BY NEVILLE TIMOTHY SANDERS & NURIN PATRA
KUCHING: An appreciation dinner will be held on September 14 to honour medallists of the Sarawak contingent for the 21st Malaysia Games (SUKMA XXI) 2024.
Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the ceremony was originally intended to be held as soon as possible, but had to wait for the availability of Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He stated that preparations for the special event are being made and promises to be a grand ceremony.
“The incentives to winning athletes will be presented during the dinner event.
“We wanted to organise it as soon as possible, but at the moment, Abang Johari is quite busy, and the earliest he is available is on September 14, so we will schedule the event on that date.
“So, with about 20 days left, there is enough time for us to make the necessary preparations, as I want this ceremony to be celebrated in a grand manner,” he said.
He said this during a press conference for the 9th Kenyalang Sarawak Tourism Awards, held at the Baitulmakmur II Building here on Monday.
Additionally, he mentioned that the total amount of incentives to be awarded will be announced by the Sarawak State Financial Secretary’s (SFS) Office during the SUKMA medal winners’ incentive handover ceremony.
“I believe the total amount will be announced later by the SFS, and it is best that we reveal it during the event itself.
“For individual events, it is straightforward: RM15,000 for gold, RM5,000 for silver, and RM3,000 for bronze. But for team events, there is a slight difference. We have a method to distribute the incentives for team event winners. For gold medal winners in team events, no athlete will receive less than RM3,000. For silver, it will be no less than RM2,000, and for bronze, no less than RM1,000.
“We structured it this way because, for example, the silver medalists in volleyball have 12 players and substitutes. If we split RM5,000 among them all, they would only receive a few hundred ringgit each. So, the Sarawak government will top it up to ensure each player receives RM2,000,” he explained.
In the meantime, he stated that there will be post-mortem on further improvement on some of sports events that did not reach their respective target during SUKMA XXI.
“We want to continue improve ourselves and our sports, but after the post mortem, they must continue to deliver better than before,” he added.
