Fatimah (seventh right) presents the state flag to Dayang Mariani (sixth right) while Badrol (right), Shahrul and the athletes look on.
KUCHING: Special Olympics Sarawak will be organising the inaugural Karnival Orang Kurang Upaya Sarawak (KOKUS) at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) on Nov 23.
Special Olympics Sarawak president Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said more than 500 people with special needs are expected to take part in the carnival which comprises Sports, Ablympics and Special Talents competitions.
“This carnival will bring together all ‘Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU)’ – people with disabilities – in the state together to display their special talents, be it in sports, singing or dancing and other skills,” she said after presenting the state colours to the Special Olympics Sarawak team bound for the 12th Special Olympics Borneo Cup Asia Pacific five-a-side football competition in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia from Oct 18-21 at Bangunan Baitulmakmur today.
Fatimah, who is Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development said KOKUS is also a platform to identify new talents and groom them for Paralympic Games.
“We are very serious in preparing ourselves for the Paralympic Games in Johor next year because we want to maintain our record for being overall champions.
“I am very glad that our athletes have done very well in the Paralympic Games and some of them will be receiving awards at the MSNS Sports Awards presentation ceremony in Sibu on Oct 26 because they have brought honour to the state and country,” added Fatimah.
She also took the opportunity to thank UNIMAS for allowing Special Olympics Sarawak to use their facilities again to host KOKUS.
Special Olympics Kuching Chapter chairperson Datin Dayang Mariani Abang Zain, who heads the Sarawak contingent to Borneo Cup, revealed that this was the first time that they were sending a team to participate in the Special Olympics Borneo Cup.
“It is very costly to send a team to participate in the Borneo Cup and we would like to thank Dato Sri (Fatimah) for helping us.
“The Borneo Cup is participated by teams from host Kalimantan (Indonesia), Brunei, Sabah, Labuan and Sarawak,” she said.
The Sarawak team includes eight athletes who are students from SMK Demak Baru and SMK Asajaya, head coach Badrol Hisham Majid and assistant coach Mohd Shahrul Ridzuan Mohd Pono.
Badrol is aiming for the finals with his talented young team.
“The boys are very excited and looking forward to competing in this tournament and we are hoping that they can rise to the occasion and do us proud,” he said.