KUCHING, Oct 10: Sarawak aspires to produce more Olympic and Paralympic athletes who can take on world-class competition on the international stage.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said continuous efforts must be developed to train Sarawakian athletes who can compete with athletes around the world and bring glory to Sarawak in line with the country’s aspiration of becoming a sporting nation.
“We want to produce more Olympians such as (Dato) Pandelela Rinong and Datuk Muhammad Azizulhasni Awang.
“We must also work hard to nurture more second generation Paralympians like gold medalist of Summer Paralympics 2020 in Japan, Bonnie Bunyau Gustin and silver medalist Jong Yee Khie whom are from Sarawak.
“Their achievements should be a source of pride to Malaysians, especially Sarawakians.
“Sarawak has managed to produce a gold medalist in the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan and this has to be continued to bring glory to Sarawak in the international arena,” he said in his text-of-speech which was read aloud by Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah during the launching of the 2021 State-level National Sports Day celebration here today.
At the same time, Abang Johari also congratulated Sarawak’s diving queen Pandelela who competed at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo but did not win a medal.
He believed the excellent performance of all Sarawakian athletes in their respective sports could not be achieved without the continuous efforts of various parties.
Abang Johari thus said one of the efforts is to instill the culture of sports in people’s daily lives from young.
On the 2021 State-level National Sports Day celebration, Abang Johari encouraged government agencies and private sector bodies to organise recreational and sports activities for staff and family members to make it a success.
In Sarawak, he noted, various sports and fitness activities including competitions, diet seminars, sports massage programmes and so forth had been organised.
Abang Johari added online programmes such as webinars on fitness, electronic sports tournaments and a TikTok challenge were also organised to instill a healthy culture of exercise among the people in their daily lives.
Among those present at the launching of the 2021 State-level National Sports Day were Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan, Youth and Sports Ministry acting permanent secretary Nancy Jolhi and Youth and Sports Ministry representatives from the federal government and State governments. — DayakDaily
