SIBU (Sarawak, Malaysia), July 12 (Bernama) -- Sri Lanka may be far away but local folks attending the Borneo Cultural Festival (BCF), Sibu's signature tourism event, will be privileged to enjoy three nights of the traditional folk dances from the country, beginning Thursday night. A 12-member troupe from the country's Ranranga Dance Academy, comprising 10 dancers, including four boys, arrived here to perform at the festival. According to the head of the troupe Gaminie Basnayake, the dancers who are between 15 and 17, would perform folk and traditional dances from the country's lowland, central and highland regions. "We are very happy to come to expose our traditional dances to the rest of the world. Our dancers are selected from among the best and they have trained for between six to eight years," he said. He said Sri Lanka was very serious in wanting to preserve its tradition and culture. "Like anywhere else, our young boys and girls these days are more interested in western culture. The Bollywood culture is also having a bad effect as it influences them to be very modernised and to neglect their culture and traditions," he told reporters after a courtesy call on Sibu Municipal Council chairman Tiong Thai King at his office on Thursday. He added that fortunately the country still had some very committed teachers like Sujatha Siyamalapitiya, the troupe's teacher, who had even agreed to serve on a voluntary basis to teach dance and other forms of art. Meanwhile, the council's deputy Chairman Daniel Ngieng said the seventh edition of the festival, had received very good response from members of the public in the state's central region. "I have been told more then 20,000 attended the festival nightly and the number swells, specially during weekends. Next year, we will organise a bigger Borneo International Folk Dance Festival with the help of the Sarawak Tourism Board," he said. Sarawak is one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. --BERNAMA