Kwik to attend multiethnic meeting

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan: State Minister of National Development Planning Kwik Kian Gie is expected to attend a multiethnic meeting here on Tuesday.

The meeting is part of several events to mark Chinese New Year, which fell on Jan. 22.

Event organizer Paulus Mursalim said on Monday that the meeting at Sultan Syarif Abdurrahman Stadium aimed to develop solidarity among ethnic groups.

The West Kalimantan towns of Sambas and Pontianak were the site of bloody ethnic conflicts between Dayak tribes and Madura migrants in the late 1990s, which claimed hundreds of lives.

The gathering is to feature the Chinese lion dance, known locally as barongsai, as well as traditional Dayak and Melayu dances.

The province has adopted "harmony in ethnicity" as its motto. -- Antara