Tourism Ministry may promote St Anne’s fest as a national event

BUKIT MERTAJAM: The Tourism Ministry plans to promote the annual St Anne’s Novena and Feast at the St Anne’s Church in Jalan Kulim here as a national tourism event. Its Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said the 10-day festival, which attracted about 100,000 local and foreign pilgrims, was an important cultural and religious event with the potential to boost tourism. “Presently, the festival is merely listed in the state’s tourism calendar. We hope to include it in our national tourism calendar next year as the number of people at this event is almost similar to the crowds at the annual Thaipusam festival in Batu Caves, Selangor,” she said after visiting the church here yesterday.

The festival is touted as one of the world’s top 20 Catholic gatherings.“Religious tourism is one of the products that we want to promote to the world,” Dr Ng said. She later presented RM20,000 to the church in conjunction with the festival. Thousands of pilgrims took part in a candlelight procession which began at 10.30pm at the church. They held candles, flowers and rosaries ahead of a group of volunteers, who shouldered a palanquin bearing the statues of St Anne and her daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The 30-minute ceremony was held soon after Penang Bishop Antony Selvanayagam, parish priest Monsignor Stephen Liew and several other priests celebrated an open-air Mass outside the church. Also at the mass was Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. The festival, which started on July 23, ends today.