Nancy (in white shirt) joining the residents gathered at Simunjan’s National Sports Day celebration for a workout.
SIMUNJAN: The younger generation should use all opportunities available as a stepping stone to discover and grow their talent to turn the country into a sports powerhouse of outstanding athletes with world record achievements.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Nancy Shukri, in commending Simunjan for the excellent organisation of the National Sports Day celebration, said this region can also produce sports icons to carry the name of Sarawak and Malaysia to international sports events.
“Sarawak has produced many international athletes including sprinter Watson Nyambek aka ‘The Flying Dayak’ while Mr Asia, the late Bujang Taha who is known as the pioneer of bodybuilding as a sport, had won two Asia awards in 1980 and 1981,” she said at Simunjan’s National Sports Day yesterday.
“Other athletes like Jacqueline Sijore (bowling), Diana Bong (wushu) and Mohd Azlan Iskandar (squash) are also athletes from Sarawak of international standing. Our popular diving queen Pandelela Rinong, who won a silver medal at the Rio Olympic Games, is a national pride, and swimmer Jamery Siga at the Paralympic Games in Rio is an inspiration to all Sarawakians,” she added.
Nancy also urged residents in Simunjan to make the National Sports Day celebration a platform to promote unity and harmony among the community.
“We hope that all Malaysians will adopt a healthy lifestyle to prevent obesity. With good health, we can definitely improve our productivity and contribute to national development and the economy,” she said.
For this reason, Nancy pointed out that the government continues to ensure sports infrastructure development to make sports a culture among the people.
“As can be seen in Simunjan, a few projects involving construction of new sports facilities, upgrading of projects related to sports have been implemented in the past years,” she said.
Among the projects are the upgrade of a top spinning arena in Kampung Kelka costing RM80,000, upgrading of sports arena in Kampung Sual (RM50,000), new sepak takraw courts in Kampung Sageng (RM30,000), upgrading of a top spinning arena in Kampung Rangawan (RM30,000) and repair of the takraw court in Kampung Tanjung Kelaso (RM20,000).
“We have also approved the supply of sports apparel including for PPWS Simunjan, community leaders and NGOs in our effort to encourage the organisation of more sporting activities,” she said.
To develop talent and foster a culture of sports among people in Simunjan, Nancy informed that several sports infrastructure development projects have been approved this year including upgrading of futsal court in Simunjan town costing RM300,000 and new futsal court for Kampung Sungai Buluh (RM150,000).
“The involvement of all segments of society including uniformed bodies, civil servants, private parties, schoolchildren, NGOs and even the disabled who have come to join in and enliven the atmosphere of today’s celebration, is amazing. It is a big success even though it is a small event,” she praised.