(Seated, from fourth to sixth left) Rogayah, Wong and Tiong pose with prize winners of the respective categories of the inaugural Sibu Marathon.
SIBU: Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh harbours the hope of seeing more international tournaments held here as to put Sibu on the map of world tourism.
“Sibu is not very well known on the map of world tourism and we will try to make ourself better known by coming up with Visit Sibu Year 2017,” he said at the closing of the inaugural Sibu Marathon 2017 held at Chuan Corridor at Sibu Town Square yesterday morning.
More than 3,000 runners including those from countries such as Kenya, Singapore, Japan, Hongkong and Australia took part.
The event, offering total prize money of RM75,160 was divided into 12 categories of 42.195km full marathon, 21km half marathon, 10km run and 5km run.
Wong, who is also the Minister for International Trade and E-Commerce and International Trade submitted that “Sibu is at the heart of Borneo but we have lots of attractions to offer to our tourists.
If you talk about natural landscape, eco-tourism, we have it everywhere, the mighty Rejang River which traverse through the tropical jungle, we have the running track, jungle trekking, longhouses and of course we have many ethnic groups with different culture and religious background which are very different to the rest of the world and all of us are able to live in peace and harmoniously.
” He hoped that “gradually, through more such international championships, Sibu will be better known.”
On Malaysia Day, Wong remarked, “On Sept 16, we made an irrevocable decision to join Malaysia and on this date, all of us should pledge ourself to love our nation and stand proud for being a Malaysian.”
Among those present at the event were SMC chairman Datuk Tiong Thai King, his deputy Rogayah Jemain and representatives from City Joggers Club (CJC) who helped to organise the event.