Cold Winds Make Perlis A Tourist Attraction

By Adnan Jahaya KANGAR (Perlis, Malaysia), Jan 24 (Bernama) -- If you’d like to enjoy the cool weather normally found in the highlands, then "Musim Timur" is the right time to visit Perlis. Musim Timur is a season that takes place from December through March every year and brings with it the cold northeast monsoon wind, also known as the "easterly wind". Perlis, once known as the hottest Malaysian state with a temperature of 40.1 Celsius in 1998, is expected to get quite chilly come the Chinese New Year. State Tourism, Cultural and Art Committee Chairman, Abdul Jamil Saad told Bernama that the temperature could dip down to 20 degrees Celsius in the night by next week. The Malaysian Meteorological Department, meanwhile, predicts that the temperature in the state bordering Thailand to be between 24 to 33 degrees Celsius in the coming week. "We hope that these cold easterly winds would not cause any problem and instead attract visitors who are looking to enjoy the cool breeze", said Abdul Jamil. This year, the Tourism and Culture Ministry has decided to welcome the cold season by organising a two-day festival called the Pesta Angin Timur 2014 (The Easterly Wind Festival 2014). Abdul Jamil said the state government would give the ministry their full support and cooperation to realise the festival, which would be held at Permatang Keriang, 20km from here, on March 1. The Perlis National Department for Culture and Arts (JKKN) Director, Rahmat Md Noh said it was high time for the season to be promoted as a tourism product. ARTS AND CULTURE IN MUSIM TIMUR He said promoting the musim timur in Perlis to local and foreign tourists would also be a good chance to introduce them to the local arts and culture scene. The Perlis JKKN will be organising the festival with the cooperation of the state government and the state Office of the Tourism and Culture Ministry. Among the activities planned for the festival were "menggagau ikan" (hand-catching freshwater fish), hulling rice, tractor decorating competition and folk games in the paddy fields, said Rahmat, who is also the secretary for the organising committee for the festival. Other suggestions for activities during the festival are a "gendang silat" competition, a wayang kulit performance, threshing rice, weaving a pandanus straw mat and a songbird competition. Foreign tourists would get a chance to engage in local games and activities such as "menarik upih" (pulling a leaf-sheath while another person is sitting on it), driving a paddy tractor and hulling rice. Recounting the musim timur of yesteryears, 73-year-old Sum Sanapi from Bintong said it was a season for relaxation after the rice-planting and harvesting seasons. Rain did not fall during the musim timur, but the cold easterly winds made one reluctant to take the morning bath, he recalled. "The rain would only fall during the 'musim barat' (westerly monsoon season) and that was the time to get down to the paddy fields", he said. A DIFFERENT SEASON For the younger generation, the musim timur is only marked by the dipping temperatures. They have never heard the sound of the paddy stem flute, which , once upon a time, was played during the season. Musim timur today is vastly different from what it was decades ago. The "music" heard from rice hulling activities today is only heard during cultural performances. The older generation busied themselves with a variety of activities during the musim timur, but the youth today preferred to spend time with gadgets and online games. THE WINTER WIND PROGRAMME With traditional activities no longer taking place during musim timur, the state government decided to use it as a time to go down to the ground and meet with the people. The former Perlis's Chief Minister and current Minister in the Prime Minister Department Dr Shahidan Kassim introduced the “Winter Wind" programme in 1995 during the musim timur. The programme, which took place almost every night at different locations, involved meeting up with the people over grilled fish. -- BERNAMA