Resort re-names water festival following protest from PAS

KAMPAR: PAS has opposed a water festival here, leading to the organisers changing the name of the programme from the Songkran Festival here to the Sahom Water Festival

Kampar Pas Youth Council (DPPK) strongly protested the holding of the Songkran Festival which was said to be taking place at Sahom Valley Resort.

Its Youth chief Saiful Islam Abdul Rahman regretted the open announcement to the community by the organisers to attend the festival which clearly contradicts the principles of Islam.

On this, Sahom Valley Resort managing director Shariff Ali Jabad Ali said the decision to rebrand the programme scheduled for August 26 and 27 was made to avoid controversy and to ward off the stigma towards the holding of the event.

“The first programme organised in May was welcomed by almost 500 visitors and we hoped that the use of the word ‘Songkran’ this time would be able to attract more visitors but it has become the subject of criticism by several quarters.

“So in order to ease the community’s perception and respect all parties, the programme is rebranded as the Water Festival because Songkran is a sensitive issue even though it was just a perception. We apologise for the confusion over the matter,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday (Aug 16).

Shariff said the water festival should not be see as a Siamese Songkran festival but only as a water activity for the visitors.

“The organisers admitted a mistake for using the term ‘Songkran Festival’ in our announcement last week, but our intention was not to follow the same as the Songkran Festival,” he said.

Shariff added that there was no intention to observe religious events or customs like in neighbouring countries.

“We take note of the remarks and suggestions from all parties, especially the Tualang Sekah assemblyman’s office, including villagers who question why we use the term Songkran Festival and we admit our mistake,” he said.

“We have many chalet operators in Sahom and we receive many visitors from within Perak including those who come from Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Kedah. So with the programme on August 26 and 27, we hope people will come to join the Water Festival while having fun with their families,” he added. – Bernama