By Christine T
KUCHING, Sept 23: Sarawak hopes the National Budget 2027 will provide substantial funding for the development of youth, sports, arts and culture, particularly as the State prepares to co-host the 2027 SEA Games from Sept 18 to 29.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Sarawak Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said greater investment in these areas would help strengthen sports infrastructure, nurture athletes and promote greater unity among Malaysians.
Abdul Karim, who is also Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, said the allocation should benefit not only the federal Ministry of Youth and Sports and programmes in Peninsular Malaysia, but also sports development and facilities across all the states.
“As the counterpart in looking after youth and sport, we do hope that the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) would allocate a substantial budget for the building up of sports, whether facilities or the upbringing of sport athletes,” he told the media during a press conference on the Sarawak National Sports Integrity Conference (SNSIC) 2026 at the ministry’s meeting room today.
He said sports played an important role in developing disciplined youths while also serving as a unifying force among Malaysians regardless of race or religion.
“You can see that whenever we have a sports meet, whether it is football or any tournament, Malaysians in the stadium do not look at the athletes based on their race or religious beliefs. They only support them as Malaysian athletes,” he said.
Abdul Karim said this demonstrated the ability of sports to bring Malaysians together and foster a stronger sense of national identity.
He also expressed concern over what he described as the increasing toxicity of public discourse, particularly in politics, saying greater emphasis should be placed on youth, sports, arts and culture as avenues for strengthening social cohesion.
“Lately, we have been seeing too much toxicity in how things are going, especially in politics. It is not very healthy,” he said.
He said arts and culture could similarly contribute to national unity if they were appreciated beyond racial or ethnic boundaries.
Abdul Karim said Malaysians should move away from viewing particular forms of art and culture as belonging exclusively to specific ethnic groups, and instead embrace the country’s diverse artistic and cultural expressions as part of a shared national identity.
“All of us are very proud of our culture and very proud of our art. If we go beyond how we look at it from a racial perspective, and instead look at it holistically, trying to build up all kinds of art and culture, as well as athletes from different religious and ethnic backgrounds, I think we are on safe ground,” he said.
He said stronger government support for youth, sports, arts and culture would contribute towards building a more cohesive society.
“That is why I would expect and hope that the Prime Minister would give a substantial budget for the development of youth, sport, as well as art and culture,” he said.
The press conference was also attended by Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Gerald Rentap Jabu, Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department of Sarawak (Integrity and Ombudsman) Datuk Dr Juanda Jaya, and Deputy State Secretary (Operations) Datuk Hii Chang Kee. – DayakDaily
