The Batam municipal government in the Riau Islands has assessed that\nthe traditional sampan race on Belakangpadang Island has helped boost\nlocal micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) around the race\narena, which was packed with spectators.<\/p>\n
Batam Regional Secretary Firmansyah said the high level of public\nenthusiasm was evident from the dense number of vehicles filling the\narea around the race location.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking at the large number of people who came, not only from\nBelakangpadang District but also from Batam, I saw directly that parking\nfor two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles had reached the main road.\nThat shows how crowded it was with visitors,\u201d said Firmansyah in Batam\non Monday.<\/p>\n
According to him, the high number of visitors has had an impact on\nmicro, small, and medium enterprises in Belakangpadang. He noted that\nseveral business operators, such as pompong boat service owners, coffee\nshops, food stalls, and becak drivers, benefited from the increased\ncommunity activity during the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am sure the pompong boats had a bumper harvest today, the coffee\nshops had a bumper harvest, the food stalls had a bumper harvest, and\nthe becaks also had a bumper harvest. So if anyone says this event does\nnot affect MSME customers, they are not looking at it positively,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The race featured several types of traditional sampans, including\nketinting saf, ketinting lepet, women\u2019s rowing sampans, and sailing\nsampans. In addition, there was a modern category race featuring\nspeedboats in several tonnage classes.<\/p>\n
Firmansyah also said the race was attended by participants from other\nregions, such as Tanjung Balai Karimun, and from neighbouring\nMalaysia.<\/p>\n
Event sponsor Hasim said the sailing sampan race is also part of\nefforts to preserve the maritime tradition of the Belakangpadang\ncommunity, which had previously been halted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis race is actually a tradition. The sailing sampan had\ndisappeared because it was not held and there was no sponsor. With very\nfew young people involved, this tradition could have been lost. Now with\nthis event, many people have started building new sampans,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said the event is also a momentum to attract the interest of the\nyounger generation to continue the sampan racing tradition. From\npreviously only around a dozen participants, there are now about 37\nparticipants taking part in the race.<\/p>\n
He added that public enthusiasm in watching this year\u2019s race also\nincreased significantly compared to the previous year\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe enthusiasm of the local and international community is\nextraordinary. The number of people who came to watch and see the\nsampans was about double compared to last year,\u201d he said.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/independence-day-sampan-race-boosts-local-msme-activity-in-batam-1786971364", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }