Authors: Ben Ruhe
Date Submitted: August 31, 2003
Article Type: Journal

Carved out of rubber and palm oil plantations and scrubland a quarter century ago, the industrial town of Pasir Gudang in peninsular Malaysia’s Johor state, bordered on the south by Singapore, is a bit soulless. It has factories staffed by people from all over the country, plus a fair number of foreign workers. Sense of community is lacking.

Government officials, reacting to this, have over the years made a strong effort to introduce unifying cultural elements to the city of 200,000 to boost morale and evoke sense of espirit. Among the activities chosen was kiting, an unofficial national sport. The kite is globally associated with Malaysia via Air Malaysia, which uses an image of a Wau kite as its very eye-catching corporate symbol.

Pasir Gudang first promoted kiteflying by turning over a large mountaintop field to the sport, complete with annual international festival. Last spring’s annual event marking the 25th anniversary of the city itself outdid itself with 10 days of workshops, demonstrations, contests, and other events. Attendance for the final weekend of some of the best global kite talent around: Lynn, Schimmelpfennig, Ongkingco, Modegi, Goodman, highlighted the celebration. Japan was represented by no less than four teams with a total of 34 fliers, China had a large delegation, and Indonesia, from the south, matched the Japanese with multiple teams representing a half dozen states including Kalimantan, Java, and Sumatra. Neighboring Singapore sent a substantial delegation.

PDF Link: Journal Issue