Musical theatre way to preserve culture

Penampang: Sabah Tourism Board Chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai on Friday said creating a strong relation between tourism and culture would make destinations more attractive.

This entailed visit, work and investment opportunities, he pointed out, adding that business operators should take advantage of this to attract visitors here.

“At the same time, tourism provides an important means of enhancing culture and generating income that can support and strengthen our cultural heritage and creativity,” he said during the launching of Sabah’s first musical theatre in Kadazan “Sininggazanak” at J Borneo Native Village here.

Sininggazanak is a traditional wooden monument that deals with the commemoration of persons who die without leaving heirs and erected on the deceased land by relatives of family members who had strong claim to inherit the property.

Until today, remnants of this ancient Sininggazanak is still evident with the presence of these monuments in areas like Penampang, Putatan and Kudat.

J Borneo Native Village owner Jivinsol Moosom conceived the musical theatre to attract more visitors and at the same time preserve local traditions of the Kadazandusuns.

Joniston complimented this effort and said this is a good example of the creativity of tourism business operators to diversify its offerings to visitors.

“We hope that this latest product will boost rural tourism and usher more tourists from all over the world to our shore,” he said.

Towards this end, Joniston said STB has taken the initiative to reach out to villagers in all districts to work together to showcase their unique cultures to visitors.

Source: Daily Express