Kwik to attend multiethnic meeting

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