formed NGO, the Empowering Through Community History (Etch) Society in collaboration with Sparks, Heritage Sabah and 51DC Dance Studio will be organising the second Bonding with Gaya Street on Sept 6 and 7 in conjunction with the 50th Malaysia Day.
In a press conference held on Thursday, Etch President Datin Fazar Arif said the society, which was successfully registered with the Registrar of Societies (RoS) in June this year, is taking over the organising of the event from the North Borneo History Enthusiasts group who organised it last year.
“We feel the necessity to organise it this year because of the 50th anniversary of the Malaysia formation.
So it is quite significant for the event to be held here because a lot of things happened here before the formation of Malaysia.
“That’s why our theme is ‘A Milestone in History’ because we are going to feature some things along the street,” said Fazar.
The exhibitions will be set up in front of the gate coming into the street and will feature among others, a replica of the war memorial that used to occupy the spot near Hotel Sixty3.
“We hope one day the memorial will go back there, where it used to be because it is a very important monument,” said Heritage Sabah President Richard Nelson Sokial, adding that an old Rolls Royce Generator Set donated by HSBC will also be featured in the exhibition.
“They (HSBC) are going to decommission it after Sept 16 and donate it to the State Museum. So they want us to assist them to hand it over to the museum while at the same time, they also want that to be exhibited during the event,” he said.
Richard said that they hope the exhibition of the generator set would get the public to be more interested in what is going on along Gaya Street.
“Not many people know the significance of this street Do you know that the world’s most recognised boxer, Muhammad Ali, used to walk through this street when he came here in the 70s?” said Richard.
Organising chairman Dominic Chung said that the event will feature local artistes and celebrities like Hong Yi, Louis Pang, Roger Wang, the 51DC Dance Studio and DJ Fine China, among others.
The public can also participate in games such as treasure hunt and some old, fun and popular games of yesteryears to enhance the fun and celebratory atmosphere at the event.
“For the funding, we have already sent out letters to get sponsorship, even to corporate groups in Kuala Lumpur, not just in Sabah. This is the time I think for them to get closer to Sabah.
“We have also received tremendous support from the Mayor, City Hall and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment to organise this event,” said Fazar.
The event is estimated to cost around RM220,000. The organisers are targeting 3,000 visitors for the whole event.
Meanwhile, Fazar explained that Etch is eager to make a difference by creating awareness and educating the general public, especially the youths, on the importance of communities and places with historical value.
“We hope that Etch will be one of the most successful NGOs because a lot of our youth do not know Sabah’s history, what is the significance of certain places, certain buildings, landmarks they have no idea.
“I remember meeting a little boy in front of a school before and I asked him what he knew about Sabah’s history and he doesn’t know much.
So this is part of our service to the community,” she said.
Further information regarding the event and the society can be obtained by contacting the society’s secretariat Masleyaton Yahya at 016-8803336 or email masley.yahya@yahoo.co.uk.
Source: Daily Express
