Malaysia's Sport City

Hon. Minister of Youth and Sports, Dato' Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob having a word with Naim.

MALAYSIAN National Cycling Federation (MNCF) deputy president Datuk Naim Mohamad proposed that the National Sports Complex be renamed the Sports City of Malaysia and his wish was almost immediately granted yesterday.

Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said this was already in the pipeline as efforts are made to breathe new life into the sprawling complex in Bukit Jalil.

"This was already planned when I headed the Merdeka Stadium Corporation (the managers of the National Sports Complex)," said Ismail Sabri yesterday.

"The problem before was that the land where the complex is situated on was not under the Sports Ministry's name. However, the Cabinet recently agreed to transfer the title to the Sports Ministry and the re-branding of the sports complex will take place soon."

The complex houses the National Stadium, the National Hockey Stadium, the Putra Stadium, the National Aquatic Centre and the National Squash Centre.
The National Sports Council, National Sports Institute and Bukit Jalil Sports School are also situated there.

"We will also build a National Sports Museum as part of the re-branding exercise."

While Naim's proposal was almost immediately endorsed, he didn't stop there though.

"The Sports City of Malaysia will be at the top of the structure and for it to be successful, there must be feeder services if we are serious about a sports culture," said Naim.

What he proposed was innovative.

"We shouldn't limit ourselves to just the Sports City for we must have "satellite" centres as well.

"I am proposing for satellite sports towns and satellite sports kampung. I do not want to use the word village as this will give it a different meaning.

"We need to reach the kampung as well if we want a sports culture. This can only happen if youth are included in the committees at the kampung level.

"Only then will they be interested and sporting events can be organised at the grassroots level."

Reviewing the Sports Development ACT

ISMAIL SABRI YAAKOB

THE Sports Development Act is expected to be amended as the general consensus at the National Sports Convention was that the implementation of the Act has been poor and the actual objective not met.

The long-drawn sagas of the Malaysian Taekwondo Association (MTA) and Malaysian Professional Golfers Association (MPGA) have given the Sports Commissioner's Office a bad reputation.

Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the proposed amendments have been given to various parties for feedback.

"However, the final decision whether to amend the Act lies with the government. There is belief that it has to be amended as there are several loopholes which need to be tightened," said Ismail Sabri.

Yesterday's discussions centred on whether an association or office bearers should be suspended in the event of disputes.
Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) deputy president Datuk Naim Mohammad said suspending an association was akin to punishing athletes.

"It is unfair to punish the athletes if the associations are poorly run. I totally disagree that the association should be suspended. Instead, the Act should punish office bearers," said Naim.

KONVENSYEN SUKAN 2008

YB Dato' Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Menteri Belia dan Sukan Malaysia, menutup Konvensyen di Dewan Tun Dr Ismail, Putra World Trade Centre di Kuala Lumpur pada 12hb November, 2008.

Kelihatan dalam gambar diatas, Dato' Nik Mahmud Nik Yusuf, Pesuruhjaya Sukan Malaysia bersama Datuk Naim Mohamad, Timbalan Presiden Persekutuan Kebangsaan Berbasikal Msia.

Manchester-Presentation Time

After five days of intensive International Event and Administration Course at the Manchester Business School, University of Manchester - it is time for presentation of the whole course work.
Seen above, Naim presenting the session on the Five Day Intensive International Event and Administration Course. The picture of the tree and its roots in the power point depicts the main topic of the representation of all the lectures and briefings receieved during the whole week.