KUCHING: Renowned travel influencer and talent manager Sabina Makarova has announced plans to organize a global vlogger festival in Malaysia, aiming to spotlight the rich cultural diversity of Sarawak to international audiences.
Sabina, who has amassed more than 2 million followers, primarily Chinese-speaking on platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu, has made a name for herself by promoting Chinese cities abroad and facilitating cross-cultural media collaborations.
Citing her visit to Malaysia, specifically Sarawak in conjunction with the Magnificent Sarawak: Gastronomy Adventure programme, she was inspired by the state’s vibrant mix of food, nature, sports, and particularly, its cultural diversity.
“Malaysia is so amazing and full of different activities.
“I think it would be a great idea to organise a worldwide vlogger festival here (Sarawak). I want to invite vloggers from all over the world—Africa, America, France, Spain, Russia—to promote Malaysian culture, especially Sarawak, to their own countries in their native languages,” she told Sarawak Tribune.
Sabina’s concept involves gathering international content creators to create promotional content on topics such as food, local traditions, and community life.
While many tourists are familiar with Kuala Lumpur and the western part of Malaysia, she believes Sarawak’s unique cultural identity remains underrepresented on the global stage.
“In Thailand or Vietnam, the culture is more uniform across regions,” she explained. “But in Malaysia, each town and city has its own food and traditions. That’s so amazing—and it’s something the world should know.”
Her vision also ties into her work with a talent agency in China, which collaborates with vloggers from various countries.
She hopes to leverage these international connections to bring a multilingual promotional effort to Malaysia, making content in Russian, French, Spanish, and more.
While still in the early stages of planning, Sabina is confident about the potential of such an event.
“Of course, I need some time to think about the idea, the right timing, and how to organise all the activities—but I think it would be great.”
Sabina is one of the key opinion leaders (KOLs) involved in the week-long gastronomy tour, a food and culture initiative curated by MULU Global Media under the MULU Group China.
The tour is also led by Ipoh-born chef Addison Liew and joined by his celebrity chef buddies, namely Chef Tam Kwok Fung, Chef Xu Jingye and Chef Eduardo Vargas.
Entering its fifth day, the tour continues in Kuching where they explored pepper farm at Bengoh Resettlement Scheme (BRS), empurau farm in Gedong and enjoying the night sceneries at the famous Siniawan Night Market.
