By Christine T
KUCHING, Sept 18: Today marks one year to go before the 34th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, to be held from Sept 18 to 29, 2027, as Sarawak officially kicked off its countdown to the regional sporting extravaganza.
The One-Year Countdown celebration, held at The Spring Shopping Mall here today, marked a significant milestone in Sarawak’s preparations as one of four host clusters for the Games, alongside Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor.
Minister for Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the countdown marked an important phase in the State’s preparations to co-host the Games, which will bring together contingents from 11 Southeast Asian countries.
“Preparations have already been underway for more than a year, including even before the previous SEA Games in Thailand.
“The work carried out so far, including the upgrading of sports facilities, workshops and committee meetings, reflects the collective effort, coordination and determination of everyone involved to ensure Sarawak is fully prepared for the Games,” he said when launching the One-Year Countdown to the 2027 SEA Games Sarawak Cluster event.
Abdul Karim, who is also the Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, said Sarawak’s experience in hosting major sporting events, including Sukan Sarawak (SUKSAR), Sukan Malaysia (SUKMA) 2024 and the Borneo Games 2025, had helped the State build stronger expertise, improve its facilities and gain greater confidence in delivering large-scale sporting competitions.
“Today, Sarawak is once again being entrusted to play an important role on an even bigger stage by co-hosting the 34th SEA Games Malaysia 2027,” he said.
He said hosting the SEA Games should also serve as a catalyst for the next phase of sports development in Sarawak, with efforts extending beyond the successful staging of the competitions.
Abdul Karim emphasised that the State should use the opportunity to further strengthen its sporting ecosystem, including grassroots development, athlete preparation, coaching, sports science, technical expertise and event management.
“The Games must inspire a new generation of Sarawakians to participate in sports, to dream bigger and to believe that they too can compete at the highest level,” he said.
On preparations, Abdul Karim said the next 12 months would be critical as plans would need to be translated into action and preparations into full readiness.
He said preparations covered not only competition venues, but also supporting infrastructure, technology, logistics, security, medical services, transportation and accommodation.
Selected venues are currently being enhanced to meet the requirements of the Games, with the improvements also forming part of Sarawak’s longer-term efforts to strengthen its sporting capacity and readiness to host future major events, he added.
“The true value of hosting the SEA Games will be measured not only by what happens during the Games, but by what remains after the final event,” he said.
He said the facilities enhanced, expertise developed and systems put in place must continue to benefit athletes, sports associations and communities for many years to come.
The official launch was also attended by Deputy Minister for Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Datuk Dr Ripin Lamat; Sarawak Deputy Secretary (Operations) and chairman of the Malaysia SEA Games 2027 Secretariat for the Sarawak Cluster Datu Hii Chang Kee; Malaysia’s SEA Games Organising Committee (MASOC) chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Rashid Yaakub; Tanjong Datu assemblyman and Chef de Mission for SEA Games Malaysia Azizul Annuar Adenan, and permanent secretary for the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Entrepreneur Development Sarawak Dzulkornain Masron. – DayakDaily
