KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 — Students from 139 local schools across Malaysia can now pursue their football dream as part of a nationwide charity programme.
The newly-launched programme, dubbed “Asian Games Football Dream School — Malaysia Live Your Dream” will be a joint effort by the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 organising committee and Education Association Between Malaysia and China (EAMC).
The programme is a significant milestone for Asian Games public welfare expansion which is jointly initiated with the Youth Football Growth Charity Fund.
EAMC president Jiang Zhongqi said the initiative aims to provide equipment support, course donations, growth companionship as well as organising charity summer camps, friendly matches from February until May 2022 before the Asian Games in September.
“The programme will help many schoolchildren to pursue their football dream.
“We at EAMC feel honoured to be the appointed organiser of this charity programme in Malaysia.”
The initiative will be supported by the Olympic Council of Malaysia, the People’s Republic of China embassy in Kuala Lumpur and Johor State Government.
Federation of Chinese Associations Johor and Yayasan Visi Matahari will also carry out promotional and publicity efforts for the charity programme, while YTO International will assist in the cross-border delivery of equipment and materials from China to Malaysia.
Jiang said Genovasi University College will be the sole education entity in Malaysia to be the official partner of the initiative and carry out the workshops as well as friendly matches for the participating schools.
The initiative was launched recently at Wisma Huazhong in Serdang and was also followed by a signing ceremony to officiate the charity programme.
Among the notable figures at the launch were Olympic Council of Malaysia secretary-general Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin Datuk Seri Mohd Najib, vice president Datuk Chong Kim Fatt and the Asian Games Football Dream Organising Committee advisor Datuk Nicole Wang Siaw Ting.
They were joined by China Cultural Centre director in Kuala Lumpur Zhang Jiexin, Federation of Chinese Association Johor president Datuk Lim Kah Chuan JP, Yayasan Visi Matahari director Datuk Andy Tan Boon Hin, badminton legend Datuk Lee Chong Wei and YTO International regional director Jason Lee.
