Malaysia Lights Up Blue to Honour Children’s Rights on World Children’s Day

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 20 November 2025 - This evening, Malaysia’s tallest tower, Menara Merdeka 118, will light up in blue from 20 to 24 November to mark World Children’s Day 2025, symbolising Janji Kita (Our Promise) to every child.  On 22 November, Taman Jaya Park in Petaling Jaya – the heart of Malaysia’s first Child Friendly City – will turn blue during a community celebration highlighting children’s voices and rights. 

Together, Merdeka 118 and Taman Jaya Park demonstrate Malaysia’s whole-of-society commitment, where national leadership meets community action to make child rights a lived reality. Malaysia ratified the Convention on the Rights of the child in 1995 and has since progressively aligned policies and laws with its principles, with advances in education, healthcare, child protection and digital learning. 

“World Children’s Day is a moment for us to renew our shared promise (Janji Kita) to every child in Malaysia,” said Robert Gass, UNICEF Representative to Malaysia and Special Representative to Brunei Darussalam. “The lighting of Malaysia’s tallest tower is a symbol of hope and commitment to protect, uplift, and celebrate our children. UNICEF is honoured to light up Merdeka 118 in partnership with PNB Merdeka Ventures, a collaboration that helps raise awareness of the importance of securing every child’s future.”

“Merdeka 118 was built as a symbol of Malaysia’s pride and potential - today, it also stands as a symbol of hope and inspiration,” said Dato’ Tengku Ab. Aziz Tengku Mahmud, Chief Executive Officer of PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn. Berhad (PNBMV). “Lighting the tower blue for World Children’s Day reflects PNBMV’s support for UNICEF’s mission to build a Malaysia where every child is valued and protected.”

On 22 November, UNICEF and Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) will host Go Blue in the Park – a full-day family festival at Taman Jaya designed to bring children’s rights to life through play, creativity and community participation. One of the key highlights is the UNICEF’s “My Day, My Rights’ Phone Booth, where children can record video messages about their hopes, concerns and ideas for a better future. The phone booth captures real, unfiltered reflections from children, a reminder that their voices are not optional, but essential to every decision that affects them.  

Families can enjoy live art sessions, storytelling, drumming circles, fun run and other interactive activities throughout the day. At sunset (6:45 p.m.), the park will turn blue, symbolically connecting Petaling Jaya’s communities to the national promise to reaffirm Malaysia’s commitment to every child.

Throughout Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship in 2025, children and young people have played a central role in shaping national and regional conversations. Their concerns and solutions on issues that affect their daily lives took centre stage at the ASEAN Children & Youth Climate Summit and the ASEAN ICT Forum on Child Online Protection. Young people also brought the conversation about child rights to the Parliament in preparations of Malaysia’s dialogue with the Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2026. 

Children have clear, actionable ideas, and Malaysia becomes stronger when it listens to them.

These moments reflect this year’s World Children’s Day theme, “My Day, My Rights,” which underscores that child rights must be lived every day, not celebrated only once a year.

From Malaysia’s tallest tower to the community heart of its first Child-Friendly City, the blue lights of Merdeka 118 and Taman Jaya Park stand as a united call to action:

Listen to children.

Act with children.

Renew the promise, “Janji Kita” for every child, everywhere.

When cities, communities, families, and national leaders work together, Malaysia becomes a place where every child can grow, learn, play, and thrive.

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ABOUT PNB MERDEKA VENTURES SDN. BERHAD  

PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn. Berhad was incorporated in June 2000 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB). PNBMV is the landowner and sole custodian of both Stadium Merdeka and Stadium Negara. Both stadiums have been listed as “National Heritage” sites in October 2005 under the National Heritage Act 2005. Thereafter PNB Merdeka Ventures carried out meticulous conservation efforts, earning Stadium Merdeka the UNESCO Award of Excellence for Culture Heritage Conservation Programme (Asia Pacific) in 2008.  

The Merdeka 118 precinct is a mixed-use development comprising premium Grade A office spaces, The View at 118 Observation deck, Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, a seven-storey retail mall called 118 Mall and two premium residential towers known as ‘Merdeka Residences’ and a serviced residence called Oakwood Premier Kuala Lumpur. The Merdeka 118 development sits within a new 4-acre linear park known as Merdeka Boulevard at 118.  

The Merdeka 118 tower was recognised by the Council on Vertical Urbanism (formerly CTBUH) as the second tallest building in the world in October 2023. In 2025, the council honoured Merdeka 118 with the Best Tall Building (300m and Above) award. Subsequently, the tower was officially inaugurated on 10th January 2024 by Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.  

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