Drug abuse and addiction are an on-going problem among teenagers and adults. According to the National Anti-Drugs Agency’s statistics, in 2013 there were 20,887 addicts in Malaysia and of the number about 2789 were from Perak.
Realising the gravity of the problem, Bangkit Event Management (BEM), in partnership with Malaysia Drug Free Youth Association (DFYAM) and People of Remarkable Talent (PORT) will organise an ‘Ipoh Drug-Free Youth Day’ on Saturday, May 2 at PORT premises from 10am to 11pm.
Technical programme manager from BEM, Mohd Azlan Zulkifli in his short speech, expressed the objectives of the event, “Currently, there are less than 30 registered members of DFYAM in Perak. With this event, we hope to recruit more to join us for future activities,” he told reporters.
Local musical bands such as Couple, Geo and Meddthelin will perform live. There will also be an art demonstration using wheat paste by Syed Imran Naim. A street art competition is also on the cards. Founder of DFYAM, Khairi Aziz will conduct a talk and a workshop on drug misuse and abuse.
“Malaysia Drug Rehabilitation Centre will be joining us for the event, where former drug-addicts will tell their side of the story about drug addiction,” said Azlan.
Azlan hoped the event would attract the crowd he envisaged. Donation boxes will be placed at strategic points during the event. Money collected will be used to cover cost of activities organised by the rehab centre.
Ili Aqilah
