1,500 take part in Sabah StatsRun
KOTA KINABALU: Some 1,500 people took part in the Sabah StatsRun 2018 yesterday, the first ever edition of the run that was held outside of Putrajaya.
The 5km run, which started and ended at Padang Merdeka, was organised by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) Sabah’s Sports and Recreational Club. It was held in conjunction with the World Statistic Day.
In his officiating speech, Youth and Sports Minister Frankie Poon Ming Fung said he was pleased to see DOSM choose Sabah as the host for the fourth annual run.
“Today we have witnessed around 1,500 people taking part in the Sabah StatsRun 2018 programme.
“All of us who are gathered here today are either from the public, private agency, corporate agency, higher learning institutions, school, public servants or members of the Department of Statistics Malaysia themselves.
“Congratulations on your participation in this run. I hope that such event will give a positive impact to the economic and social development of the state,” Frankie said.
The aim of StatsRun is to increase the statistic literacy among Malaysians and to also promote a healthy cooperation between the community and DOSM, thus easing the task of data collection.
The run also aims to promote a healthy cooperation between DOSM and other agencies in the state.
The run was divided into two categories; namely the Ministry Challenge, which featured 30 teams from 24 agencies and Fun Run, which featured the remaining participants.
The Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM) emerged as winners of the Ministry Challenge while the Lok Kawi Task Force and Maksak finished second and third respectively.
The Malaysian Government has set October 20th as the national statistic day.
Also present in the event were DOSM chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin and Kota Kinabalu Mayor Datuk Yeo Boon Hai.