KOTA KINABALU, July 31 — Sabah Yang Dipertua Negri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin today attended the state-level Warriors’ Day celebration and launched the National Month celebration and Fly the Jalur Gemilang campaign for the state at Padang Merdeka here.
At the joint celebration, Juhar was accompanied by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and state Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun who is also the state National Day Celebration Committee chairman.
The celebration of Warriors' Day was enlivened with a number of programmes including a pantomime performance depicting the battle between soldiers of the Third Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment and the Indonesian National Army (TNI) on Dec 29, 1963, after Indonesia disagreed to the inclusion of Sabah and Sarawak in the Federation of Malaysia.
In the bloody incident that occurred 59 years ago, an officer and seven other personnel of the Malaysian side as well as a member of the TNI were killed, marking a black spot in the history of the army and Sabah.
Apart from that, attendees also observed a few minutes of silence in respect of the fallen heroes before a patriotic poem entitled Citra Warga Tatkala Tersirat Makna Cintanya Terhadap Tanahair Tercinta recited by Sukor Usin@Hussin.
To mark the start of the state-level National Month celebration and Fly the Jalur Gemilang campaign, Juhar, accompanied by Hajiji and Masidi, flagged off the 2022 Kembara Merdeka convoy involving 15 vehicles and more than 50 participants that will tour the state for 11 days starting Aug 9.
Participants consisted of departments and agencies such as the Royal Malaysia Police, the Malaysia Civil Defence Department, the Information Department, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama), Pos Malaysia, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, and the Sabah Ministry of Local Government and Housing.
The Kembara Merdeka, which is scheduled to visit nine locations, aims to strengthen the love for the country and enliven the celebration of National Month and National Day on Aug 31. — Bernama
