Mohd Sofian briefing Juhar about the program on August 31.
KOTA KINABALU (July 25): The recently gazetted Sabah Day will for the first time be celebrated simultaneously with National Day on August 31 this year.
The Ministry of Finance’s Permanent Secretary, Datuk Mohd Sofian Alfian Nair, said, “last month, we received the official gazette for Sabah Day, and that is why the name of the National Day celebration was changed to Sabah State Level National Day Sabah Day Celebration 2024.
“Last year, we didn’t gazette it; it was just a starting point to see the response to the celebration but now, the Cabinet has decided to gazette Sabah Day because it is important for us to remember the historical day of Sabah’s independence in Sabah. Therefore, the Cabinet decided to combine the National Day and Sabah Day celebrations,” he said.
Speaking to the media after a courtesy call on Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin at the Istana Seri Kinabalu today, Mohd Sofian, who is also the chairman of the organizing committee for the 2024 National Day Sabah Day celebration, said the celebration will start in the morning of August 31 and end with a concert in the evening at Padang Merdeka.
“On the morning of August 31, we will witness a parade of about 150 contingents from the state and federal governments, NGOs, uniformed bodies, schools, and others. Then in the evening, we have a special program for Sabah Day at Padang Merdeka.
“The main objective is to convey information about Sabah Day, specifically about Sabah’s independence. In the afternoon at Padang Merdeka, we expect even more people because of other programs, especially the KMJG Merdeka Convoy organized by the Sabah Information Department, which has already attracted more than 5,000 participants,” he said.
He added that they expect more than 10,000 people to attend the celebration in the morning, and about 15,000 attendees for the concert at Padang Merdeka.
“The difference this time for August 31 is the participation of prominent figures who have contributed to the state government and received international awards. I will not mention names, but we will witness it together on August 31 to further ignite the spirit of the National Day Sabah Day celebration,” he said.
Mohd Sofian also invited the community living around Kota Kinabalu to attend and enliven the celebration.
According to him, the courtesy call on the Head of State was to extend an invitation to Tun Juhar to officiate the celebration and inform him about the programs conducted throughout August.