Religious movement Christians for Peace and Harmony in Malaysia (CPHM) held a dinner to honour imam Nasir Abas, an ex-soldier who completed the 500km Merdeka Run from Alor Setar to Dataran Merdeka, held in conjunction with the Merdeka Day celebrations.

"This deserves recognition and we want to spur Nasir to continue with his efforts to foster unity in the country," CHPM chairperson Reverend Wong Kim Kong said in a statement.

Wong handed over RM3,000 and an award in recognition of Nasir’s efforts to promote harmony in the country during the CHPM National Day appreciation dinner 2016, which was held last night to recognise the contributions of the Armed Forces towards peace in Malaysia since Merdeka.

“CPHM is proud to support the efforts of Nasir, a former soldier-cum-imam of a mosque in Kuala Kedah, in completing his 500km Merdeka run to promote the spirit of patriotism and reminding the people of the significance of our Independence Day," Wong said.

More than 70 people, including army veterans, officials from the Defence Ministry, church pastors and community leaders attended this dinner, together with leaders of several Malay NGOs.

This initiative is part of CPHM’s National Day celebration to promote the spirit of patriotism, which includes spreading the message of peace and safeguarding harmony in the nation.

At the same time, CHPM said, it also wanted to show appreciation to army veterans who have served and sacrificed for the country.

"This is in line with the vision of CPHM, which is beyond any one religion. There is no religious agenda in our mission,” Wong said.

At the same dinner, Kelab Pembangunan Uniti founder and adviser, Jason Leong, presented a cheque of RM1,500.00 to a representative from the Army Veterans Association as a donation to the Warriors Fund to appreciate and honour the sacrifices of the security forces.