KUALA NERUS, Sept 29 — The life and struggles of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad enthralled the 2,500-odd audience when it was staged during a national narration contest.
The performance at the ‘Pertandingan Pengisahan Kenegaraan’ by the Selangor group members — Noorhisyam Razali, 40, Mohd Norhafifi Zolkiaply, 33, and Muhamad Noriman Mustafa All Bakry, 30, — must have also impressed the jury which declared them winners at the competition held at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) today.
Runner-up was a team from Pahang which staged the struggles of the nation’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj while third place went to the team from Johor whose performance was about three lieutenants who died fighting the Japanese forces.
The Pahang team comprised Nur Farah Sahira Ahmad Tarmizi, Muhammad Aslam Mat Razani and G. Ganenthiran, the Johor team was made up of Rosdi Abdullah, Afiq Rahimie Sazali and Iskandar Naqiuddin Mohd Hisham.
According to Noorhisyam, to prepare for the competition, the group had gone to Kedah to interview Dr Mahathir’s family members to get an accurate idea of his life.
The concept of the competition which began in 2003 is communication based on acting and story-telling to build a society which is unity, patriotic, intelligent, and loves the nation.
“We hope that through our performance, the public will better understand Tun Dr Mahathir’s aspirations as he is an outstanding person who has carved Malaysia’s name on the world stage,” he told reporters.
The event was officiated by the secretary-general of the Communications and Multimedia Ministry Datuk Suriani Ahmad. Also present was director-general of Information Department, Roselindawati Abdul Rahman.
In her speech, Suriani said that the government stressed on four key elements, namely unity, love for the country, high integrity and joint prosperity, to build a successful, high-income and harmonious nation.
“When we talk about national development, we must have the highest appreciation for the sacrifices made by our freedom fighters. It is through their sacrifices that we have inherited a nation which is free and independent.
“Now, we must work together to develop, implement and support all initiatives by the current government to attain solid and dynamic development,” she said.
Suriani said among the initiatives by the ministry together with the departments and agencies under it was the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan, as well as the switch of television broadcasts from the analogue to digital systems. — Bernama
