WITH only five days to go, Sarawak has taken the drastic decision to move the national-level Malaysia Day celebrations indoors.

Deputy Chief Minister Awang Tengah Ali Hassan announced today that the celebrations will be held at the indoor Stadium Perpaduan in Petra Jaya, Kuching. It was initially slated to be held at Padang Merdeka in the city centre.

“We have no choice. We have to take this step because of health issues,” said Awang Tengah who is also the organising chairman of the celebration.

He said the thick smoke that is enveloping the city and surrounding areas of Samarahan is forecasted to be a problem until the end of the month.

“This being the case, we decided it was not suitable to hold the Malaysia Day event at Padang Merdeka,” he told reporters at the Kuching International Airport.

“What is important is that we cannot put the health of the public at risk in case the air pollutant index (API) goes up to more than 200. We never know what the situation will be come September 16.”

While the API had fallen below the “very unhealthy” mark of 200 today, it was hovering around there when the organising committee made the decision in a meeting last night.

The deputy chief minister said the shift to an indoor venue meant many programmes lined up for the event are either dropped, deferred or truncated.

“However, we will still give our best to ensure that this Malaysia Day’s celebrations will be another success,” he said.

One of the programmes facing the chop is the float procession to reflect the 56 years of Malaysia. It could, however, go ahead as a separate programme “if the weather permits”.

Another programme in danger of being axed is the pentas rakyat (people’s theatre).

The performance of the 300 drums, shadow play, raising of the Jalur Gemilang, and the roll-in of the Kembara Merdeka convoy – considered the main highlights of the celebration – will be retained.

Awang Tengah assured Sarawakians that the indoor event will be as colourful and as meaningful as it would have been outdoors, adding that he was aware that many performers and the organisers would be disappointed.

“I saw it in their faces when we decided to shift the event indoors. They had put in so much time and effort. Some had spent weeks rehearsing.

“Preparations had reached 80%,” he said.

The event, to be aired live over RTM, is expected to be attended by head of state Abdul Taib Mahmud, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the chief ministers of Sabah and Sarawak, and members of the federal and state cabinets.

The launching ceremony will see selected VIPs beating the bedok in unison, assisted by 170 drummers.

Awang Tengah said one highlight to look out for next Monday night is “a very special and interesting shadow play which will touch on friendship, closeness, peace, conflict and nation building”.

In a statement earlier today, the Department of Environment had announced that cloud-seeding will be carried out, especially in Sarawak if the atmosphere is stable and suitable to reduce the smoke.

So far, Sarawak was the worst hit by the smoke which was caused by forest fires in Indonesia’s Sumatra and Kalimantan.

An API reading of 0 to 50 is considered “good”, 51-100 “moderate”, 101-200 “unhealthy”, 201-300 “very unhealthy”, and 300 and above “hazardous”.

It was also reported that Malaysia has offered to help Indonesia put out the fires. – September 11, 2019.