Walking for health in Tamparuli Sabah

A 'Nestle World Walking Day 2012' will be held in Tamparuli town from 6am to 11am on Oct 28 to promote wellness and a healthy lifestyle through walking.

The 4.18km walk is being organised by the Federal Youth and Sports Department in collaboration with the Tamparuli District Office and Nestle Product Sdn Bhd Sabah.

Nestle Products Sdn Bhd Sampling and Events Manager Tan Wallace Welliam said the event was first held in 2010 in Penampang and followed by Putatan in 2011.

"This year with advice from the department, we decided to bring the event to Tamparuli so that people in the outskirts could also enjoy it," he said during a media conference held here, on Wednesday.

"The walk is free and open to all, and those participating in the event can expect lots of activities and 50 lucky draw tickets on Nestle products are up for grabs for those who complete the walk," he said, adding that free breakfast would be provided courtesy of Nestle.

"Apart from promoting a healthy lifestyle through walking, we also want to promote Nestle products which caters to those concerned about their health," he said.

Meanwhile, Federal Youth and Sports Department (Sports Division) Assistant Director Noorman Ramlan applauded Nestle for taking the initiative to promote healthy living among the community.

"This is in line with the government's target to have 50 per cent of the Malaysian population living a healthy lifestyle by the year 2015 and we hope this event would continue in years to come," he said, adding that Youth and Sports Assistant Minister Datuk Jahid Jahim will do the flag-off.

Meanwhile, the department's officer, P. Ponniah, said those interested to take part can assemble at the Tun Hamdan Hall where they would be given t-shirts and lucky draw tickets.

"They do not have to fill up any forms as we apply the touch-and-go registration, meaning all they need to do is come on that day," he said.

On another note, he said, they recorded a total of 1,812 participants when the event was first held in Penampang in 2010 and in 2011, they recorded a total of 2,222.

"So this year, we target at least 2,500 participants," he added.

The World Walking Day 2012 would be held simultaneously in five other locations nationwide, namely, Putrajaya, Perak, Pahang, Johor Bahru and Sarawak.