The National Journalists’ Day 2023 (HAWANA 2023) celebration to recognise the role and contributions of media practitioners in Malaysia raised its curtains here today.
Themed ‘Media Bebas, Tunjang Demokrasi’ (Free Media, Pillar of Democracy), the celebration until May 29 began with the HAWANA Media Hunt from Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh, which attracted about 150 participants.
The convoy of nearly 40 vehicles was flagged off by Deputy Communications and Digital Minister Teo Nie Ching from the Malaysian Nasional News Agency (Bernama) headquarters at about 8 am.
They are expected to arrive at Mydin Mall Meru at 3 pm, where the HAWANA Mini Carnival is held.
The carnival, from 10 am to 6 pm, will be enlivened by activities such as interactive slots with Bernama personalities, ‘sayadigital’ and ‘pocket talk’ sessions, meet-and-greet sessions with local artistes and celebrities, as well as colouring contests and lucky draws with various attractive prizes to be won.
The carnival also received participation from agencies, including the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation, RTM, CyberSecurity Malaysia, the Federation of Sarawak Journalists Association, the Department of Information, Tourism Perak, Tourism Selama and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
At 1 pm today, a bowling tournament will be held at Ipoh Bowl, Aeon Kinta City, where about 100 media practitioners will represent 18 teams under the team category, of which nine teams are from Perak, while four players will compete in the senior official category.
The date May 29 was gazetted as National Journalists’ Day in conjunction with the publication of the first edition of the Malay newspaper, Utusan Melayu, on May 29, 1939.
The inaugural HAWANA celebration was held on April 11, 2018, at the MATRADE Exhibition and Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur but could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year’s celebration was held in the historic city of Melaka.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency
