The top 25 runners in the Men’s Open category posing for a group photo with Kamaluddin (standing, seventh right) and Dr Dusit (standing, ninth left).
KUCHING: Sarawak has gained strength in unity because its people know that there is no single dominant race, and this has enabled the state to develop, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Nancy Shukri.
Sarawak is the third largest contributor to the national economy after Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, an incredible achievement from years back when it was the third lowest economic contributor.
The state would not have been able to achieve such economic performance if it did not have a responsible and visionary government, and most importantly, a united society, Nancy said in a text of speech read by her political secretary Mohammed Kamaluddin Effendie at the SDGA Unity Run 2016 – Run For Health prize presentation yesterday.
“Take the example of the political parties here, we have a Bumiputera party and we also have a non-Bumiputera party. So we acknowledged the fact that, if we refer to a single race only, there is no way for us to develop. That is how we talk about Bumiputeras in a bigger community and at the same time, we work as partners with non-Bumiputeras. This is the way we go about, to move as a developed community,” she enthused.
She commended the SDGA (Sarawak Dayak Graduates Association) for its initiative in organising community-based activities which create ‘moments of unity’ among Malaysians.
“Such activities will enable the people, especially the younger generation, to appreciate and embrace our uniqueness and diversity in terms of ethnicity, culture and religion,” she said.
She added that being a diverse society, the sense of justice and equality were very strong amongst Sarawakians because ‘no single race dominates the others’.
“Instead, Sarawakians think as one big family of diverse racial and religious background.”
She said the unity run was a very good portrait in integrating the various races and also to encourage love and respect among the people within a community. She also hoped that the participants make use of the opportunity to engage among themselves, make more friends, and also get to know each other’s culture.
“I would like to once again applaud SDGA for organising this event and successfully bring together people of all races, and at the same time, promoting the spirit of unity and harmony among all walks of life.”
Earlier, SDGA president Dr Dusit Jaul thanked all the participants for making the first Unity Run a success.
“This is the first time we are organising the Unity Run. Our target was 800 people, but we ended up with 1,760 people. Thank you everyone for the great response,” he said.
The run was divided into three categories, 3km Fun Run, 5km Women Open and 7km Men Open. Prizes were offered to the top 25 runners in the Women Open and Men Open categories.
First to third prizes in the Men Open went to Mohd Feldarus Abd Rahman, Chong Yen Boon and Amirul Arshad Azemi respectively, while in the Women Open, the winners were Lee Leh Ha, Ling Mee Eng and Tang Sii Eng. They received RM1,000, RM700 and RM500 respectively.
Apart from the run, there were side activities like booths selling food and drink, handicraft, zumba sessions and lucky draw for the runners.