By Shannon Wei
KUCHING — In a joyous celebration on 2 December 2023, the highly anticipated annual Kuching City Christmas Parade captivated a crowd of more than 5,000 participants who thronged the streets of Kuching.
This year’s parade took on the theme of “A Heartwarming Christmas”, with the Sarawak Chinese Annual Conference (SCAC) Methodist Church as the parade host.
At the MBKS Jubilee Ground, participants both young and old from various churches converged after months of anticipation and preparation. Attending in a show of support were also Kuching South Mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng and Datu Jack Aman, the director for Unit For Other Religions (UNIFOR).
In his Opening prayer, Catholic Archbishop Simon Poh emphasised the significance of God’s love and Christian unity—to spread the love, peace and mercy of Christ throughout the streets of Kuching.
“We celebrate here because of God’s love for us,” he remarked. “Christmas isn’t Christmas till it happens in our hearts.”
After a sequence of Christmas carols, prayers and scripture readings delivered in various languages by Church leaders, the contingents moved on to the 4-km street parade, which also featured an array of 15 vibrant Christmas-themed floats.
The heart-warming spirit of the event extended beyond the floats, with participants distributing Christmas gifts to families and children who came out to watch the parade.
The Roman Catholic contingent saw nearly 300 people joining the parade from the Boys’ and Girls’ Brigade, St Joseph’s Cathedral, Holy Trinity Church, St Peter’s Church, Blessed Sacrament Church as well as Chapel of Mother Mary, Stutong.
Other participating contingents included the Anglican Church, SCAC, Sarawak Iban Annual Conference (SIAC), BEM (SIB) Church, Seventh-Day Adventist Church, The Salvation Army, Sarawak Baptist Church, Sarawak Blessed Church and various member churches of the Sarawak Evangelical Church Association (SECA).
In a collaborative effort, the 2023 parade was organised by SECA and the Association of Churches Sarawak (ACS). Meanwhile, ACS Bintulu, ACS Miri and ACS Mukah had also organised their respective City Christmas Parades.
