No such promise, minister says on Sukma gold incentive shortchange claim

November 29, 2018

KUCHING: Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah says he ‘cannot recall’ promising Sukma gold medalists a reward of RM5,000 for their first medal, and RM7,000 for each subsequent medal.

Refuting allegations that the athletes were ‘shortchanged’, he said the RM3,000-incentive paid to gold medal winners was only decided after the 19th Sukma in Perak had ended.

“There is no shortchange (of incentive) as there were no (such) promises in the first place.

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“The quantum of incentive is only decided after the event and after referral was made to the (state) Cabinet and state government on how much to give. It involves budgeting and we cannot presume how many medals we will get before the games start. I can’t recall making any promises,” he said when contacted yesterday.

Abdul Karim was responding to a report in a news portal on alleged ‘unfairness’ over the incentives handed out to this year’s Sukma medalists.

The portal reported that six gold medal winners from Sarawak were unhappy over the alleged failure of the State Sports Council to fulfill its promises in regards to the incentives promised to them.

It is understood that only gold medal winners felt they had been shortchanged, with no complaints received from the silver and bronze winners.

The Sarawak contingent placed fourth in this year’s Sukma, finishing with 42 gold medals.

Abdul Karim said the incentives given to this year’s medal winners – RM3,000 for gold, RM2,000 for silver, and RM1,000 for bronze – was the same amount handed out by the Terengganu government to its medalists, who finished as overall champions.

He also acknowledged that in past Sukma editions, the Sarawak government did hand out RM5,000 for a gold medal, RM750 for silver and RM500 for bronze.

However, he said for this year, the decision on the incentive amount was made after taking into consideration the amount paid by other states which performed better than Sarawak. Abdul Karim, meanwhile, said he hoped the athletes would not question the incentives given by the Sarawak government, but instead be contented with what they received.

“Whatever incentives given by the state should be looked upon as a reward. Their (athletes) contribution in representing the state is very much appreciated and cannot be valued in dollars and cents.

“The gold medalists might not be happy but I am sure silver and bronze medalists are happy. They are fighters for the state too. What about those who did not end up on the podium and not getting medals and incentives,” he asked. -TheBorneoPost