Raising spirits and drumming up excitement, the Torch Run is set to light up Malaysia! Youth and Sports Minister YB Brig. Gen. Khairy Jamaluddin recently set in motion the KL2017 Torch Run which is set to traverse the length and breadth of the country in the lead up to the 2017 SEA Games starting on 19 August. Helping to fuel the spirit of Rising Together, the run will highlight unique places in each state it passes through and is open to all participants.
With the successful conclusion of the Rising Together Baton Run, which made its way around Southeast Asia over the last two months, the baton was swapped out for the torch in Johor Bahru marking the final countdown to the opening ceremony of KL2017.
YB Brig. Gen. Khairy Jamaluddin lighting up the torch at Muzium Tokoh Johor
The Torch Run has been designed to allow people from all walks of life to be a part of the Games and support the national contingent in August.
“In the next three months, we hope to rise together, be united, and help ensure the successful organisation of Kuala Lumpur 2017,” said Khairy at the official lighting up of the Games torch.
The Torch Run will travel through iconic places across Malaysia, making it totally unique as this has never been done before in the history of the SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games. From being carried up Mount Kinabalu in Sabah to diving in Pulah Perhentian – the run is set to make history.
Having kicked off in Johor Bahru on 13 May, the torch is set to strike Melaka on 20 May where it will be taken on board a Sungei Melaka River Cruise boat.
On 24 May it arrives in Negeri Sembilan, where mountain bikers and BMX cyclists accompany it to Rembau, Seremban. On 3 June it reaches Labuan to board a boat flanked by jet skis, and then onwards to Sabah on 5 June and Mulu National Park in Sarawak on 10 June.
Once again travelling via boat, it will make land in Perlis on 15 June, and then upwards to Kedah on 18 June. On 3 July it will be carried across water by a swimmer in Penang, and then ferried across Lake Banding on a bamboo raft in Perak on 12 July.
It will fly across Kelantan on a giant wau bulan on 15 July it will be airflown by a before a scuba diver takes it through Terengganu on 17 July. Then on 28 July, the torch will arrive on a four-wheel drive at national park of Taman Negara. It continues its adventure via paraglider in Selangor on 31 July, before being base jumped off the KL Tower in Kuala Lumpur on 6 August.
The final leg of the journey will see it board a hot air balloon in Putrajaya before being brought into the Bukit Jalil National Stadium to light up the Games cauldron at the opening ceremony of KL2017 on 19 August 2017. The fire will remain lit until the closing ceremony, when it will then be put out to mark the end of the Games.
Altogether some 3,700 torch bearers are expected to take part in this historic run, coming together in a spectacular show of solidarity. KL2017, here we come!
SEA Games 2017: KL 2017 Torch Run Schedule
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