Reward all medal winners
> Plea to extend equal treatment to all athletes who bring glory to the country
GEORGE TOWN: Rewards for athletes who won medals in Olympic and non-Olympic sporting events should be the same, according to the 2007 World Deaf Badminton Championship gold medal winner.
Thomas Teh, 49, said those who won glory for Malaysia should be equally recognised for their efforts regardless of it being Olympics or not.
He said rewards, awards, incentives or perks should be given to all winning athletes.
He was responding to theSun when asked about his response to the government granting pensions to winning Paralympians.
Teh also pointed out ablebodied athletes received support like allowances or salaries while athletes like him have to make do with no-pay leave or have to quit their jobs to attend centralised training.
He said centralised training was usually held two to four weeks before a competition which put them at a disadvantage in terms of preparation.
“After international events we return home to continue with our jobs, no more training,” he said but added he was always proud to represent Malaysia.
Teh has represented Malaysia in numerous badminton events with his last outing at the 8th Asia Pacific Deaf Games 2015 in Taoyuan, Taiwan where he won silver in the badminton doubles.
He has also represented the country in the quadrennial Deaflympics, the Olympics for deaf athletes, since 1993 and has won six silvers for several badminton categories.
When contacted, Penang Youth and Sports, Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Chong Eng said the move to provide pensions to medalled Paralympians was a step in the right direction.
She nonetheless was circumspect on the issue of providing pensions for all medal-winning athletes as the government needed to consider the financial implications.
She did not rule out such a move however if the people wanted the government to provide for athletes who brought glory to the country and urged the private sector to contribute by providing jobs to athletes.
Chong also told theSun the Penang government has decided to ensure reward parity for Sukma athletes who did well – all gold medal winners will receive RM3,000, silver winners RM2,000 and bronze winners RM1,000.