By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, May 22: “Producing track queens in Sarawak is hard but it is not impossible,” says Assistant Minister of Transport Datuk Dr Jerip Susil.
In asserting this, Dr Jerip who is also Sarawak Athletic Association (SAA) president, stressed that developing sports in a big State like Sarawak is no easy feat.
“SAA wants to continually develop the performance of athletes, specifically in track and field events, so we can continue producing track queens who are as good as Dato’ Paduka Hajah Mumtaz Jaafar.
“Before we can do that, we must identify talents from the local meets or championships. I hope that the athletes will strive harder to be on par with national or international athletes,” he said when delivering his key speech at the 1st Sarawak Women’s Leadership Webinar today.
According to Dr Jerip, athletes like Pandelela Rinong are rare to find but it is not impossible. Therefore, he hopes that young athletes can be motivated at the grassroots level to continue to be interested in sports, especially athletics, as they mature.
“If you are interested and would like to be involved in athletics, you can come forward and approach us,” he added.
Over 100 participants joined the two-hour webinar organised by SSA via Google Meet.
The speakers included prominent ladies like former Malaysian sprint queen Dato’ Paduka Mumtaz Jaafar who is now the vice president of the Olympics Council Malaysia; Malaysian Athletics Federation vice president Josephine Kang Teok Koon; and Sarawak Amateur Gymnastics Association president Helena Wee.
The main goal of the webinar was to increase the involvement of women leadership in the State by giving exposure to women about the success of women leaders in the country. — DayakDaily
