SUNWAY Putra Mall hosted their annual lantern parade recently with a gathering of over 800 people at the main concourse.
Leading the parade were Sunway Putra Mall’s general manager Danny Lee, the Founder of Touching Lives Club Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Raymond Chin, and National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM) treasurer Hasree Khaw Hock Swee Abdullah.
The parade was joined by 200 kids from Yayasan Chow Kit, Rainbow Home, HiiChiiKok Foundation Home for children, Persatuan Kebajikan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Insan, Rumah Charis together with students from NASOM and PPKI SMK Sentul Utama. During the parade, the mall also gave away free lanterns and mooncakes to all participants.
Some participants brought along unique shaped lanterns and even dressed up in creative and captivating patriotic costumes in celebration of Malaysia Day. The mall’s Kids Costume Contest saw the participants aged between four and 12 flaunting their best outfits during the parade.
“Standing strong to ‘Satu Negara, Satu Bangsa, Bangsa Malaysia’, we believe our effort in organising cultural events bring people of diverse races together,” said Lee during the event.
Aside from the parade, the mall also hosted their first Lantern Design Competition with prizes worth up to RM50,000! More than 1,500 participants submitted their lanterns for the competition including students from 15 schools and colleges around Klang Valley, out of which 103 finalists were shortlisted.
Three grand prize winners along with 100 consolation winners were announced during the lantern parade. The prizes were presented to all the winners by Lee and Darren Lau, vice secretary of the Malaysia Lantern Art Association.
Chan Yee Shin, 11, emerged as the grand prize winner, followed by first runner up Catherine Shay Wei Peng, 46, and second runner up Felicia Loh, 11. They received luggage sets, mobile phones, Sunway Lagoon tickets and shopping vouchers.
“Everyone has a unique way of expressing creativity through arts, thus the mall extended the invitation to students and the public of all races to be part of the Mid-Autumn lantern decoration which is meaningful as it embraces each other’s artwork and promotes unity as well as diversity among Malaysians,” said Lee.
