Kuching to be declared 'City of Unity'

KUCHING: Kuching is set to be declared a "City of Unity" on Aug 1.

The ceremony will be officiated by Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem at Stadium Perpaduan here, in conjunction with the state celebration to mark Kuching's elevation to city status, 27 years ago.

The idea for a unity-themed city was mooted last December by Yayasan 1Malaysia (Y1M) which had been looking at the emerging trend to identify and promote cities by their attributes, for example, "historical city".

Y1M decided on the 'unity' theme to describe Kuching, did a working paper on the feasibility and then floated its findings in April to the state's highest administrative level.

The proposal received a positive response form the chief minister who directed the government machinery to lead the initiative towards materialising the aspiration.

Datuk Seri Azman Ujang, a member of Y1M board of trustees told Bernama when contacted that Kuching which has a population of more than 600,000, comprising 30 ethnic groups was a good example of a city of unity to the world.

He said the world should learn from Kuching on the beauty of racial tolerance, which could only yield good fruits such as harmony, progress and stability.

"The racial unity in this city is intact, unlike other cities elsewhere in the world where relations among the various ethnic groups tend to be brittle," said Azman.

He is from Kuching and a former general manager of Bernama. – Bernama