ON AIR: Najib reacts during an hour-long interview with the deejays of Melody FM, Astro Radio’s second Chinese radio station. — Bernama photo
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia needs more sports icons who are able to inspire the nation, especially the young generation, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
He said to achieve this, the government had been giving a lot of encouragement, including allocations, to stimulate the sports industry.
“Our national diver Pandalela Rinong, national shuttler Datuk Lee Chong Wei and national squash queen and world number one Datuk Nicol David are top personalities in sports.
“We do need more of them,” he said during an hour-long interview with the deejays of Melody FM, Astro Radio’s second Chinese radio station yesterday.
Referring to the allocation for the sports industry in the 2013 Budget which he tabled on Sept 28, Najib hoped the Youth and Sports Ministry would come out with a concrete plan to create more national sportsmen and sportswomen who could achieve success at the international level.
Najib when tabling the 2013 Budget recently, announced a RM50 million allocation to prepare Malaysian athletes for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. — Bernama