National Day celebrations to go on as planned - KKMM sec-gen

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Day 2021 celebrations scheduled to take place on Aug 31 at Dataran Pahlawan Negara, Putrajaya, will go on as planned by the National Day and Malaysia Day (HKHM) 2021 Organising Committee.

Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohammad Mentek said despite facing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and current political crisis, the civil service would continue to work as usual.

"Preparations for the National Day Celebrations which is almost 80 percent complete will not be affected, we will continue to monitor the development of COVID-19 cases from time to time," he said when appearing as guest on RTM's Selamat Pagi Malaysia programme today.

Mohammad who is HKHM 2021 Organising Committee chairman acknowledged that in this pandemic situation, several other countries had postponed celebrations involving the public.

He said Malaysia had never postponed or canceled the national day celebrations since the country's independence in 1957.

"We are working towards a balance (celebrating while social distancing) in the current situation. As we should be achieving 50 percent herd immunity by Aug 31, we are confident that it is alright to go ahead with a small scale celebration with strict compliance of the standard operating procedures (SOP), he said.

He said all participants who are physically involved in the celebration must be fully vaccinated and must undergo a COVID-19 swab test three days before the full rehearsal.

No spectators will be allowed and the physical distancing rule, wearing of mask and consistent sanitation practices will continue to be monitored to avoid the spread of COVID-19 infection, he added.

Mohammad hoped that the public would follow the live broadcast of the celebrations beginning at 7.30 am.

-- BERNAMA