Help revive the spirit of Sports Day at TKC through a costume running carnival
Do you remember Sports Day when you were back in school? I do and I have to admit, those were some of the best times I had with friends, especially as a secondary school girl in my teens growing up. I remember us all getting together in our coloured teams, participating in various events and cheering for schoolmates who were representing the different houses. Even if you couldn’t do a decent javelin throw to save your life (and hopefully not ending anyone else’s with it), there were other ways one could contribute on Sports Day: you could be part of the house perbarisan or procession, help with decorations, set up drink stations and of course be a cheer leader or even a mascot and shriek hoarsely or dance madly in support of your friends. Hari Sukan was and has always been about team work and pushing one’s physical and mental limits.
Now imagine you being the most prestigious girls’ secondary boarding school in Malaysia – and not having had a Sports Day in 3 years, just because the school field was in horrible condition.
This is indeed the situation Tunku Kurshiah College (TKC) was in when they moved their school from Seremban to Bandar Enstek a few years ago. Due to mismanaged construction work, the green area that was supposed to be their highly-prized school sports field now more closely resembles a marshy paddy field: waterlogged and unkempt. Beneath the seemingly harmless grassy surface lay remnants of broken up bricks and other construction waste that had not been discarded properly, posing real physical danger to students who dare run on them. Drainage is virtually non-existent, causing the field to turn into a swamp come rain.
I don’t know what was more unbelievable – that TKC had such a pitiful padang or the fact that the school didn’t consider an alternative venue for their sports day to continue the sporting tradition while they figured out what to do about fixing the one they had.
Because of this dire situation, the Malay Girls College (or now known as TKC) Old Girls Association, armed with their unrelenting fighting spirit, decided to stand up and help their daughters and granddaughters relive the glory of the good ol’ days when they were not only excellent in their studies, but also sports.
Hence the idea to raise money for the revamp of the TKC school field via a 5km walk/run event was born.
About TKC Walk-a-Run Carnival
The TKC Walk-a-Run Carnival event will be held in Putrajaya on 15th February 2015, starting at 7am from Kompleks Sukan Air in Presinct 6. It will be graced by TKC alumnus and our Prime Minister’s wife herself, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, as well as our Sports and Youth Minister, YB Khairy Jamaludin.
TKC is targeting to attract 1,000 participants on the day and is encouraging all runners and walkers to come dressed up in costumes.
Prizes are not only allocated for the fastest runners, but also best-dressed costumes and selfie/wefie group shots! Just take a photo of yourself on the day and tag it #TKCWalkaRun on instagram for a chance to win.
Participants who sign up will not get a bib number like at other races; instead they will get a Lifeline ID Bracelet to wear as proof of participation, which is a rubber bracelet with a small metal plate on it engraved with personal information about you such as your name, blood type, and emergency contacts. The bracelets will be available to the first 1,000 participants who register, so do hurry – as of this writing, 700 folks have already signed up, so don’t miss out!
In addition to the run/walk event, other activities will be held on the day for the whole family, such as a bouncy castle for the young ones, and aerobics, zumba, poco-poco and insanity fitness for the adults. If you don’t feel like walking or running on the 5km course, there will be EcoRide electric vehicles for you to rent and use. For shopaholics, there were will be booths set up selling merchandise so do come with your wallets. Check this page out for a full itinerary of the day.
We are told that the race course is non-typical in that no other race in Putrajaya has used the same course, start to end. It has a mixture of flat roads, a challenging uphill and nice downhill slope, ending with a scenic run by the lakeside. If you wanted to do a “chicken loop” and run a shorter course, there will be a short-cut near the Putrajaya International Convention Centre area, however this option is only available after 1 hour of the event start to allow slower walkers and families with strollers to finish within a reasonable amount of time.
TKC history retold
The press conference for the TKC Walk-a-Run was held today (27 January 2015) at the SME Corp office on Level 6 in Platinum Sentral near KL Sentral. The session was led by TKC Old Girls Tan Sri Datuk Dr Rafiah Salim and Lini Kazim, Malaysia’s Best Ironman (Female) of 2014. I particularly enjoyed Tan Sri’s candid personality and jovial delivery as she reminisced her days in TKC, back from when most of us were not even born (1960). TKC’s history was particularly fascinating to me.
Apparently when the British setup the Malay Girls College (as it was known then), it was for the purpose of grooming Malay girls who were to marry Malay boys who in turn were being groomed to be government officers! TKC has come a long way from being just a finishing school where one grooms girls to be educated wives.
Before TKC was renamed to Tunku Kurshiah College after the country’s first permaisuri (queen), the school grounds were actually located in Bukit Damansara/Bangsar area when it was all still dense jungle where tigers and wildlife roamed freely. For those of us who grew up with always having Bangsar and Bukit Damansara in the upscale state that they are in now, this scenario was almost unimaginable.
During the press conference I asked Tan Sri Rafiah how the school came to the point where the school field was not usable for sports. Apart from citing poor construction management and lack of proper followup, Tan Sri pointed out that since the government has other priorities in the nation, like helping the states that had been hit by the massive floods recently, getting a new field was definitely nowhere in the national radar. Hence that became one strong reason for the Old Girls Association to take matters into their own hands and organise this carnival to raise the funds and awareness needed to revive the high-performing sports culture in TKC, said Tan Sri Rafiah.
What are you waiting for? SIGN UP!
Let us help the younger generation of TKC girls enjoy a schooling experience whereby sports is incorporated into their routine. It is a shame if these girls are not given the chance to be active in sports, just because of poor facilities. Since I am in favour of encouraging girls to always be all that they can be, I am happy to endorse this event. Please join me in supporting the TKC Old Girls Association in helping the younger TKC girls rekindle their love for sports through the rebuilding of a better playing field. Register now! 🙂
Sign-up is only RM50 and online registration is available here at http://tkccarnival.wix.com/tkcwalkaruncarnival
Racekit Packet Collection of the TKC Walk-a-Run Carnival will be held at Athlete’s Circle in Jaya One between 9-14 February, during which AC will have 10% discount on items in the store.
See you in Putrajaya on 15th February! Now, go and get cracking on that costume idea!
Fairy
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Hi Fairy!
How did the event go.. I wish I had know about this earlier as would have definitely supported your school!
My daughter’s school is also planning to organize a similar event and I was googling for ideas… It brought me to you
Hi Shirley,
This wasn’t my school’s event, but rather some friends’. 🙂 It went pretty well! PM’s wife also officiated the event, very meriah!
Cheers,
Fairy