By Karen Bong
KUCHING, June 20: Kuching South City Council (MBKS)’s Mayor’s Walk is returning for its third year this July 27.
The most significant change for this free event is registration. It has to be done online via the iPeople app that can be downloaded from Google Play Store for Android now, while the app for Apple iPhone will be made available soon.
Mayor Datuk James Chan said transitioning and embracing digital technology was unavoidable to not only enhance convenience for the community but also to reduce manual workload and processes.
“In the past, we had to manually key in the registrations in thousands and sometimes up to tens of thousands,” he told a press conference about the event at MBKS headquarters today.
“There were about 7,000 participants in the first year, while 2018 recorded an overwhelming 11,000 participants,” he shared.
The iPeople app was launched in May last year to enable real-time communication between the public and the council to bring about better control of the city’s infrastructure, its environment, cutting of wasteful downtime and resources to ensure the city is better managed to make it a sustainable and smart city.
The objective of the Mayor’s Walk, Chan said, was to bring people, families and friends together in a relaxed but fun-filled atmosphere.
“We want to always promote Kuching as a lively and healthy place where the people are united, so this kind of sports and leisure activities are needed to bring people together for some fun and enjoyment, else the city will be boring.
“It also encourages people to appreciate our natural surrounding in the city and at the same time, we can foster good values on our citizens such as environmental awareness,” he added.
Similar to last year, participants would be given bio-degradable plastic bags as they are encouraged to pick up any rubbish they see along the walk’s 3km route.
“Children will be given free balloons. There will be lucky draws and participants must complete the walk in order to be eligible for the draw,” he said.
Chan, thus, urged the people to not only register to get the free Dri-Fit shirt but to be present and join in the walk.
The event will start off with the arrival of participants at 5.30am followed by a brief Zumba warm-up workout to begin at 6.30am that will last about half-an-hour. The walk will be flagged-off at the MBKS foyer at 7am.
Sign up now through the iPeople app to join the walk. Participants who have successfully registered will be issued a QR code for the purpose of T-shirt collection.
The closing date for registration is July 14 and T-shirt collection may be done on July 22-23 from 9am-5pm at MBKS headquarters’ lobby.
Those who have difficulties with registration are advised to visit MBKS office, call 082-354200 or send a WhatApps message to 016-8796441.
The Mayor’s Walk is supported by Ibraco Bhd with a sponsorship of RM60,000, City Jogger’s Club (CCJ) on the technical aspect and Techninier Sdn Bhd, which developed the iPeople app. — DayakDaily
