THE 2019 Borneo Festival in KL was held at Sunway Velocity Mall from July 17 to 21, 2019.
Showcasing Borneo’s diverse culture to mall visitors, like a travelling carnival, the International Borneo Festival takes place at multiple locations across the globe in a year.
Organised by Sunway Velocity Mall and Borneo Street KL, the five-day event featured indigenous vendors situated amongst a giant atrium with larger-than-life bird cages, colourful handicrafts, lush greens and wood carvings - all reminiscent of a rainforest.
The vendors were all born and bred in Borneo, hailing from tribes such as the Penans to the Kadazans, Dusuns, Bidayuhs, Ibans and more. It was indeed exciting that the mall brought something not only new, but also larger in scale (compared to the previous Borneo Festivals in KL) to the surrounding area of Cheras and beyond – going as far to even attract foreign tourists.
Sunway Velocity Mall general manager Phang Sau Lian said that the event managed to successfully shed light on Malaysia’s diverse cultural attractions, especially the existing ones in Borneo that are often sidelined when one thinks of Malaysia.
“If we can’t fly everyone to Borneo, then we shall bring Borneo to everyone! It is our way to show the public that they can always count on Sunway Velocity Mall to deliver the best experiential events that would elevate, not only their shopping experience, but their daily lives as well. On top of that, this is also our effort to showcase the beauty of Borneo in order to boost tourism in Malaysia.”
The main highlights of the festival were the amount of indigenous vendors concentrated in a 5,000 sqft atrium inside the mall, on top of the Sago Worm eating challenge and the Borneo Blowpipe Charity Challenge.
There were also easily more than 25 booths selling various Bornean items.
For the Borneo Blowpipe Charity Challenge that was initiated by Sunway Velocity Mall, participants were given a chance to take aim at a wooden target with their blowpipes. For every target that was hit, Sunway Velocity Mall donated RM100 to the Penan Empowerment Networking Association (PENA).
PENA’s main goals are to advocate the Penans’ rights in the matter of citizenship and welfare, empower them in education, health and economy, and lastly, to preserve and and promote the Penans’ heritage which encompasses language, songs, dances, poems, crafts, celebrations and traditional sports. At the end of the festival, Sunway Velocity Mall donated a total of RM2,500 to PENA.
The successful festival drew in residents from beyond Kuala Lumpur, reaching as far as towns like Bangsar and Petaling Jaya. The feedback prompted Phang to comment that the mall would definitely be keen on revisiting the event again next year.
