LET’S BE ON SONG FOR SEA GAMES
100 days to go till KL2017
REPORTS BY FARAH AZHARIE farahazharie@nst.com.my
AT the 100th day countdown to the Sea Games on Aug 19-30, Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin launched a programme which will see selected groups respond to certain challenges that will be recorded and uploaded onto KL2017 media portals.
Khairy also launched another initiative by the KL2017 Malaysia Organising Committee (MASOC) to attract participation from the public, through crowdsourcing, to craft the lyrics for the KL2017 theme song which will be composed by local composer Datuk Ramli MS and sung by Dayang Nurfaizah.
“In all of the preparations we were doing that was going on schedule, we forgot about the song and we are asking for help from the public to send in their idea for lyrics,” Khairy said.
Meanwhile, the event also saw the emergence of two new sponsors — Malaysian
Azim will take over from Norza who resigned from his ISN post and also as Badminton Association of Kuala Lumpur president on April 29 after he was elected as BAM president.
This also followed the announcement by Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tunku Imran Tuanku Ja’afar on Azim’s appointment as Chef de Mission (CDM) for the 2018 Asian Games, on Monday.
“He will be the new chairman of ISN to replace Datuk Seri Norza so we will get to see the synergy of an ISN chairman and Resources Corporation (MRCB) and Prasarana Malaysia Berhad.
MRCB sponsored the location for the event, KL Sentral, and will also sponsor ambient media installation at the station throughout the games to further promote KL2017.
Prasarana, which comes in as the official Public Transport Service Provider, will provide free public transport for all KL2017 volunteers and media personnel during the games.
This is also part of Prasarana’s contribution to the KL2017 Green Games initiative in an effort to reduce carbon footprint by encouraging the use of public transpor.
KL2017 silver sponsor, 100Plus has also introduced its new isotonic carbonated drink, 100Plus active, which was specially produced in conjunction with the games.
According to Khairy, Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak visited the KL Sports City site on Monday and was thrilled with the upgrades done to the National Stadium, the aquatics venue in Bukit Jalil and also the Axiata Arena. the CDM for the Asian Games and that’s very important.”
“He’s well experienced, he’s a corporate man and he will lead ISN as well as guide our contingent as he is a strong leader in terms of management.”
Azim is a former Malaysian Malays Cricket Association deputy president and a member of the sports advisory panel for the Sports Ministry.
The 58-year-old is also Sungei Wang Plaza Sdn Bhd chairman and Bank Simpanan Nasional Berhad chairman from 1999 to 2009.
Khairy said the Sea Games is all set to go, in terms of the venues and with 100 days to go, MASOC hope to make the biennial event the best in the history of the Games.
“In terms of athletes preparation, everything is going to plan and we are set to achieve our mission of becoming the overall champions for Sea Games.”
KL2017 will see the Sea Games being held between Aug 19-30 while the Para Asean Games is on Sept 17-23.