IT WAS an evening filled with camaderie, fun and family togetherness at the USJ Family Day organised by the JKP Zone 3 of the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) last Saturday.

Residents from USJ 2 to USJ 15 had turned up for the family day held at the MPSJ sports complex. Braving a light shower earlier on, the residents came out in droves. A long queue was spotted at the registration booth where the first 500 to register were given goodie bags.

Under white canopies were stalls offering a range of products and services.

There were the food and drinks operators, telecommunication companies, non-governmental organisations as well as small home businesses selling accessories and clothes, among others.

Not a deterrent: A big crowd at the event despite a drizzle.

MPSJ councillor for JKP Zone 3 Rajiv Rishyakaran said there were 88 stalls altogether where 16 of them were “Go Green” booths and the remaining selling various merchandise and F&B.

The Go Green booths, he said, were made up of vendors selling organic and green products and crafts or even recyclable items.

“Home businesses were charged a fee of RM50 per booth while the professional companies were charged RM100.

“The money collected is channelled into our JKP funding to offset our cost and expenses in organising this family day,” said Rajiv.

The event had something for everyone. Young children were having a ball of time playing inside the inflatable castle as parents watched over them. There were telematches, football clinic and demonstrations by the firemen and the police.

The marketplace stalls was also a hive of activity as crowds gathered to buy food and shop for merchandise, while other operators were demonstrating their products.

Fun time: Children and their parents taking part in a host of games.

But the ultimate highlight of the evening was the hot air balloon, where all 100 tickets were sold out. They were sold at RM15 for adults and RM10 for children.

The activity was not only a hit with children but adults too as they gathered around the balloon as soon as it was being inflated.

Rajiv said the windy weather had forced them to stop the hot air balloon activity a little earlier than schduled.

“We wished we could have been able to accommodate more people seeing such overwhelming response,” he said.

Lucky draw were also conducted throughout the event from 6.30pm to 10pm. Stage performances kept the crowd entertained while others kept themselves busy at health screening, pets adoption and exhibition corner.

Rajiv said there were two highlights for him personally for this event.

“Firstly, we managed to pull this off with the help of 100 volunteers from the different resident associations and apartment management corporations. Our JKP with only 16 members could not have done it alone.

“Secondly, what motivated us was seeing how much fun the crowd had,” said Rajiv, adding that this is one of the biggest JKP events organised.

Each of the 24 JKP zones under MPSJ receives RM27,000 a year to carry out activities and community events.

Rajiv said the family day also received corporate sponsorship amounting to RM28,000 and another RM10,000 contribution from Subang Jaya assemblyman Hannah Yeoh’s office. Yeoh was not present as she is still on maternity leave.

The crowd turnout this time around is over 5,000 people surpassing last year’s count of 3,000.

The family day was officially launched by Selangor state executive councillor Teresa Kok.