KUALA LUMPUR, June 13 — The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) has declared June 13 as Malaysia Poetry Day which will be celebrated every year by the people, especially poets.
Its Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said it was time the literary community especially poets in the country had a day they could celebrate as Poetry Day to uplift the field of poetry.
“The ministry supports the development of excellence in the field of poetry, thus I hope poets will continue to be the voices of the people, championing and writing about the issue of the people to maintain the identity of the national culture,” she said in her speech at the launching of the declaration of Malaysia Poetry Day, streamed on the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) Facebook account today.
Her speech text was read by Motac secretary-general Datuk Dr Noor Zari Hamat.
“I believe literary events as one of the performance arts in the country can be turned into an event which can be beneficial to the ordinary folks and indirectly mobilise the domestic tourism industry,” she said.
Meanwhile, DBP director-general Datuk Abang Sallehuddin Abg Shokeran in his speech at the event said the proclamation could dignify poetry and poets and become a uniting point for the country’s poets.
“Poetry has been accepted since so long, had taken roots and currently widespread and significant. It is more pronounced when poets often write and carry the issues of the communities in their works,” he said.
Also launched today were the Malaysia Poetry Day logo and its theme song composed by Adiwangsa Sukma with the lyrics written by Siso Kopratasa.
In conjunction with Poetry Day today, the ‘Semarak Puisi’ programme will be streamed on DBP official Facebook at 9pm. — Bernama
