Attending Walk For Children 2011

On the 13th of March, 2011, four of our members attended Walk For Children, a charity event organized by the International School of Kuala Lumpur with the aim of raising funds for the poor and disadvantaged children of Rumah Kasih Sayang and Shelter Home Malaysia, as well as create and spread awareness on their plight. The secondary objective of this event was to Embrace cultural diversity, promote national unity and global citizenship of students and create awareness about the importance of becoming more environmental friendly, an objective that was very much in line with the theme of the event- 1 Malaysia "Goes Green!". The patron of the walkathon was none other than YABhg Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor, Malaysia’s First Lady, while the ambassador was Lisa Surihani, an extremely talented Malaysian actress. 


Walk for Children 2011 was held in Merdeka Square on the 13th of March, a Sunday. Though the run began at 8.15 am, participants of the event were required to show up at the event from as early as 6.30 am in order to retrieve their goodie bags, and register their names. After a light warm-up session courtesy of Celebrity Fitness, participants made their way to the starting point of the walkathon after being reminded by the emcee of the event that should any participant be caught running, he or she would be disqualified, for it was a walkathon, not a marathon. The race began after YABhg Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor flagged more than 1000 participants off. 


There were five different categories of the race. Category A was the open category for men, which spanned a distance of 5 kilometers. Category B was the open category for women, which also spanned five kilometers. Category C was the category for boys under 17, while Category D was the category for girls under 19. Both Category C and D spanned 3 kilometers. Category E was the category for the visually-impaired, who demonstrated strength and courage in the face of adversity by willingly taking part in a walkathon, despite being visually-impaired. The distance of their leg of the race spanned 1.8 kilometers, and every participant who came under Category E had the aid of two helpful escorts who guided them to the finishing line.


The prize-giving ceremony of the event took place at around 9.30 am. YABhg Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor presented prizes to the top two finalists of every category, while those who finished third, forth, and fifth, were presented attractive prizes by  Paul Chmelik, the Head of School of the International School of Kuala Lumpur. After posing for a group photo, YABhg Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor took her leave. 


The prize giving ceremony was followed by a talk by Matthias Gelber, a well-known environmental speaker who also gave a talk in our school during our Eco Carnival and International Conference held in November last year. The talk lasted for a brief fifteen minutes, before the commencement of all the entertainment and performances lined up for the day, conducted by Lisa Surihani and Farish Aziz. The performances and entertainment lined up for the day featured acts such as Farah Asyikin, Altimate, Aizat Amdan, Caprice, as well as Fabulous Cats. There was also a cultural dance by Tourism Malaysia, as well as two rock bands from the International School of Kuala Lumpur, namely, The Sects and The Zipper. Last but not least, there was a performance by Soul Bratz, a break dance group. 


On top of the many performances which were lined up, the event also featured special appearances by local celebrities such as Amber Chia, Faizal Ismail, Tam Suhaimi, Aishah Sinclair, Betty Rahmad, and Ahmad Nabil.


All in all, it was a day that was both exciting and tiring at the same time, but we're close to being absolutely certain that no one would have wanted to have  it any other way.