KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 — The corporate sector should employ former national athletes either as a sports coach or part of their staff as a way to recognise them for their contributions to the country, said Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong.
Taking the 2019 Senheng Purple League Corporate Badminton Tournament as an example, Sim said the tournament had provided a platform for former national shuttlers to continue playing actively even after retiring from national service.
“This corporate league is the best platform for the survival of the former national athletes after their career has ended. The corporate companies can take them either as coach or to be part of the company.
“More importantly, we want this programme to be the meeting point between the corporate sector, as potential employers, and our athletes so that hopefully some of you would recognise that people like (former national shuttler) Ong Ewe Hock had given immense contributions to the country,” he said in his speech before presenting awards to the winners of the tournament at the Lee Chong Wei Sports Arena here today.
Household electrical appliances and furniture retailer LionMas won the inaugural tournament after defeating Top Glove 9-4 in the final match to walk away with RM50,000 cash, the championship trophy and medals, while Top Glove received RM25,000 and medals as the runners-up.
Telecommunications company red ONE (redPHOENIX) won the third/fourth classification match by defeating insurance company AIG 10-4 to bag RM15,000 while AIG received RM10,000.
Eight companies took part in the championship, namely Pensonic, LionMas, red ONE, SenQ, OPPO, Top Glove, AEON Credit Service and AIG. — Bernama
