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| Uggah (third left) presents the Best Sportsman Award to Loh Jack Chang. Also seen (from left) are Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Ministry permanent secretary Datu Ik Pahon Joyik, Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Snowdan Lawan, Karim, State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani, and MSNS director Dr Ong Kong Swee. |
KUCHING: The state government will continue to improve sports facilities to reach international standards in order to become key venues for international-level championships.
Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said having international-standard sporting venues can act as catalysts in improving the quality of athletes’ performances.
“The venue has a big impact on the athletes when they train, especially when they get to train at international-standard venues in the state.
“We will continue to develop more international-standard venues in the state,” he said in a pre-recorded speech at the Sarawak Sports Award 2015/16 presentation ceremony here on Saturday night.
Abang Johari, who was unable to attend the event, was represented by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
The chief minister added that having top-notch facilities will give early exposure to state athletes and put them on par with athletes from other countries during international-level championships.
Speaking on the awards, Abang Johari said the contribution of the athletes must be recognised as their performances bring glory to the state and country.
“We hope the awards can motivate them further and bring excellence in their respective sports.”
Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, meanwhile, said the state is close to achieving sports powerhouse status within the country.
“Sarawak is very determined to become a sports powerhouse and we are very near to achieving it. Together, we can achieve greatness in sports if we can commonly embrace and share that vision with all of our local sports associations.”
In that respect, he said his ministry, through Sarawak Sports Corporation and Sarawak Sports Council, has come up with several initiatives aimed at training and motivating local athletes.
“These initiatives are well underway and are aimed at enhancing our efforts to become a sports powerhouse in the country,” he said.
Abdul Karim pointed out that Sarawak athletes had contributed 13 out of the record 145 gold medals won by Malaysia in the recently-concluded Kuala Lumpur SEA Games 2017, including several who set new records.
“In the women’s hammer throw event, 17-year-old Grace Wong had smashed the old SEA Games record with a new distance of 59.24 meters; Jackie Wong Siew Cheer broke the 16-year-old SEA Games record in the men’s hammer throw event; in swimming, 19-year-old Welson Sim won two gold medals and at the same time he was the first Malaysian swimmer to set a new games record.”
Aside from that, he said the revival of Sukan Sarawak (Suksar) was another state government initiative to further boost Sarawak’s position as the country’s sports powerhouse.
“The last time we had Suksar was 26 years ago and its revival is timely. The multi-sports carnival is expected to be the largest in Sarawak and, most importantly, it will serve as a good avenue for our budding athletes to showcase their talents.
“In this respect, we call upon all sports associations to fully support the organising of Suksar, which is on Dec 14-17 with Kuching as the hosting venue.
“It is imperative for us to make Suksar a good, regular avenue for our young budding athletes to compete among themselves on home soil before venturing further.”
Abdul Karim added that Suksar has the potential to become the playing field for the backup pool of athletes to develop their self-confidence through increased competition exposure.
The biennial Sarawak Sports Awards is organised by the state government through the Sarawak State Sports Council (MSNS). There are 16 categories for athletes, sports associations and media. -TheBorneoPost
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