KUCHING, March 5 — Several Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders, including the state chief minister, have promised to help insolvent sprinter Watson Nyambek who has been struggling to clear a RM100,000 bank loan taken to pay for his late father’s cancer treatment.
State BN Youth chief Datuk Fadillah Yusof said the wing will look for a way to help the Miri native who holds the national record for the 100m sprint.
“We will arrange for a meeting to meet him to understand the problem he is facing now and to find out [what] we can do to help him,” Fadillah told Malay Mail Online in a statement today.
“We appreciate his contribution and sacrifice he made for Sarawak in athletics,” the federal works minister added.
Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah was surprised by the news and said he will seek more information to see what he can do for Watson.
“I will give you the reply after I have got the finer details on what is happening,” he told Malay Mail Online when asked what form of assistance the state government would extend to the former national runner.
Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem similarly voiced concern and appreciation for the Dayak’s contribution to sports and promised to help without detailing how, local daily The Borneo Post reported on its website this afternoon.
Adenan seemed stunned to find out about Watson’s bankruptcy, and was quoted by the news portal telling a press conference in Kapit, “I am sorry. I only found out about it now”.
The Insolvency Department took out a notice in The Borneo Post yesterday declaring Watson a bankrupt for failing to settle a loan Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad.
The 40-year-old athletics coach with the Sarawak Sports Council told Malay Mail Online when contacted yesterday that he borrowed RM80,000 from the bank some years ago to pay for the medical bills of his late father who was suffering from ear cancer.
The tumour later spread to the eyes. Watson said his father died two years ago.
He was unable to pay back the debt and its interest that now exceeds RM100,000.
A group of concerned individuals have started a campaign to help raise funds for Watson and his family to ease their financial burden.
The Flying Dayak Fund’s coordinator Bill Kayong said Watson has brought pride and dignity to the Dayak community with his record as Malaysia’s fastest man.
“Therefore, let us help him in whatever amount of cash donation we can afford,” Kayong told Malay Mail Online when contacted today.
He said the group has received pledges amounting to roughly RM3,000 from individuals who sympathised with Watson’s plight.
Watson clocked 10.30s to create the national record for the 100m sprint at the 1998 Malaysian Amateur Athletics Championships when he was 22. That record still holds today.
