THE Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry, through the National Heritage Department, has gazetted 548 items as intangible heritage under the National Heritage Act 2005.

Minister Nancy Shukri said, all the items cover four categories – language and literature, customs and culture, performing arts and fine arts.

“The ministry always strives to elevate the country’s arts and culture to be known globally, as well as gain international recognition.

“Among those successfully recognised under the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) are the legacy of Mak Yong (2005), Dondang Sayang (2018) and silat (2019), she said during the question and answer session at the Dewan Negara today.

She was responding to a question from Senator Lee Tian Sing, who sought clarification on the list of local art and culture categorised as intangible heritage and the government’s move to promote it as a tourist attraction.

Nancy said Malaysia is currently evaluating to include two more items – pantun and upacara wangkang – under the Unesco list.

Meanwhile, she said the ministry also held several programmes, including the Living Arts Cultural Festival and Traditional Arts Theatre, as one of the efforts to expose the country’s cultural arts to the local community, as well as to tourists.

For international promotion, she said, efforts were made through participation in international exhibitions such as the World Travel Mart in London, and the International Tourism Bourse Berlin, to showcase the cultural diversity and uniqueness of Malaysians. – Bernama, September 21, 2020.