Sabah Most Wanted

Sabah to host World Hakka Unicorn meet

Sabah to host World Hakka Unicorn meet
Published on: Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah will once again play host to an international event when over 40 Hakka Unicorn Dance troupes from all over the world convene here for the first ever Sabah World Hakka Unicorn Convention 2015 at the end of the month. According to its Organising Chairman, Dr Danny Kok, the convention will be the first of its kind in the world and it aims to bring together all the Hakka unicorn troupes from all over the world to preserve and empower the traditional art of the Hakkas.
"One of the main objectives of the convention is to discuss among all the troupe masters to find out the origin of the Hakka unicorn, what is the true story behind it, what is the real design and all these historic things.
"When we have established these historical facts, we will then compile our findings and submit it to the Hakka Cultural Centre so that the future generations will be able to learn the history of the beautiful art of Hakka unicorn," said Kok.
He said this when paying a courtesy visit on Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir at his office, here, to officially invite the Mayor to become the Guest of Honour during the flag-off ceremony of the Convention Parade from Gaya Centre Hotel to Oceanus Waterfront Mall on March 27.
According to Kok, the Hakka Unicorn Dance community has yet to establish the actual facts and history of the Unicorn dance and hoped that through the convention, many answers about the ancient art can be answered, before the committee moves on to hosting future conventions and set new resolutions.
"This convention will not be a one-off event as we have many more plans in the pipeline, all aimed at preserving, spreading, teaching and promoting the Hakka unicorn dance not just in our country, but throughout the world.
"The convention will also see two Malaysian records being set where we will have the largest unicorn head made in the traditional way of bamboo as well as the largest number of unicorn heads in one single performance," said Kok.
During the courtesy visit, Madingkir thanked Kok and his committee for bringing the convention to Sabah and specifically, Kota Kinabalu, as the convention will also assist the State Government in promoting and boosting Sabah's tourism industry.
"As we know, the number of Chinese tourists coming in to Sabah has been declining and through this event, we can regain their confidence to visit Kota Kinabalu once again.
"I would like to commend Dr Danny Kok for his efforts in organising a world event to preserve the cultural heritage of the Hakka community and at the same time help contribute towards Kota Kinabalu's development," said the Mayor.
The convention will be held at the Oceanus Waterfront Mall on March 27-28, starting with a parade of all the participants from Gaya Centre Hotel to Oceanus Waterfront Mall on the first day, followed by the official launching ceremony.
Some 88 Hakka Unicorn troupes will then assemble at Oceanus Waterfront Mall to attempt to set the Malaysian Record for the biggest number of unicorn head performance.
Among the participating countries are China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines and Taiwan, where Beijing will also be sending a special lion dance troupe from their National Dragon and Lion Dance Department.