MELAKA – The Melaka government allocated approximately RM1.27 million over a five-year period from 2018 for the development of sports and youth in the state.
State Youth Development, Sports and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Committee chairman V.P. Shanmugam said it included incentives totalling RM770,000 to state athletes who shone in various national and international tournaments.
“It encompasses gold, silver, and bronze medal winners in championships such as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 2018 Gold Coast, 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, 2018 Palembang Asian Games, 2019 Manila SEA Games, Vietnam 2021 SEA Games, and so on.
“Apart from that, the state government spent RM339,000 on incentives for outstanding Melaka athletes at the 2018 Malaysia Games (Sukma) and Sukma 2022,” he said at the Melaka assembly here today.
He was replying to a question from Mohd Noor Helmy Abdul Halim (Duyong-BN) who wanted to know what the rewards were to Melaka athletes who performed admirably in competitions at various levels.
Commenting further, Shanmugam, who is also the assemblyman for Gadek, said among the recipients of incentives from the state government were national men’s doubles badminton champion Aaron Chia and archer Juadi Masri.
He said the state government through the Melaka Sports Council upheld the welfare of athletes, including channelling various financial aid for items such as sports equipment, tournaments, incentives, and encouragement schemes.
He added that the state government had also allocated RM500,000 for youth and sports development in the state to implement various programmes to unearth new talents.
“Apart from that, we have also asked 31 parent associations in Melaka to organise their respective sports tournaments at the branch and parliamentary constituency level to further boost the development of sports at the grassroots level.
“We will also monitor outstanding and high-calibre athletes to be absorbed into state sports schools or provide assistance with qualified coaches to guide them to continue to succeed in sports,” he said. – Bernama, March 16, 2023
