Known as one of the world’s most colorful extravaganzas, Citrawarna Malaysia or the Colours of Malaysia with this year’s launch theme “Waves and Colors” just recently showcased the country’s rich culture, arts, and traditions of the 14 different states and four territories that make up the multifaceted country.
As a curtain-raiser, Citrawarna 2004 was launched on May 22 in conjunction with the birthday celebration of His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia). The month-long nationwide festivity has just culminated in Ipoh, Perak on June 19 with a colorful street parade and dance festival featuring cultural troupes, arts societies, and invited troupes from other states and countries.
Our group of Philippine travel agents and media members was among those who attended the jovial launching of the month-long celebration of Citrawarna 2004. We were eight Filipinos that had been invited, so we were fortunate to have seating — in relative comfort — on the grandstand close to the Royal dais, where our view of the events was excellent.
In a kaleidoscope of colorful ethnic costumes, a procession of 6,000 Malaysians entered the stadium’s arena. They escorted the float with the King and Queen of Malaysia, Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Bin Haji Ahmad Badawi and his wife, as well as the other dignitaries to the Royal dais onboard. Then they presented a spectacular show that featured the songs and dances of the different states, offering spectators a vignette of Malaysia.
For three and a half hours, I sat spellbound while being entertained by exotic rhythms and movements of the participants. Along with other delegates from 40 countries who were invited by Tourism Malaysia and flown in by Malaysia Airlines for the Malaysia Mega Familiarization Program (MMFP), this experience, I must say, is very unforgettable. I believe Malaysia Airlines’ Maricris "Kit" Custodio, Stopover Travel Magazine’s CJ Juntereal and Menchit Ongpin, and the travel agents, who were part of the Philippine delegations, also felt the same astonishment I had when we saw the full-blast presentation. The travel agents were Jennifer Co of Thomas Cook Philippines, Diosa Rodriguez of Budget Travel and Tours, Cynthia Limjap of Philippine World Travel, and Jun Fajardo of Business Travel InternationalPhilippines Marsman.
Performances were divided into six zones, comprising Group 1: Kedah, Perlis and Penang (north zone); Group 2: Perak, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur (central zone); Group 3: Negeri Sembilan, Malacca and Johore (south zone); Group 4: Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang (east zone); Group 5: Sarawak, Sabah and Labuan; and Group 6: Chinese, Indian, Orang Asli and Siamese communities.
For six consecutive years, the people of Malaysia showed visitors from throughout the world that people of vastly different cultural and ethnic backgrounds woven in one country can live harmoniously, happily, and progress as a nation.
Colours of Malaysia was launched in 1999 to create more international market awareness following the catastrophic impact of the 1997 Asian crisis on industries, part of it was tourism. It also coincided with the kick-off for MMFP.
"We organized Colours of Malaysia so that visitors to our country would have the opportunity to see for themselves the beauty of Malaysia," Tourism Malaysia Minister Datuk Dr. Leo Michael Toyad told the international group of press during the launching of this year’s MMFP at the Palace of the Golden Horses in Kuala Lumpur the day before Citrawarna event. Its role in improving tourism arrival would be hard to ignore.
"In 1998, we had 5.5 million arrivals. In 2002 we had 13.3 million. If not for the war and the outbreak of SARS during the first half of 2003, Malaysia would have registered a much higher figure," he added.
Despite the setbacks earlier last year, however, tourist arrivals to Malaysia are showing encouraging signs of recovering. "Malaysia recorded a total of 1,266,886 tourist arrivals for the month of April 2004. This figure represents a 175.8 percent increase from the 459,374 tourist arrivals for the same month in 2003," said a report from Tourism Malaysia.
During the tourism seminar, the large crowd of travel agents and media was given an introduction to Malaysian history and culture for better appreciation of the grand celebration. The event is a celebration of the harmonious co-existence of the country’s many ethnic groups, which are reflected in their music, dance, art, food, culture, religion, and traditions.
Our guide, Krishnan of Adventure Quest and Tour, mentioned that as one of Asia’s melting pot of peoples and cultures, the country’s claim to campaign brand "Malaysia, Truly Asia" is genuine and very appropriate. This is because no other country in this world you can experience Asia in a single society like Malaysia. China, India, Middle East, and Europe contributed to the many brilliant hues to its culture. Citrawarna is the showcase of this campaign.
The grand finale of the evening saw the grand fireworks lit up the sky of Kuala Lumpur. When it finally ended, the king, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Ibni Al-Marhum, and the queen, Tuanku Fauziah Binti Al-Marhum Tengku Abdul Rashid, walked and approached personally the people that were lined up along the side of the stadium arena with a smile and handshake. Still excited and full of awe, I knew it was the end of the best show I ever had the privilege to see.
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