PROMOTE ALL ETHNIC ART

By HAMDAN RAJA ABDULLAH
metrose@thestar.com.my

Stirring: Abdul Ghani (left) joining Kampung Kesang Tasek villagers in cooking ‘lauk kawah’ or beef curry, at a special programme to promote art and culture among the people in Johor.

TANGKAK: The state wants to promote local art and culture adopted and practiced by the Malays, Chinese, Indians and other ethnic races here.

Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said this is to ensure that people in the state would enjoy prosperity and economic growth with a rich culturalheritage.

Abdul Ghani added that Johor is blessed with the arts and culture from the different races.

“We should develop Johor’s art and culture and promote them at every level of society in state.

“Many of the traditional Malay culture, especially zapin and ghazal music, originated here and was developed by Johoreans in the early days.

“We have identified about 15 different zapin dances and they all came from the districts in Johor,” he said at a gathering in Kampung Kesang Tasek near here recently.

Abdul Ghani, who was accompanied by the National Arts and Culture Department deputy director-general Mesran Mohd Yusof, said the state would help promote arts and culture in Johor.

He added that villagers are encouraged to set up or form their own cultural groups and the state would provide with the necessary assistance.

Earlier, Abdul Ghani joined the villagers in a gotong-royong session cleaning up a multi-purpose hall before joining the villagers in preparing a beef curry dish called lauk kawah.

SOURCE: THE STAR, APRIL 01, 2013