Federal Territories Day Celebration – A Joyful Event for All Races
February 1 is when the Federal Territories (FT) Day is celebrated.
Themed “1 Wilayah Persekutuan Maju dan Sejahtera” this year, the event was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on February 1 (Midnight) at the Independence Square (Dataran Merdeka). 
Above, from left to right,
- Tan Sri Dato’ Haji Muhyiddin bin Mohd. Yassin, Deputy Prime Minister
- Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, First Lady of Malaysia
- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia
- Datin Nafesah Raja Nong Chik, Wife of Datuk Nong Chik
- Datuk Raja Nong Chik bin Datuk Raja Zainal Abidin, Minister of the Federal Territories and Urban Well-being
Above 2 pictures by Najib Razak.
Dataran Merdeka is a famous and distinguished landmark in Malaysia, where Malaysia was granted independence on August 31 1957. 
The 95-metre flagpole at the Independence Square is one of the tallest in the world. Wow! Whenever we see this flagpole, let us cherish the 1Malaysia spirit… unity in diversity. 
The concept of 1Malaysia is greatly shown in this FT Day celebration because the activities includes all the difference races in Malaysia. Malaysia is really a country where different races unite and live peacefully with one another!
The Federal Territories Day’s Eve (31 January) was filled with concerts featuring local artistes, cultural presentations and fireworks at night. 
Photo by Aly AsySyafiq Hashim.
The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the newly-established 1Malaysia Maintenance Fund (TP 1Malaysia) for maintenance of low-cost housing units and flats.
Nong Chik said in conjunction with the Federal Territories Day, his ministry will be giving out cash aid to the poor starting from this month.
“Our focus will be on the poor and this is the first time we are giving out cash aid in conjunction with FT Day,” he said.
“For example, our ministry will be allocating RM5mil to the TP 1Malaysia fund.” 
10 million ringgit is contributed by the generous KL City Hall to the TP 1Malaysia fund. 
The Government of Malaysia contributed 20 million to TP 1Malaysia. Wow! 
Other companies have also contributed to the TP 1Malaysia fund. 
The total amount received by TP 1Malaysia was RM 37,670,000.00 (37.67 million).
FT Cares! 
The above 6 pictures by Najib Razak.
The celebration continued in the morning. The events attracted many curious and excited tourists and spectators. Were you one of the spectators too? 
The events started off at 8:30am, with the KL Ride 2010, a bicycle ride which covered a distance of 13 km! It was held in conjunction with the Le Tour de Langkawi. 
A very excited cyclist 
. 
I think the participants below look smart with their sunglasses. 
Another event that attracted a really huge crowd was the Foot Drill competition, which a total of 28 schools participated, comprising of various uniformed bodies. 
It was held just next to the clock tower of the Sultan Abdul Samad building, which provided a cool shelter for the crowd in the morning. 
Another event that attracted a lot of spectators, especially children, is the Tarik Upih (literally pull Pinang tree frond) competitions.
It is a fun traditional game in which competitors compete by pulling a Pinang frond with their partner seated on it. After reaching the finish line, they switched places and pulled their partner back to the starting point. 
A girl trying to pull her partner back to the starting point. Could she make it? 
Another Malay traditional game is Galah Panjang. It is played on an even ground. One team is the runners, and the other team is the taggers. The runners need to get past the taggers without being touched by them in order to win. 
Even tourists didn’t want to miss out the exciting Galah Panjang sport! 
On the big stage, there was a special event for the leaders of tomorrow – Children’s 1Malaysia Traditional Costume Fashion.
They wore clothing of the different races in Malaysia – Malays, Indians and Chinese. Some of the children even wore clothes that combined elements from multiple races! Creative! 
The cute participants of the fashion show. 
Three joyous boys. 
The 1Malaysia spirit! 
Truly, the spirit of 1Malaysia should be inculcated in children when their minds are pure and open! Friendship and harmony are precious in life. 
Every participant were given about 2 minutes to act out what they were dressed as. Here is Amirul Asyraf bin Othman as the Sultan of Malacca performing "Silat”, a Malay martial art, with a “Kris”, a traditional Malay weapon. 
The disabled were not left out. The Malaysian Paralympic Council, Masterskill College, Welfare Department and UITM Shah Alam, had fun activities for them, like Wheelchair Basketball. 
“It is good to let the public interact with the disabled and learn about the difficulties faced by their community,”
- Programme coordinator of the day, G. Mohan.
There were quizzes for primary school children too. The winner gets a goodie bag. 
In the morning, people flocked to the Nestle Nesvita truck to drink some free Nesvita milk as their additional nutrition. In the hot afternoon with blazing sun, there was cold Milo for everyone! So timely! Thanks to Nestle! 
The misty fans around kept us cool and misty! 
So refreshing! 
A paintball “war” was going on too! If you like the computer game “Counterstrike”, then you would love this paintball game very much! 
Spectators witnessing the game with anticipation – Real action of shoot – hide – seek – shoot! 
I did not miss out the opportunity to try it out too! So I tried to aim at the targets and shoot the paintball out. 
BANG! 
The paintball was free for everyone to try. You could get 10 shots for free.
The celebration continued with the Family Cooking Competition and a Husband and Wife make-up session. The winners for the Children’s 1Malaysia Traditional Costume Fashion Show and the Foot Drill competition were also announced later that day.
Other than all these, the Federal Territories Day celebrations this year has month-long events lined up.
On every weekend this February 2010 (except the Chinese New Year weekend), there would be events at different venues for the people.
Click here to read the list of all the events. You can also click here to go to the official website of the Ministry of the Federal Territories and Urban-wellbeing. 
The Minister of the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing, Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin said:
“The most important thing about this celebration is the 1Malaysia concept and activities that involve all the races.”
He was also interviewed exclusively by Bernama recently in conjunction with the Federal Territories Day.
He said that Kuala Lumpur will be adding a network of covered walkways to its landscape starting with the walkway connecting Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) and the nearby Bukit Bintang commercial district. Wow! I’m looking forward to enjoying it!
He also told Bernama that getting rid of poverty in the city will be top on the list for the Ministry of Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being as the government shifts its focus to help the needy in towns as well.
Other than that, he said that assistance and skills enhancement for school children will be taken care of.
As a caring minister, Raja Nong Chik said that conducted regular and informal visits to the ground to listen to the people’s problems. What a considerate minister!
He said he knows the basic problems faced by the urbanites because he has been politically involved in the Federal Territories for about 20 years.
“When I was appointed to lead the ministry, I use the 7P Philosophy to help me focus on the job,” he said.
The 7P Philosophy is made of seven aspects – development, housing, maintenance, hawkers, enforcement, public transportation and caring attitude.
As a result of this caring attitude, the minister had also expanded the scope of the Federal Territories Foundation to help the people.
He hoped that the 36th Federal Territories Day celebration would give a new spirit for the people to work closely with the ministry to improve and develop the territories while reducing political controversies. 
Also, on 31 January, he and his wife, Datin Nafisah attended the pre-Chinese New Year celebration involving 150 multi-racial old folks aged between 65 and 101 from Lembah Jaya, organized by Lembah Jaya MCA division.
The senior citizens were treated to delicious brunch at Fatty Chong Restaurant in Taman Seri Sentosa, Old Klang Road.
IMAGE: Datin Nafisah chatting with the oldest citizen, Chong Kew, 101, at the celebration. (Picture by TheStar)
He said that such celebrations promoted unity among the different races in the community.
So, happy Federal Territory Day! Hope to see you at the coming events!
