By Sam Chua
KUCHING (Dec 3) — The ‘A Christmas Carol, Sarawak in Diversity’ event at Padang Merdeka has made it into the Malaysia Book of Records (MBOR) for the largest Christmas carol gathering in the country.
Taking place on Sunday night, the gathering was officially recognised by MBOR for attracting 2,479 participants — surpassing the initial target of 1,500 carollers.
The lighting of a large Christmas tree in front of the Plaza Merdeka shopping mall to mark the start of the programme was officiated by Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian, who was accompanied by Minister in the Premier’s Department Dato Sri John Sikie Tayai.
The first carols performed during the night were ‘O Holy Night’, followed by ‘Feliz Navidad’, ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’, ‘Carols of the Bells’, ‘Deck the Halls’, ’12 Days of Christmas’ and ‘Last Christmas’.
The performance ended with the singing of the ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ again.
The Christmas programme is organised by Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) and supported by TV Sarawak. It will be aired on the television channel on Dec 23.
The programme had initially attracted controversy after the carol ‘O Holy Night’ was reportedly excluded from the list of songs performed, resulting in the Association of Churches in Sarawak pulling out of the programme.
The matter was quickly rectified after intervention from Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg and Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
Among those in attendance were state cabinet members Datuk Gerawat Gala, Dato Gerald Rentap Jabu, Datuk Snowdan Lawan, Datuk Liwan Lagang, Deputy State Secretary Datu Hii Chang Kee, Kuching South mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng, Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) director Datu Jack Aman Luat and Kuching Roman Catholic Archbishop Simon Poh.
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