Sunday November 26, 2006
Kelantan Umno wants state culture to go global KOTA BARU: Kelantan Umno wants the state's rich culture to be put on the world market just as Thai kickboxing and Japanese martial arts have become internationally known. As the state is known as the "cradle of Malay" culture, it was logical to promote its cultural trove on a global scale and to commercialise it to earn more income, said its chief Datuk Seri Annuar Musa. "Besides exporting top brains and labour, Kelantan has provided Malaysia with a rich cultural landscape from the legandary mak yongs to dikir barat. "It is time to exploit such richness and tap its commercial value," he said when opening the state Umno Youth cultural programme. At present, most cultural troupes survived on special invitations to functions, which are mostly private. Annuar said the cultural promotion could be linked to traditional apparels such as the batik and songket, higher education institutions and halal food production as fresh contributors to economic growth. The diversification of income earnings in Kelantan must work, he said. If Thailand can position kickboxing (muay or tomoi) as a popular martial arts and spectator event, there was no reason why Kelantan could not promote its own pencak silat, Annuar said.//Thestar
