KUCHING, Sept 16: The achievements of Sarawak’s athletes in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics has broken the “glass ceiling” for the OKU (people with disabilities) community to further improve their potential.
According to Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Early Childhood Development Datuk Sri Fatimah Abdullah, their achievements empower OKUs to not only further their potential in sports activities, but also in other aspects of life.
“With the ‘glass ceiling’ broken, we hope that this would enable them to get better rehabilitation, intervention, including training on how to generate income, as well as employment opportunities,” said Fatimah during the Paralympians Homecoming event held at the Kuching International Airports (KIA), today.
Fatimah assured that her ministry will focus on the changes to the services that need to be provided for the OKU community.
“This is to ensure their wellbeing, as well as other vulnerable groups, and at the same time enable them to live their life like other Sarawakians,” she added.
Five Sarawakian Paralympic athletes, namely powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Guntin , powerlifter Jong Yee Khie, swimmer Jamery Siga, swimmer Nur Syaiful Zulkafli and archer Wiro Juli, were among the 22 Malaysian athletes participating in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Bonnie, 22-year-old from Serian, delivered Malaysian’s first gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympic by shattering the Paralympic record at 228kg at the men’s 72kg powerlifting competition, and Jong Yee Khie, a 32-year-old from Batu Kawa, also delivered Malaysia’s second medal at the event by winning a silver medal in the men’s 107kg powerlifting category.
Also present during the event were Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah and Assistant Sports Minister Datuk Snowdan Lawan. — DayakDaily
