KUALA LUMPUR: You’ve read of their exploits, watched videos of their feats and wept with them as the Negaraku played at the Rio Paralympics.
Come Thursday, Malaysians will get the chance to demonstrate their love and appreciation for our Paralympians, up close and personal, upon their return from Rio de Janeiro.
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin today announced that the Malaysian Paralympic contingent will be given a heroes’ welcome when they return home.
“They have surpassed all our expectations and will be given a golden heroes welcome,” he said.
Upon their arrival at Terminal C of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 3,05pm, they will be taken to the Kompleks Bunga Raya where they will receive a grand welcome celebration by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.
This will be followed by a victory parade in the city centre to enable the public to meet the Paralympians.
Their first stop will be at the main entrance of the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas at KLCC.
“We will stop for 15 minutes at Dewan Filharmonik. They will the proceed to the Pavilion KL fountain in Jalan Bukit Bintang, where they will stop for another 15 minutes.
“I really need Malaysians to come out and support them," said Khairy.
The parade will continue at 7pm onwards at the Pusat Kecemerlangan Sukan Paralimpik in Kampung Pandan, where more supporters can meet and greet the Paralympians at the grand welcoming ceremony.
"They are deserving of this grand welcome, based on their extraordinary performance. These are the best results we have ever achieved in any Paralympic Games and this is also the first time we have won gold medals.
"This is also our way of showing our appreciation to them. The Olympians, they had the National Day parade. For our Paralympians, we decided to create a parade that will start at Jalan Tun Razak, just for them."
Khairy hopes people working in the KLCC area and other parts of the city will come out and show their support and pride for the Malaysian para-athletes.