HAWANA Sports Carnival 2025 Strengthens Ties Among Media Practitioners

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 (Bernama) -- The National Journalists’ Day (HAWANA) Sports Carnival 2025 is not only a platform to strengthen unity and a sense of belonging among the media fraternity nationwide, but also serves to cultivate a spirit of sportsmanship through the participation of various media organisations.

Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) Editor-in-Chief Arul Rajoo Durar Raj said the annual carnival brings together media practitioners from diverse organisations and plays an important role in fostering closer ties within the media community.

“This is not merely a sports event, but a platform to foster unity and a sense of belonging among media practitioners, including teams from states such as Perak and Kedah,” he told Bernama when met at the carnival at IWK Eco Park, Pantai Dalam, here today.

A total of 12 football teams and five netball teams took part in the competition, which saw participation from various media organisations, including Bernama, The Sun, Media Prima and Astro Awani.

Arul Rajoo said the football and netball events were being contested for the second time at the HAWANA Sports Carnival.

The Bernama-organised programme, held in conjunction with HAWANA 2025, kicked off with a bowling competition on Dec 14 at Wangsa Bowl, One Utama, followed by football and netball events today at IWK Eco Park, Pantai Dalam.

Meanwhile, the folk games segment is scheduled to take place tomorrow, starting at 8 am at IWK Eco Park.

Among the folk or traditional games contested were tarik tali, galah panjang, tuju tin, dam haji, congkak, dam ular and untai gelang getah.

HAWANA was first introduced in 2018 as a tribute to journalists’ contributions to national development, with May 29 chosen to commemorate the publication of the first edition of Utusan Melayu in 1939.

Held for the first time in 2018, HAWANA is an annual event that gathers media professionals to acknowledge their role and contributions to the nation’s development.

The main HAWANA 2025 celebration was held on June 14 at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL) and officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

-- BERNAMA