Datuk Snowdan Lawan
KUCHING: Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Snowdan Lawan is hoping for a fair and equitable distribution of funds for e-sports to each state. He raised this expectation especially because Sarawak is a pioneer in e-sports in the country.
“Last year, RM10 million was allocated for e-sports but the impact was minimal to Sarawak and we had to come up with our own allocations to ensure that the sport is sustained throughout the year,” he said when commenting on the RM20 million federal budget allocation tabled by the Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng on Friday to the Ministry of Youth and Sports to develop e-sports.
“This is a growing elite sport which is popular among the youth in upper secondary schools, campuses and tertiary students and to spread it to the rural area, it requires extra funding to build the facilities and purchase of equipments.
“As such, reliable, fast response Internet connectivity and outreach is a must for this sport to develop,” he stressed.
The Balai Ringin assemblyman said in view of e-sports offering medals in the Manila SEA Games in December and Sukma Johor next year, Sarawak is expected to tap into more potential to win gold medals in the sport.
But lacklustre financial support from the federal government, he warned, may lead to the growth of the sport being stunted.
“Sarawak is one of the sports powerhouses and accelerate sports talent growth, we expect proportionate share in the RM299 million allocated for all sports programmes.
“For international sports like the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and Hanoi SEA Games2021, Sarawak needs more funds from the RM179 million allocation for its existing athletes and the Paralympic athletes who undergo training overseas,” he opined.
“So does it go for our financially weak state football association for salaries, coaching, travelling expenses and the women athletes to upgrade their performance to a higher level.
“In view of our state demography and transport costs, bigger allocation is required for Sarawak from the RM138 million allocation to cater for sports facilities such as futsal courts, mini sports complexes, training and coaching for athletes to other town and areas spread throughout the state and not restricted to major towns only,” added the assistant minister.