New Youth and Sports minister vows his best
KOTA KINABALU: Newlyappointed Youth and Sports Minister, Frankie Poon Fung Ming, admits that he is still new to things and will take at least a couple of days to get settled down at his new office at Wisma Muis.
The subjugating office on the 10th floor has in the past been occupied by seasoned politicians in the likes of Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun and Datuk Seri Wilfred Bumburing or more recently, the late Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan, who sadly lost his battle against cancer two months ago.
Poon, who showed up for work in his new capacity for the first time yesterday, is considered a rookie compared to his predecessors.
And although the DAP Sabah vice-chairman did have a fouryear history with another party back in the 90s, he is probably more at home in his other office in Sandakan than he is at the Ministry¡¦s office or in the political scene.
But within the walls of his office yesterday, Poon expressed a passion for sports and vowed to do his best to make an impact on the development of youths and sports in the next five years.
“I am new to everything here, I admit that, but I am eager and excited to work with everyone and also the agencies, because I want to make a difference,” he said at his welcoming ceremony.
Also present was the Ministry’s permanent secretary, Datuk Awang Damit Anak, Sabah Sports Board chairman, Datuk Louis Rampas, and Sabah Sports Council director, Terrance Edward Pudin, among others.
Poon, who considers himself an all-round sportsman having played badminton, tennis and football in his younger days, and enjoying cycling and golf in later years, said he would like to come up with programmes that engage younger Malaysians, particularly Sabahans to be more involved in sports.
The 59-year-old Tanjung Papat assemblyman, who was accompanied by his wife, Alice Chan, also wants to help fight drug abuse. He is concerned about the negative impacts being left behind on youths and he hopes to address the problem in due course.
“Youth is about tomorrow, they are the future generations who will continue our struggles. We want to bring them out to enjoy life and to live up to their potential.
“I don’t know how yet because I am still new, but I think maybe we can achieve this through programmes that can help them to be more disciplined, through sports, perhaps,” he said.
For the record, Poon studied law in England in the early 1980’s before returning to Sabah to begin working as a chamber student in 1985. He joined the Lions Club where he expanded his network and enjoyed contributing to the people through charity works and programmes.
Later, he acquired a small legal firm and began focusing on his career until 1996 when he joined politics for the first time through Party Bersatu Sabah. He left the party after four years to focus on his legal career.
In 2013, Poon joined the Democratic Action Party and contested for the Tanjong Papat seat for the first time. It was not until the recent GE14 that he succeeded under DAP’s alliance with Party Warisan Sabah and Pakatan Rakyat.