PETALING JAYA, April 13 — Faced with backlash on social media over the paltry prizes in a children’s cycling event, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin asserted today that medals should be prized above cash rewards to hone the “fighting spirit” of budding young athletes.
Khairy came under fire after pictures of him presenting mock cheques to the child victors spread on the Internet, with the top prizes listed as RM30, RM20 and a mere RM10.
“This is just a complimentary award. The medals are more important,” he told reporters before the Sports Writers Association Malaysia (SAM) awards here tonight.
“It is important that we avoid encouraging a value where [the children] think the money is more important,” he added.
Khairy admitted that the Junior Cycling Malaysia competition could be improved.
“What need to be corrected is the giving of mock cheques,” he said.
“That will be stopped for future events,” he added.
