KUALA LUMPUR – Former Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) secretary Datuk Sieh Kok Chi slams the allocation of sports under the 2021 Budget, which was tabled earlier today.
He said that the Tax Exemption is RM500 and it will only be deducted from Income Tax if it is spent on sports activities. This is a very small amount as most of the sports people are in the lower tax bracket. “The amount of RM103 million to build, upgrade and maintain sports facilities is only a token amount and will have little benefit because no one really knows how much is really required.
“Studies carried out so far states that government sports facilities are not readily available and efficiently utilised by the public. Many remain as ‘White elephants’,” he told The Vibes when contacted.
On the RM55 million for the development of the selected elite sports such as hockey, rugby, badminton cycling and women athletes, Kok Chi questioned the government on what basis were these sports selected. “For example, rugby will have big challenges to reach the top due to physical disadvantages. No figure has also been given for the development of women athletes.
“The allocation of RM15 million for e-sport is a total waste of money. There should be strong justification for this budget. In most countries e-sport is self-funded and is really not a sport,” he added.
However, Kok Chi said that the soft loan of RM20 million for sport start-up and entrepreneurs is a very good initiative and it should be interest free and income tax free for 5 years.
Allocation for disabled people set to 'Inspire'
Meanwhile, Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPC) president Datuk Seri Megat Shahriman Zaharuddin was extremely excited with the RM28 million, which was allocated for disabled people under the ‘Inspire’ program. “This is a good initiative and I like the fact the government had allocated about RM103 million to build, upgrade and maintain sports facilities. I hope that the Ministry of Youth and Sports will put that allocation to good use.
“They can use some of the amount to build OKU friendly sports complexes in every state or if it is too expensive, then they can use the money to upgrade the existing sports complexes to be more OKU friendly.
“The OKU’s can share the same sports complex with the normal athletes but it has to be OKU friendly. Currently, it is just a requirement, so with this allocation, we can make it compulsory for every sports complex to have more OKU toilets, the wheelchair ramp and other OKU facilities,” Megat said when The Vibes contacted him.
At the same time, Megat added that they can use these sports complex and run their ‘Inspire’ program to identify talent.
The National Sports Council (NSC) has applauded the government for considering sports as one of the priorities during the tabling of the 2021 Budget today despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
“On behalf of the NSC, I would like to thank the Sports Minister for helping to push through the budget of RM55 million for the development of elite sports such as hockey, rugby, cycling, e-sports and also the development of women athletes for next year.
For the senior athlete preparation programs, especially the Podium program, it will continue under the existing development budget from RMK11, which includes the National Football Development Program at the Mokhtar Dahari Football Academy in Gambang. – The Vibes, November 6, 2020.
