21st AMAC expected to draw record numbers

August 9, 2018

Karim (right) with (from second right) Snowdan, Pulainthiran, Hii and Sivapragasam at the launching of the 21st AMAC website. 

KUCHING: The 21st Asia Masters Athletics Championships (AMAC) from Dec 2 to 6 will be one of the major sports tourism events that Sarawak will be hosting next year, which coincides with the Visit Sarawak Year 2019.

Others include the World Para Swimming Championships that will be held at the Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre in July, and the Kuching Marathon in August.

“Kuching and Sarawak are indeed happy and honoured to be given the trust to organise this event (AMAC) because it will it not only display our organising skills but also showcase Kuching and Sarawak to the world,” said Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

“This championship is expected to attract more than 3,000 athletes from 30 countries in Asia and 15 countries outside Asia such as Australia, New Zealand, Spain England, Uzbekistan and Belgium while another 3,000 to 4,000 people including team officials, family members and friends will come together with them,” he added.

“It is also good for Sarawak because it will generate revenue for the tourism industry and further promote Sarawak and Kuching in particular to the world,” he said at the launching of the 21st AMAC Website – amackuching2019.com at his office at Bangunan Baitul Makmur in Petra Jaya yesterday.

According to the minister, the Local Organising Council has been set up to prepare for the hosting of the championship, the first to be held in East Malaysia.

“The Malaysian Masters Athletic Association has wide experience, having organised the championship in Kuala Lumpur in 1990 and 2010 and the Sarawak government is confident that we can organise it in a systematic way and memorable to all participants,” added Karim.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Masters Athletics Association (MMAA) president S Sivapragasam said the 21st AMAC will have the biggest number of participants in the history of the championship.

“A total of 2,870 athletes took part in the 18th AMAC in Japan, and we are hoping to get more than 3,000 participants for this edition. The launching of 21st AMAC website will help us garner more publicity and support for the event which will attract even more people to participate,” he said.

According to him, the website concerned would be linked to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, MMAA, Asian Masters Athletics Association, Sarawak Sports Corporation, Sarawak Tourism Board and other agencies.

Also present at the launching were Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan, permanent secretary to Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Hii Chang Kee, Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) head of technical department Gordon Kon who represented SSC chief executive officer Dr Ong Kong Swee, and MMAA patron Datuk Seri Dr V Pulainthiran. -TheBorneoPost