Wushu deserves proper training facilities — Abdul Karim

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Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah

KUCHING: Wushu is one of the sports that have brought fame and honour to Sarawak and it deserves better training facilities, says Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

He said efforts are being made to build a wushu stadium at the Sarawak Sports Complex in Petra Jaya here so that the state wushu athletes can train effectively and continue to excel in the martial art sport.

“I’m trying very hard to get the proposed wushu stadium be implemented so that we can provide better training centre for the athletes and for holding tournaments both at local and international level.

“I’m fully aware of wushu’s contribution to the state. Wushu has helped Sarawak in a lot of ways in both national and international arena and therefore they deserve a better place for training,” he said at the 2nd Sarawak Wuwang Cup International Wushu Invitation Championship at MBKS Indoor Stadium here yesterday.

Abdul Karim acknowledged that some exponents from Sarawak like Loh Jack Chang and Diana Bong, to name a few, had brought glory to Sarawak, having been champions not just at national but also international level like the SEA Games, Asian Games and World Championships.

He said the exponents had represented Sarawak in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) before they eventually made names for themselves at national and international level.

“Their achievements had made Sarawak proud. When they go into the competition, people know they are from Sarawak or from Malaysia.

“It’s not easy to reach international standard. There are a lot of sacrifices, a lot of training along the way, and these athletes have gone through them all. Thank you for making Sarawak proud,” he said.

About 100 exponents from Sarawak, Singapore, Indonesia and Sabah are taking part in the competition.