ALOR STAR: Thirteen participants from Kedah Civil Defence Forces (APM) and National Sports Council (MSN) will embark on an expedition to Nepal in their bid to scale Mount Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain, by flying the Jalur Gemilang in conjunction with the National Day 2019 celebrations.
Kedah APM director Lt Col Awang Askandar Ampuan Yaacob said the expedition scheduled to start from Aug 24 to Sept 6 would also receive recognition from the Malaysia Book of Records when the national flag measuring 183x85m is raised at the top of the peaks on Aug 31.
“We will leave on Aug 24 and fly Jalur Gemilang on Aug 31 before returning to Kedah on Sept 6. Besides, we will also paste stickers of Malaysia and Kedah flags, as well as the programme along the way to reach the summit.
“We would also participate in community activities, where we will go to three schools in Nepal to donate school supplies for 150 students,“ he said when launching the Fly the Jalur Gemilang campaign here, yesterday.
In order to make the programme successful, he said both mental and physical training has been conducted for the past two months and centralised-training would be held in the last two weeks before departure.
“Last May, we met with the state government to inform them about this programme and we are grateful that they approved it. After that, we began to make preparations by holding briefings and scheduled training for all participants.
“Besides physical training, we have personnel who assist us by providing mental strength training. We are ready and will consider every safety aspect by conducting research, and obtaining opinions as well as advice from experts who have conquered the mountain,“ he explained.
Meanwhile, a participant, Maizatul Akmam Adam, 45, said she and another female participant Nurul Wafa Ahmad, 33, who was APM Baling volunteers, expressed her gratitude and pride for being selected as most of the participants on the expedition were men.
“I am excited and will take this opportunity to fly Jalur Gemilang at the peak, with the hope of bringing glory to Malaysia and Kedah. I hope that Malaysians will pray for our success to reach the top of Annapurna,“ she added. — Bernama
