Where politics and religion can tend to create disagreements and a lot of sensitivity, you can always trust sporting events, cultural performances, and dances to bring people together again… when you are at a sporting event, a cultural performance place or a place of performing arts, you will find that you are at peace, you can unleash your senses and feel one with everyone present, no matter what their race or religion is…

And that would be the reason why I love performing arts and cultural performances, sports? Yes, I do enjoy sports as well.. but on a lesser degree if compared to performing arts and cultural perfomances  as they do evoke feelings in my soul…

Being at the Citrawarna @Kuala Lumpur 2016, for example evoked even feelings like national pride, that we can create these beautiful and colourful performance for visitors of our country and other people from all over the world to enjoy…

I got to the Citrawarna @ Kuala Lumpur late, about 9 pm as I had something on in Shah Alam and I helter skeltered it to Dang Wangi, parked my car there and took the LRT to Masjid Jamek with my girls… then we trudged the short distance it was to Dataran Merdeka… and when I first saw the performance and how the road (Jalan Raja) had been converted into a giant stage… I was stunned…. It certainly was magnificent and enthralling…

I was just in time to watch the Sikh community perform their dance and then the state of Perlis presented their Jentayu story in the element form of a Canggung Dance, Terinai and Mak Inang…. It certainly was mesmerising seeing a folklore or a mythical story turned into a dance performance… and a one at such gigantic proportions…

The concept of this year’s concept “Myth and Folklore” with the theme “Unleash the Moment, Unfold the Stories” had about 1000 performers and featured a unique street performance based on the mythical and legendary folk stories from all different states of Malaysia…

There were also some celebrities who involved themselves at the Citrawarna @ Kuala Lumpur 2016, such as Ruminah Sidek, Arja Lee, Reen Rahim, Ben Barhasa, Afifah Nasir, Mathin, Nornadira Johari, Vanidah Imran and Terrence Dass….

I also got to enjoy Kelantan’s Cik Siti Wan Kembang,

Penang’s The Convergence,

Perak’s Limau Purut Princess

Sabah’s Huminodun with their Keamatan Rituals,

Sarawak’s Tugau with elements of Balau, Mengarang Menyak  and well…

performances from the Siamese,

and Orang Asli/ indigenous people community …

My younger daughter was disappointed to have missed out on Pahang’s the Dragon of Lake Chini, Johor’s Puteri Gunung Ledang as well as Melaka’s 5 Brothers of Hang Tuah, but well… huhuhu… some things cannot be helped…

The last performance was a fun little segment of crazily dressed tourists coming off the KL Hop On Hop Off bus….

Citrawarna @ Kuala Lumpur 2016 ended with an explosion… hehe…of fireworks… which colored the pitch black night skies…

There was a post concert performance by local artistes as well which included Ayda Jebat, Datin Alyah, Bunkface, Drama Band, Aweera, Sissy Iman and Payslip at 11pm for those who did not get enough and still wanted more entertainment.. but yours truly here and her girls were exhausted so we headed home after the performance…

It was a great thing but well, Prasarana Berhad and KTMB extended their LRT and KTM Commuter services for the night til 1am…

Through the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS), MOTAC has also been working with several strategic partners to encourage private sectors to participate in public events organized by MOTAC and for Citrawarna @ Kuala Lumpur 2016, MOTAC’s strategic partners were Starbucks, Lan Baharin Kuala Lumpur, Josh Lee Fragrances, Teratak Spa, Che Din Food, MaTiCfm, Green Life Landscape and Gaya Travel Magazine….

For more information on MOTAC (Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia) do visit www.motac.gov.my