MELAKA, Sept 9 — The Malaysia Games (Sukma) is a platform to uncover young and talented athletes to represent the country and Melaka is no exception with sprinter Khairul Hafiz Jantan and wushu athlete Tan Cheong Min among national athletes who had shone in the last Sukma.

The Melaka contingent is placing high hopes that the 19th Sukma to be held in Perak from Sept 12 to 22 will see state athletes taking the opportunity to rise to the challenge in becoming national athletes to make the country proud.

State Communication, Multimedia, Youth and Sports Development Kerk Chee Yee, who is also the state chef de mission, said Melaka was confident of repeating its excellence performance in events such as wushu and athletics.

“In the Sukma in Sarawak two years ago, wushu and athletics events are among our achievement in bringing back the gold medals with names like Khairul Hafiz and Tan having proven it and they are now representing the country,” he told Bernama.

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At the 2016 Sukma, Melaka was ranked 10-th in the medal tally chart with 18 gold, 11 silver and 28 bronze medals.

The meet also saw Khairul Hafiz erasing the nation 100 m record by Sarawakian Watson Nyambek, with a record of 10.18s and he was also named the 18th Sukma Best Male Athlete.

Kerk said, in producing more young and potential athletes, the Melaka State Sports Council (MSN) through the state government provided a monthly allowance for their training under the Sukma programme for those under aged 21.

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“Under the Gold Project, athletes will receive an allowance of between RM200 to RM500, while under the Sukma Programme and Sukma Special Programme, athletes will receive an allowance of RM150,” he said , adding that these allowances were to inject the spirit of ‘going the extra mile’ during their training to achieve success.

He said Melaka athletes representing the country under the MSN were being offered a monthly allowance according to their achievement at the international level or at the SEA, Asian, Commonwealth and Olympic Games.

“The Sukma Programme allowance is also given to athletes even though they are undergoing training outside Melaka and normally we will provide it to them at an allowance rate under the Gold Project,” he added. — Bernama