Taman Puchong Indah
ABOUT 2,000 people of different faiths took part in the inaugural Puchong Muhibbah Walk and Food Carnival at the MPSJ field in Taman Puchong Indah.
The 1.6km walk was flagged off at 8am on Malaysia Day after they sang Negaraku and recited the Rukun Negara.
A representative of each faith then walked around the field and lit a torch, which symbolised harmony, goodwill, mutual respect and peace among people of various religions.
Participants were treated to breakfast after the walk courtesy of Nestle and coffee by Nescafe.
Participants of the 1.6km walk being flagged off by religious leaders at the MPSJ public field in Taman Puchong Indah.
This was followed by dance and singing performances and people also enjoyed food like nasi lemak, cakes and nasi briyani.
Seven religious groups joined the event. Masjid As-Salam Puchong Perdana, Church Of Our Lady Of Guadalupe, The Bahá’í Community Of Subang Jaya, Sathya Sai Baba Centre Bandar Puchong Jaya, Malaysia Hindu Sangam, Ti-Ratana Buddhist Society Puchong and Sri Srinivasa Perumal Devasthanam, Pusat Bandar Puchong.
Each leader of the various interfaith groups expressed their Hari Malaysia greetings and their total support for inter-faith community building activities and events that foster togetherness, unity, harmony and peace. The Masjid As-Salam Puchong Perdana was represented by Ustaz Mohamad Khair Bin Zainal and Ustaz Mohamad Nor Salami Bin Hj Masri. His Grace Archbishop Julian Leow and Fr Albet Arockiasamy, Parish Priest of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, represented the Catholic Church, Dr Enoch Kumar represented The Bahai Community, Mr Aathinarayana, the head for Sathya Sai Baba in the Selangor state and Mr Alagandran Munusamy, the chairman of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam Puchong Council represented their respective religious groups. Representing Ti-Ratana Buddhist Society Puchong was Ven. Bhante Wineetha . Representing the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Devasthanam Puchong was Mr Gunasegaran Vellian. The Subang Jaya OCPD, ACP Mohammad Azlin Sadari was also present.
After the walk, the performance began, where award winning Malaysian artist, Francissca Peter, also affectionately known as Fran came on her own accord and presented some of her hit songs which mesmerized and made the crowd sway as she belted out popular numbers.
Peter has had over twenty #1 hits in the Malaysian music charts and was awarded "Best Female Vocalist" for five consecutive years in the mid 1980s. She has over 30 albums to her name. She has been The Ambassador to The International Aid Organisation World Vision in Malaysia since 2004.
The event proceeded with performances from various faith groups. The Muslim community presented a performance on morales, performed by the Youth of Masjid As-Salam. The Youth Group of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe then presented a traditional Portuguese Dance. The Bahá’í Youth dancers, from the Baha'i Community of Subang Jaya had the audience join in their dance routine. The Malaysia Hindu Sagam, Sathya Sia Baba Centre and Sri Srinivasa Perumal Devasthanam also performed stunning dance numbers each. Ti-Ratana Lumbini Garden, Puchong (representing Ti-Ratana Buddhist Society) held the honour of being the closing finale performance, and performed a timeless classic, written in the year 1963, "Oh Malaysia" by Dutch singer-songwriter Anneke Gronloh, followed by a Multi-language version of "How Far I'll Go" from Disney's 2016 film, "Moana"
Organising chairman Shalet Perix, who is also the Puchong Interfaith coordinator, said the event was jointly organised by seven religious groups in Puchong.
“We started coordinating this event in May and since then, many of us have become close and we look forward to hold more events.
“It was aimed to bring the community closer together to celebrate Malaysia Day.
“We hope that communities in other areas will follow suit in their respective neighbourhoods to foster good relationships,” said Perix, adding that they plan to have more neighbourhood oriented programmes like gotong-royong and festivals to help the needy.
Excerpts from: https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news/2017/09/21/taman-puchong-indah-residents-walk-for-unity-seven-religious-groups-organise-event-in-conjunction-wi/#QGc1WdlE0PO1bwlY.99 Original content written by Rain Lee