Kota Kinabalu: The inaugural Tabletop Collectible Cards and Game (TCG) event was held over the weekend at 1Borneo Hypermall’s ground floor centre atrium, marking a significant milestone for tabletop enthusiasts and collectible card game aficionados here.
Aptly named to reflect its focus on Tabletops, Collectible Cards, and Games, the event aimed to fuse these elements into a cohesive celebration of healthy hobbies, fostering community spirit and promoting interactive leisure activities.
Bringing together various local shops from Kota Kinabalu, including Game Anima (Lido), Borneo Collectors League (Cybercity), Card Shack (Damai), and Tabletop Arena (Darau), the TCG Event showcased a diverse array of eight collectible card games.
Officiating the event, Smart Sabah Chairman Datuk Razali Razi said the event built a healthy network amongst participants.
“Sometimes we don’t understand what our children are into but here parents can see the positive values of this hobby.
“We can see that local organisers are striving to make things more interesting and we understand that e-sports has earned its place in the SEA Games.
“This sort of hobbies tend to distract our youth from negative activities like drugs which makes it a positive hobby.
“The cards used are not normal cards, they carry own value and meaning. The game mechanism drives creativity and critical thinking as players need proper strategy to win which is very good,” he said.
Event organiser, Chang Chee Ken said they are all happy card shops in Sabah even from Sandakan, Papar, Pitas and Ranau get to gather and grow the community.
“It’s a benchmark for us to do better and promote this hobby to the public. Other than in Kota Kinabalu, we can host the event in Tawau or Sandakan for example to attract more players,” he said.
Explaining further, he said eight tabletop card games were played at the event connecting the community who didn’t even know that they were so many of them in Sabah.
“We had more than 200 participants coming from across Sabah to this small event. In Kuala Lumpur, this sort of events can reach 700 participants at a time. It’s a big community actually.
“These collectible card games even has a world championship like for Yu-Gi-Oh and One Piece where Malaysians who represent the country have won but just that there is limited media coverage. There’s actually a huge worldwide community,” he said.
One of the invited guests was Jenkins Yeo’s who represented Malaysia in Thailand in a Digimon Card Game and triumphed.
Aspiring to elevate Kota Kinabalu’s gaming community to international prominence by cultivating a competitive environment that can rival achievements seen elsewhere in Malaysia, Chang expressed gratitude to the Sabah Youth Council (SYC) for their steadfast support.
“We acknowledge the crucial role of governmental backing in promoting cultural and recreational activities that resonate deeply within the community,” he added.
