KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — Malaysia will strongly heed the advice of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organising Committee (PHISGOC) by ensuring the national contingent to the upcoming SEA Games are given the necessary vaccines, including for polio, before flying over for the regional biennial multi-sport event.

Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) deputy president Datuk Seri Abdul Azim Mohd Zabidi said all members of the Malaysian contingent, comprising 1,114 athletes and officials, will all covered with the vaccine.

"Every single contingent member will be covered, especially for polio, as we have been advised by PHISGOC to make sure of that. We decided on the polio vaccine after receiving a letter on the matter from the organisers.

"PHISGOC said there is a possibility of polio cases in the Philippines. To say there is an epidemic, I don’t think so. It is just a precautionary measure,” he said at a media conference to announce the sponsorship by Bata for the Malaysian SEA Games contingent at Wisma OCM here today.

Abdul Azim said the immunisation exercise will commence tomorrow (Thursday) after the contingent meet up for their final assembly.

Prior to this, the national contingent had only been subject to compulsory vaccination for measles.

Meanwhile, spirits were given an added boost after Bata renewed their commitment as the national contingent’s official shoe wear by sponsoring 1,200 pair of shoes worth RM150,000.

The contingent will receive orange and yellow coloured sports shoes to match the tiger striped national jersey worn during the medal presentation ceremony,

The elusively made shoes, which is not for sale for the public, will also be worn by the contingent during the opening and closing ceremonies of the games.

Malaysia will be represented by 774 athletes who will be participating in 52 of the 56 events to be contested. — Bernama