Run 4 Unity Unites all colours

May 25, 2017

By Marlina Sara Sylvester
The Run 4 Unity was held at St Anne’s Church on May 1. Organising Chairman Daryl Aloysius Gasper said the event was organised by Teens 4 Unity, in collaboration with the United World Project, Focolare Movement and St Anne’s Church.

The state government supported this event as well and the committee is grateful for their contributions.

This was the first-ever Run 4 Unity held in Malaysia. The other runs have been held in Delhi, Vietnam and Brazil, just to name a few venues.

There are about 150,000 teenagers who are members of Teens 4 Unity in over 182 countries worldwide, and they are united by one goal, that is, to make universal brotherhood a reality by involving many other teenagers in the world in this project.

The run was flagged off at 6.45am from St Anne’s hall by YB Jagdeep Singh, Penang State Assembly for Datuk Keramat who also joined the run, together with Msgr Fr Henry Rajoo and close to 1,500 participants.

Also present were Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, Persatuan Melayu Pulau Pinang (Pemenang) president Tan Sri Mohd Yussof Latiff, Sulaiman Tunku Abdul Rahman, son of our first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Penang Sikh Association President Dr Kuldip Singh and Penang Hindu Association deputy president P. Murugiah.

The six goals of Run 4 Unity were banners spread along the seven kilometre route. Participants were encouraged to take note of the banners and to take selfies with them. The goals are: play hard, play fair, hang in, take care of, celebrate and make a difference.

All participants received a goodie bag as they arrived back at the hall. Cold Sunquick drinks were given to all participants. Various food stalls were set up at the hall’s car park and people enjoyed their breakfast after the run.

Couple Alex Ambrose and Catherine joined this run with their seven year-old son Aaron. They registered with their parish, the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Butterworth, as soon as they heard about this event. Their parish priest, Fr Victor Louis, was promoting this event at every Mass. Many parishioners from Butterworth took part as well.

“Overall, it was very well organised. The briefing before the walk clearly defined the cause and the mission of the walk. We saw all the banners of the six goals and we took selfies with them. As parents, we have shown a good example to our son, Aaron, spending quality time with him and also let him see how the youths and teenagers organised this huge event,” Catherine said after completing the run.

Irene Ng from Sacred Heart of Jesus, Kulim attended this event with her friends and was happy to see people from other races joining in.

In his speech, parish priest Msgr Fr Henry Rajoo said that we need to be united because God loves us the same. “This run is a creative way to be united, let’s not build walls but build bridges.”

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announced that this inaugural event will be an annual event and would be bigger next year. “Penang is the best example of diversity in this country,” he said, followed by thunderous applause from the crowd.

There were various multi-cultural and stage performances, free health checks, face painting booth, jumble sale, etc. The event ended about 1pm, with everyone going home feeling happy for a morning well spent.