Madingkir (second left) and Betty Wong (right) cutting a ribbon to symbolize the launching of the contest here, yesterday.
KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu City Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir said the people in Kota Kinabalu are very lucky to be living in peace and harmony despite having different religions, races and ethnics.
“To be compared to other countries in which some even fight against each other, Kota Kinabalu and Sabah, we have 33 different ethnics here and we are still living in peace,” he said when launching the Lions Club International Peace Poster 2014 which launched the Peace Poster Competition for three regions in District 308-A2 (Sabah and Sarawak).
According to Lions Club District 308-A2 governor Datuk Betty Wong, the program which has been done for 25 years worldwide, involved over eight million children from nearly 100 countries who participated in the poster-drawing contest, and over 460,000 entries annually.
She said the theme for this year’s contest is Peace, Love and Understanding, and it is open to students aged 11, 12 and 13.
The launching of the program at Lintasan Deasoka here yesterday, namely Regions 4, 5 and 6, include Keningau, Kota Kinabalu, Tenom, Ranau, Limbang, Lawas and Sipitang.
The mayor then expressed his hope that the contest would generate awareness among the youngsters on peace, love and understanding.
“It is a very good initiative by the Lions Club in promoting peace, love and understanding. I hope the contestants will grow up to maintain the peace and harmony we enjoy today in Malaysia,” he added.
The launching of the program yesterday would initiate clubs of the three regions to approach schools in their region in search of participants for the contest. Winners from each region is expected to be selected in October.