A view of Miri from Canada Hill

Yesterday was the launch of Miri May Fest in Miri and Miri became the first city to get 5,000 over people to converge at one spot to go totally “green” in their shopping.� The feat earned Miri a recognition by The Malaysian Book of Record.

The event was held at the Miri Indoor Stadium yesterday morning. The 5,000 plus crowd shopped only with recycleable eco-bags sponsored by Shell. The event was in conjunction with the city’s “Say No To Plastic Bags Every Day” campaign.

Miri has three international events during the month-long May Fest:

1. Miri Jazz Festival (May 14-15)

2. Miss Tourism Intercontinental (May 20)

3. Miri City International Deep Sea Fishing Competition (May 21-23)

Miri holds more than 100 events throughout the year. It is a fast developing city with a few major shopping complexes in the pipeline. A couple of new hotels are nearing completion. Housing projects are mushrooming in every corners.

Beautiful beaches are just minutes’ drive from the city center. There are lovely parks in and near the city. It is also the gateway to the world-renowned Mulu Caves and Niah Caves.

Didn’t I tell you that Miri is the best place in Sarawak to live in?

A view of Taman Selera Beach in Miri

Miri is aiming at becoming the first green city in Malaysia with May 20 as the deadline. On May 20 this year, Miri will be celebrating its 5th anniversary as a city.

Bird's Eye View of Miri City

Since taking office, Mayor Lawrence Lai has impressed Mirians with his leadership and initiative to transform Miri into a better municipality.� He has been busy visiting many parts of the municipality to listen to complaints from the people and trying to carry out improvements where necessary.

Mayor Lawrence Lai

One of the first step undertaken by the Mayor towards making Miri a green city is appealing to Mirians to lend their wholehearted support to make Miri the first city to say no to plastic bags everyday.

The city council’s “Say No To Plastic” campaign launched on August 30 last year has garnered the support of local hypermarkets and supermarkets that give no free plastic bags on Sunday. With effect from this month, the no-plastic days were increased to 3 days every week from Friday to Sunday.

Say No To Plastic Bag

The city council has always been active in planting trees and plants in the city and the mayor has pledged to plant a minimum of 1000 trees per year. I can see nice landscaping in many areas of the city which makes the city look much more beautiful….kudos to the city council!

The city council is planning to hold landscaping competitions among schools to inculcate the “go green” culture among students. It is also encouraging all government departments and agencies to carry out landscaping too.

A major green project that the city council will implement is the bicycle track from Taman Selera to Lutong in two phases. Under the first phase, the bicycle track will link Taman Selera to Miri City Fan while the second phase will link Miri City Fan to Lutong. The aim of the project is to encourage more people to use bicycles thereby reducing the number of motor vehicles on the road.

Beach at Taman Selera

A View of Miri City Fan

The city council is studying the feasibility of installing solar or LED lightings for the whole city. With about 17,000 street lights in the city, the council is paying over RM7 million in electricity bills annually. It is estimated that the council can save between 60 to 70 percent in the electrical bills. And Miri will also become the first city in Malaysia to have such lightings if the project is implemented.

I wasn’t born in Miri but I have lived in Miri for almost 30 years and have come to love the city dearly. It is in my opinion the best place to live in Sarawak.