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KOTA SAMARAHAN: Sarawak will build an international-standard sports academy equipped with the latest technology to help groom the state’s youths into world-class athletes, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg. (pix)
He said Sarawak was committed to further expand the development of youths in the state in line with its mission to become a developed state by 2030.
“We see what is happening in New Zealand. It has a population of just four million people, but it is able to produce excellent athletes because it provides the best training to its youths until they become Olympic champions.
“So, my friends and I in the state government have agreed to develop a sports academy, with the cost being not too bad, for the benefit of youths in Sarawak,” he said in his speech during the state-level 2020 Youth Day celebration at the Asajaya Sports Complex near, here.
Meanwhile, Abang Johari said the state government would also introduce a new policy to help youths in Sarawak which, among others, focused on the fields of performing arts, singing and sports.
He said RM169 million had been set aside for the development of the performing arts to create Sarawak cultural arts which, in turn, will provide training to youths who are talented in singing, acting and related fields.
“Among the reasons I created our own television station - TV Sarawak - apart from job opportunities, is because it can also popularise our dramas... if South Korea can have a drama series titled ‘Winter Sonata’, perhaps in Sarawak (one day) we’ll have (a drama titled) ‘Asajaya’,” he said.
This year’s Youth Day celebration, themed ‘Belia Pemacu Transformasi Digital Sarawak’ (Youth - The Driver in Digital Transformation), involved students from schools as well as public and private institutions of higher learning as well as members of the public aged between 15 and 40.
Also present were state Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah and Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali. -Bernama
