MALAYSIAN SPORTS FACE BUDGET CUTS

Sports Ministry to review programmes funded by government

WHILE Lim Teong Kim’s massive RM175,000 monthly pay grabbed headlines in the past week, budget cuts in Malaysian sports are looking imminent. Sports Ministry chief secretary Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali said yesterday that his ministry and the National Sports Council (NSC) are reviewing programmes that have been receiving government funding.

“Based on the present economy and the nation’s financial situation next year, we have to be ready for changes in the implementation of our programmes,” said Lokman.

“At the moment we are reviewing and looking at how we can streamline our programmes with the economy. This is to make them more efficient and consistent.

“We will look to achieve this without affecting our overall implementation in the future, specifically next year.

“Yes, the Kita Juara (KJ) programme is among those being reviewed. There are a lot of sports under that and also other programmes. We have also asked organisations to lower their operating costs.

“This (budget cuts) is not only for sports but all sectors, be it development, investment or economy.

“The government wants to see projects being implemented starting with zero based budgeting with only very necessary needs being prioritised.

“For me, this is national interest, something that is important for us to implement now, so we can be ready for any possibilities in terms of allocation, cost, etcetera, in the future.”

Lokman added that the findings from the review will be presented to Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

Kita Juara is the second-tier athlete preparation programme after the elite Podium Programme. It was launched in 2015 by then Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin with the goal of preparing national athletes for the 2017 Kuala Lumpur Sea Games and beyond.