KUCHING: The state government is targeting 100,000 participants for various voluntary activities under the My Beautiful Malaysia programme next month.

Deputy State Secretary Datuk Ose Murang said the programme, to be held simultaneously nationwide on Feb 3, was organised in conjunction with this year being the national year of volunteerism.

“This is one of many programmes to engage the public in activities that can contribute towards community service and development,” he told a press conference after chairing a meeting on the programme at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here yesterday.

“It will involve the participation of as many youths and volunteers as possible.

“We want to get the public to participate in some form of voluntary activities on the day, so it is an opportunity for people to come forward to spend time or contribute other resources such as funds in order to do something good for the community, the public at large or disadvantaged groups within the country."

Ose said the national-level event involving one million participants would be launched at SMK Taman Medan in Selangor by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

At state level, he said the targeted number of participants included 20,000 in Kuching, 15,000 each in Sibu, Miri and Bintulu and no less than 5,000 each in the other divisions.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud will launch the state programme, during which Najib’s speech will be shown live on a large screen.

The venue is likely to be the Kuching Integrated Recreational Centre (KIRC) at the Civic Centre here.

Suggested activities include gotong-royong to improve the surrounding facilities like the futsal courts, public footpaths and cycle track and to clean up the KIRC, Amphitheatre, Museum Garden and Reservoir Park.

Ose said the programme would also be carried out in each division statewide.

He said the Residents would hold meetings to identify suitable venues and activities for the programme in their respective divisions.

“During the meeting we heard from the Residents that they are keen to organise cleanliness campaigns in towns.

“They also want to organise landscaping work in public parks and areas often frequented by the people, like open markets.

“After carrying out these activities we should see a more beautiful Malaysia — that’s the whole idea of the programme,” he said.

He urged youths, students and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to participate, saying they could submit their proposed voluntary activities to the Social Development Ministry, which is coordinating the programme.

“We want to instill the idea that it is healthy to participate in voluntary activities.

“A lot of what we do in the programme is to benefit the greater public at large,” he added.

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