First community-led Malaysia Day celebration
KOTA KINABALU: A huge crowd is expected at the Town Padang here on Saturday (Sept 14) to celebrate a Malaysia Day carnival with two World Cup Dance champions strutting their stuff.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Mohd Shafie bin Haji Apdal is expected to join the event-filled celebration together with community leaders from a host of organisations representing ethnic, education, cultural and faith groups (community partners).
The true founding of Malaysia – on Sept 16, 1963 – has been overlooked until recent years when it was made a public holiday.
“This is history. It is the first time that community groups in Sabah initiate and lead the celebration, anchoring on the theme Diversity is Strength,” said Datuk Jerry Dusing, chairman of the Community Empowerment Initiative Sabah, or CEI, which is behind the initiative.
CEI together with more than 30 community partners had its final meeting at the Nurul Hikmah mosque at Bukit Padang here on Tuesday.
CEI is a civil society organisation formed recently under The Trustees (Incorporation) Ordinance of Sabah. Its objects include the promotion of quality education, improvement of socioeconomi status of disadvantaged communities, welfare services and advancement of digital technology. Hj Osman Hj Ahmad, who is the chairman of the Committee of Masjid Nurul Hikmah Bukit Padang, said it will be a great occasion to showcase or unity and oneness.
Malaysia was formed with the understanding that it will always remain a rainbow nation – a nation of multi-colours, ethnicities, religious beliefs and heritage.
“Sabah being a truly diverse state is the best place to kickstart a Malaysia Day celebration led by the community for the community,” he said.
Aside from food stalls, food trucks, handicraft stalls and community exhibition booths to reflect the multi-faceted nature of Sabahans, two recent winners of World Cup Dance competitions in Spain and Portugal will lead a variety of performances to enrich the occasion.
The groups are respectively from SMK Tun Fuad Stephens of Kiulu and the TAGAPS Dance Group.
Meanwhile, the event’s organising chairperson, Gayle Jokinin, said she is encouraged by the open participation of diverse groups in the staging of the celebration.
“We have more than 30 organisations working closely together and the number is growing.
“We all share the same aspirations – we want a peaceful, harmonious and united Sabah and Malaysia,” she said.
Among the ccommunity partners are the Masjid Nurul Hikmah, the Sabah Council of Churches, Hindu Sangam Malaysia, the Sabah Buddhist Association and the Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.