KOTA KINABALU: The sixth Sabah International Dragon Boat Race here has seen the participation of more than 90 per cent Bumiputera participants.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew said the participation of Bumiputera participant showed good unity among people from multi-racial background in the state.
Liew, who is also Tourism, Culture and Environment minister, said although dragon boat festival is traditionally a Chinese event, it nevertheless welcomes participation from other races and foreigners.
"Sabah government would like to extend its congratulations to Federation of the Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) for organising the event. This is an important event for Chinese but we do encourage participation from other communities.
"The Sabah leaders including Chief Minister (Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal) also endorses such activity as it can foster unity among the people," she said in a press conference here today.
Liew was speaking to reporters after Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah Tun Juhar Mahiruddin launched the dragon boat race race at Likas Bay here this morning.
The two-day race which began yesterday, however, had to be put on hold at 10am due to rain and strong winds.
A total of 89 local and international teams are competing in nine categories of the dragon boat competition.
Local contestants are from Kuala Lumpur, Pulau Pinang, Sarawak and Sabah, and foreign participation has teams come from China, Philippines and Brunei.
