PETALING JAYA, 21 JUNE: The efforts of the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) to turn Petaling Jaya into a green-filled city proved fruitful as the city received recognition as a Green Peace Ambassador. The award was given by United Nations Environment Program that is based in London.

Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim gave praise and said the city received this recognition due to the hard work of MBPJ and the residents of Petaling Jaya who cares about the quality of life and the environment that they live in.

“Among the efforts of MBPJ is to bring Petaling Jaya towards being a low-carbon green city, environmental friendly and also filled with facilities and top notch infrastructures.This requires participation and assistance from its residents in order to reduce the effects of carbon.

“Petaling Jaya also understands that besides having recreational parks, reserve forests, other greeneries or recreational facilities, art and cultures will also benefit the community and to uplift the quality of life,” he said during his speech for the opening ceremony of “ Petaling Jaya International Festival 2014 – Folklore Festival. ”

He further explained, the purpose of Petaling Jaya International Festival 2014 is to encourage Petaling Jaya residents to take interest in different arts and cultures from 11 different countries that are participating in the festival. This is the second year of the festival.

Meanwhile, the 11 countries taking part in the “Folklore Festival” performed their own versions of cultural dance during the opening ceremony.

Among the cultural dances from abroad were from South Korea, Ghana, Phillipines, Egypy, Iran, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Besides that, the local dancers comprising of teams from Selangor, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, Sarawak and Penang also performed their own cultural dances.