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KUCHING: The two-month long celebration of the Kuching Festival 2011 will kick off this weekend with the Datuk Bandar Football Youth Cup and end on Malaysia Day (Sept 16) with the Grand Finale. The host of the Kuching Festival 2011 is Kuching City North Commission (DBKU) and supported by Kuching City South Council (MBKS). DBKU mayor Mohd Abang Atei Abang Medaan yesterday told a press conference that as the festival falls in the Ramadan month, they have adjusted some activities to be held before or after August, the month where the celebration is usually held. Kuching gained city status on Aug 1, 1988. The grand celebration for the 23rd Kuching City’s Day would be held at the DBKU Arena on Aug 1. “One of the major prelude activities organised by DBKU is the International Orchid Show from July 26 to 31 at Taman Orkid. The participating countries are Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Japan, Brunei, Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea,”Abang Atei said. tiffany earrings

The Orchid Garden will be open to members of the public from 9am to 5pm on July 29 to 31, he added. He pointed out that at least five competitions would be held in conjunction with the show, namely orchid landscape competition, individual orchid competition, flora arrangement, orchid colouring competition and fancy dress competition. Other preludes to the festival are Pesta Bergendang, patriotic song competition, fruits festival, mini Regatta, he said, adding that house decoration competition as well as Siol mountain bike competition would be held after August. “In conjunction with the Ramadan month, DBKU will have the Bazaar Ramadan in three areas in Satok, Sukma Ria and Semarak,” he said. In Kuching City South, MBKS has lined up various activities from the much-awaited Festival Fair to Music and Arts as well as Sports Festivals, said organising chairman councillor Mohamad Taufik Abdul Ghani. “The theme that we are trying to project this year is our youths and their role in the development of the city. tiffany cufflinks

Therefore, we have arranged a lot of activities that are centred around youths such as street dance competition, skateboard competition and cyber games,” he said. He pointed out that Datuk Bandar Football Youth Cup, the prelude to MBKS’ programmes, is a good example in involving youths in healthy activity. He pointed out that the Food Fair this year would have a ‘halal’ corner especially for Muslims to break fast during the Ramadan month. “This is something new. MBKS is always trying to bring new things and new experiences to the people,” he said. Other activities the public could expect include garden show, folk dance display, ‘Yuanji’ dance, oriental music, and martial art display as well as pony rides.

tiffany charms Also present were MBKS mayor James Chan and DBKU director Onn Abdullah. KUCHING: Food stalls operating in coffee shops, markets and hawker centres within the jurisdiction of Kuching South City Council (MBKS) are now being graded like coffee shops. The council’s initiative, which is the first of its kind in the state, is meant to encourage the stall operators to be conscious of food hygiene and cleanliness. Its head of licensing and public health, Zuriada Idris, told The Borneo Post yesterday that they embarked on the grading in April this year. “Previously, we only graded coffee shops but this time we also zoom in on the food stalls. I must say the response has been good,” she said. On the grading system, she explained that personal hygiene made up 29 per cent, habits (15 per cent), cooking equipment and facilities (12 per cent), stall/table (12 per cent), housekeeping (10 per cent), refuse bin (eight per cent), washing (six per cent), storage of food (six per cent) and pest control (two per cent). Those stalls which scored between 85 and 100 per cent will get a Grade A (Blue sticker), 70 to 84 per cent will get a Grade B (Orange), 60 to 69 get a Grade C (Red) while those with 59 per cent and below get a Grade D (Black). tiffany pendants

Zuraida was quick to point out that the grading process was not meant to find fault with the food stall owners. In fact, its primary aim is to help them improve their business. “Since Kuching is a healthy city we want the public and the tourists to be comfortable at all eating outlets, where the food served is clean and hygienic.” As part of an effort to keep the city clean and healthy, she said MBKS started grading toilets in eateries last year. The best toilet gets five stars while the lowest grade is three stars. There are 720 coffee shops, five markets, and 10 hawker centres under the MBKS jurisdiction at present. Meanwhile, Number 6 Kopitiam cafe owner Felix Yeo, when interviewed yesterday, told The Borneo Post that he was very happy that his shop, which is located along Jalan Song, had an A-grade and its toilets five stars. tiffany accessories

“It is important that eateries are clean and I must say the council has done a good job of always improving the food industry so that eateries will always be pleasant and comfortable. “I always make it a point to ensure that my food stall owners wear uniforms, preferably in white, so that everybody looks neat and clean.” One of his food stall owners, Bong Teck Hin, who runs a seafood business, was very pleased that his stall got a Grade B. “I will put in the necessary effort to bring it up to Grade A. The council has been very helpful and I will definitely want to improve my operation,” Bong said. He added that he had been in the food business for the last 16 years but he is always open to constructive ideas. “All of us here learn every day on how to improve our business and how to make sure our customers are happy and comfortable.” cheap tiffany and co