By P. Marilyn
Yesterday marked the official launching of the International Kite Festival 2006, held in conjunction with His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam's 60th birthday celebrations.
The three-day event, which commenced last Friday, was held at Pantai Tungku where the guest of honour was Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Adanan, Minister of Home Affairs, who also met with the participants.
Haji Maidin bin Haji Ahmad, chairman of the organising committee, said the event was also aimed at promoting the country as a tourist destination and highlighting the nation's arts, culture and tradition to the locals as well as our neighbours from Asean member countries.
This was the second time the event has been organised; the first festival was in 2001.
Thirty kite enthusiasts from Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand vied for honours against more than 50 local competitors from the Kite Association of Brunei-Muara District as well as individual participants.
The morning session saw the "Kite fighting in groups of three (Berpulut)", "Kite fighting in groups of three (Berpulut)" between Mukim-Mukim and Train Kite contests.
The "Free Design" competition was also held, an open event for both local and international participants.
Meanwhile, the afternoon session saw the finals of the "Traditional Kites", "Kite Fighting" and "Beautiful Rokaku (Kite)" competitions.
The kites were certainly eye-catching, coming in various designs and colours based on the creativity of each participant.
The winners were announced last night during the closing ceremony of the event at Balai Sarmayuda, Language and Literature Bureau, Old Airport.
- Borneo Bulletin
(21st August 2006)
