KUALA LUMPUR: The comprehensive aid package of approximately RM400,000 granted to the Southeast Asia 400m queen, Shereen Samson Vallabouy to continue her training programme in the United States is a big relief to the family.
Her mother, Josephine Mary Singarayar, described the assistance package announced by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) as timely after having faced many obstacles and challenges especially due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which affected the family’s finances.
Josephine, who is also a former national athletics star, said she will ensure that Shereen, who recently won the 400m gold medal at the 2023 SEA Games, works hard to achieve her dream of creating proud success at the highest level.
“We are very proud and very thankful to KBS, NSC (National Sports Council) and MAF (Malaysian Athletics Federation) for all these contributions and I definitely will make sure she works very hard and hopefully we can see something big from her.
“She (Shereen) wants to be a podium winner in Asian Games, want to be a finalist in Olympics, and she wants to do it all by merit, not by wildcard or anything, so that is the main goal for her,” she said when met after the announcement on the assistance package at the Parliament building here, today.
Earlier, Minister Hannah Yeoh announced that KBS has agreed to provide a comprehensive assistance package of about RM400,000 to Shereen to continue her training programme in the United States after graduating from Winona State University in Minnesota this month.
The package will start from June 1 this year until July 2024 and will enable Shereen to undergo training at Lifespeed Athletics Florida under coach Derrick White.
Meanwhile, Shereen’s father, Samson Vallabouy, said the Covid-19 pandemic which affected his business almost stopped the development of his daughter’s career since she moved to Uncle Sam’s country in 2019.
“We used to fully cover Shereen’s expenses, but more than a year ago, my business was severely affected by the pandemic. I used to send her RM10,000 a month for various expenses there but I can’t afford it anymore.
“That’s when the Better Malaysia Foundation (BMF) came in, I am grateful to Tan Sri Vincent Tan (founder of BMF) for helping,” said the former national track star.
At the recently concluded 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia, Shereen lived up to expectations to win the gold medal with a time of 52.53s, merely a month after smashing the 30-year-old national record of 51.08s at the 63rd Annual Mt SAC Relays in California.
The women’s 400m national record previously belonged to Allahyarhamah Rabia Abdul Salam who clocked 52.56s when she achieved it in the Philippines in 1993. – BERNAMA
