Former National Service trainees leaving the Merang Suria National Service camp in Setiu, Terengganu, on Tuesday. They are expected to arrive at Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, today. |
SETIU: Former National Service trainees showed their mettle when they embarked on a walk from Kota Baru to Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur.
The trainees began their journey on Tuesday and walked to the Merang Suria National Service camp, where they spent the night.
Yesterday morning, they left the camp to begin the second leg of their journey to the Cherating National Service camp in Pahang, where they will spend the night.
They will continue their walk to Kuala Lumpur today.
About the same time these trainees began their journey from Kota Baru, their counterparts from Miri and Kota Belud national service camps also walked to Kota Kinabalu, where a Royal Malaysian Air Force transport plane will fly them to Kuala Lumpur.
Another 150 former trainees will walk non-stop from Ayer Keroh in Malacca to Bukit Jalil today in an effort to get their feat recorded in the Malaysia Book of Records.
They will be flagged off by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam for the 150km journey.
The national service trainees are making the journey to attend the "Perhimpunan Kami Anak 1Malaysia" event at the Bukit Jalil hockey stadium tomorrow.
"The walk is to show their grit and 1Malaysia spirit," said National Service Department director-general Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil, as he flagged of the trainees at the Merang Suria National Camp, yesterday.
The participants will have several rest stops as they walk towards their destination, but trainees from Ayer Keroh will have no rest stops in their bid to achieve their record.
Hadi said apart from the walk to Bukit Jalil programme, thousands of former trainees of the 65 National Service camps throughout Malaysia had signed up for the "Perhimpunan Kami Anak 1Malaysia".
"In the end, we had to limit the number to the first 200 former trainees who had signed up at each camp.
"They will be transported by bus to join those in the walk at the Bukit Jalil hockey stadium."
He said between 15,000 and 20,000 youths are expected to be at the event, scheduled to be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Hadi said the National Service modules will not be changed as a survey involving parents, employers and former trainees in 2009 showed that the public had given the thumbs up to the programme.
"The survey involved 62,000 respondents, including 31,000 former trainees.
"It showed that more than 80 per cent of former trainees said the programme had done them good, while parents and employers said it had inculcated positive traits in participants."
Read more: Ex-NS trainees set to walk their way into record book http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/14twos/Article#ixzz1abSViqi3
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