SEREMBAN, Feb 1 — Malaysia will focus on upcoming athletes at the SEA Games in Singapore in June, says Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said in previous SEA Games, Malaysia focused more on the number of gold medals to be achieved. This time, the game plan has changed.
“We regard SEA Games as a development stage, and we want to give exposure to our new athletes,” said Khairy. “Therefore, we should not only look at gold medals but also the total number of medals and the performance of our new athletes.
“We have bigger ambitions like the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. If we set our sights only on the SEA Games, we will not reach anywhere.”
Khairy was speaking to reporters after the launch of the Negri Sembilan state-level Fit Malaysia programme by Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan here today.
On the national contingent’s preparations for the upcoming SEA Games, he said it was going smoothly and being further enhanced. Khairy said Malaysia would take part in 35 of the 36 sports events at the games.
“The National Sports Council is refining the (list of) events and also the athletes who will be sent to the SEA Games,” he said.
Khairy said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would announce the new date to celebrate National Sports Day 2015 as the previous November date was unsuitable owing to unpredictable weather at that time.
He said the Cabinet had agreed to make National Sports Day an annual event.
“We will set National Sports Day on Saturday, on a date which will be announced by the prime minister. The day will be celebrated concurrently, nationwide,” Khairy said.
“What’s important is that on the day, we want to see citizens of the country exercising, playing sports and involved in fitness activities.”
Mohamad suggested having a monthly sports day in Negri Sembilan, to help cultivate the concept. — Bernama
