KUCHING, June 8 ― The national level celebration to mark the anniversary of the country’s formation should be held here this year, Sarawak Pakatan Harapan (PH) Chong Chieng Jen said today.

Chong, who is also the deputy federal minister of domestic trade and consumer affairs, added that having the celebration in the Sarawak capital would confer recognition of the importance of the Malaysia Agreement (MA63).

“We want the national level celebration to be held here in line with the spirit of MA63 accorded by the PH government,” he told reporters after chairing the Sarawak PH committee meeting here.

He said a paper will be submitted to the federal Cabinet, adding that a working committee will be formed once approval is given.

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Chong, who is also the Sarawak DAP chairman, said the PH government gives emphasis on the importance of MA63 and its spirit in the formation of Malaysia by the Malay peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak.

“That is why the PH government has formed the steering cabinet committee, technical committee and the working committee and its six clusters on the implementation of MA63 in Sarawak and Sabah,” he said.

“In line with the great importance of MA63 and emphasis given by the PH government on its implementation, we, the Sarawak PH, have come to the unanimous agreement that we should have this Malaysia Day celebration to be held here this year.

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“We are making strong recommendation to the federal Cabinet for consideration to have the celebration held in Sarawak,” he said.

Last year’s national level celebration was centred in the Sabah capital of Kota Kinabalu.