Despite the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia, the organizers of a fishing competition in Port Dickson seem to still see it fit to hold the large scale event. There were over 1,500 participants at the event, excluding the number of onlookers.

According to Sinchew Daily, the organizer said that the preparation of the event had been going on for months and it had no choice but to hold the event as planned so the competition will not be postponed.

The competition started at 7 o’clock in the morning and ended at around 3 o’clock in the evening.

Malaysia Senior Director (Domestic & Events Division) Dato’ Dr. Ammar Abd Ghapar who presented at the event believed that as long as the participants followed the guidelines by event organizers to wear face masks as well as wash and sanitize hands regularly, organizing local tourism activities should not be a problem.

“If all the people stay at home during the outbreak, how do we maintain the tourism industry?” he said.

The competition drew 1,515 participants this year compared to 1,827 in the previous year, said Dr. Ammar as reported by Harian Metro. “To me, this is enough as the country is facing the COVID-19 outbreak. We have also screened and taken precautionary measures against this contagious virus.

“Competitions like this are important to promote domestic tourism because it is the only economic resource that is able to help the country,” he added.

Anyway, if you really can’t avoid crowded places, just don’t ever forget the rules of social distancing, okay? Stay safe, guys!