ARAU, March 3 — The ‘Jerami Art Tunnel,’ which consists of rolled-up paddy straws transformed into a tunnel, is among the attractions of the Perlis East Wind Festival 2024 (PAT 2024) held here for three days starting Friday.

Checks by Bernama found that the straw space, prepared in collaboration with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), WorldStar Agriculture Machinery, and Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), received an enthusiastic response from visitors.

Perlis National Culture and Arts Department (JKKN) director Norazlin Nordin said that this year’s ‘Jerami Art Tunnel’ was constructed to provide information about the paddy cultivation as well as a compact exhibition for visitors.

“Last year, we created an owl icon, but this year we provided something different by offering information to visitors. In addition to taking pictures in the area, they can also gain knowledge about rice cultivation,” she told Bernama during the festival, which runs from 8 am to 11 pm.

Norazlin stated that a total of 150 rolls of straw were used to form the tunnel, while the framework of a tent was used as the roof.

Inside the tunnel, there are several exhibitions, including electric car displays, people, and miniature electric car models.

“The public can come and take pictures both outside and inside. Furthermore, in the outer area, we showcase rice machinery such as mini rice machines and push machines. Visitors can climb aboard and experience being inside the machines themselves,” Norazlin said.

She added that it took less than a week to produce the straw tunnel with a workforce of 45 people from UniMAP, and visitors are charged an entrance fee of only RM2.

Meanwhile, visitor Zharfan Ziyad, 18, from Jitra, Kedah, said he had an interesting experience entering the tunnel as he gained knowledge about the rice production revolution and saw electric car exhibitions.

“I only knew about paddy machines; I knew little about the rice production revolution, but after entering, I gained general knowledge about rice,” he said.

Sharing the same opinion, Haikal Norefendy, 13, also from Jitra, said the design of the ‘Jerami Art Tunnel’ was beautiful for taking pictures and became an interesting memory for him.

“I got to experience riding a mini rice machine. I’ve only seen it from afar, but when I came to this ‘Jerami Art Tunnel,’ I got to try riding all the available machinery,” he said. — Bernama