Miri City set for big day

MIRI: The stage is set for Miri City, the country's first non-capital town to be elevated to city status in 2005, to welcome thousands of visitors to celebrate the national-level 51st Malaysia Day celebration.
This time around, the celebration to be held at the Miri City Fan, a popular fan-shaped recreational park and tourism spot located in the heart of the city, is expected to be the grandest ever.
It will be grander than before, thanks to the week-long school holidays which began last Friday, as it will see a big increase of visitors, including those from oil-rich Brunei, about three-hours' drive to the city centre.
For local community leaders here, like Dayak Association Miri (DAM) president Serawa Budol, the first-ever national-level Malaysia Day celebration in Miri City will be the moment she and other community leaders have been anxiously waiting for.
"We are very honoured that Malaysia Day is so special to us, Sarawakians; we have assigned 50 DAM members to take part in Tuesday night's celebrations ... we wish to send more than 50 but the organiser set a maximum of 50 people," she said.
Miri Jati Mierek Association president Datuk Abdillah Abdul Rahim shared similar sentiments by suggesting that for next year's celebration, focus should be on more efforts to create awareness on Malaysia Day formation.
Miri City Mayor Lawrence Lai said the countdown for Malaysia Day will kick off on Monday night beginning with the 916 Malaysia Day Countdown. – Bernama