Song Keng Hai Ground in ‘dire need of uplift’
KUCHING: The Sarawak Rugby Union (SRU) and the Kuching Rugby Football Club (KRFC) will request the Kuching City South Council (MBKS) to carry out improvement and refurbishment works on Song Kheng Hai Rugby Ground, clubhouse and grandstand.
SRU president Richard Song Swee Jin said the facilities at the home to the Kuching rugby fraternity is in dire need of an uplift.
He understood that the Song Kheng Hai Rugby Ground had been over used especially at this time of the year and the last time the clubhouse was renovated was in 2009.
“The drainage system is poor and the field will turn into a paddy field after continuous heavy downpours,” said Song who received a courtesy call from a six-member KRFC delegation led by its president Ahmad Yusof Shah and treasurer Richard Maxwell Bentham at his office in Pending on Friday.
KRFC extended an invitation to Song to be the club’s new patron which he readily accepted.
Also present during the courtesy call was SRU secretary Abdul Ghafar Arshad.
Other matters discussed concerned active cooperation and collaboration between SRU and the affiliates to fix the annual fixtures throughout the state to avoid the clashing of the dates for the competitions; more competitions especially for students; to engage the Sarawak Education Department, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Solidarity for funding and facilities especially for the junior development programme; conducting clinics for coaches and officials especially for teachers; a road map and blueprint for the promotion and development of rugby with targets for the next five to 10 years in partnership with the private sector especially governmentlinked companies under their corporate social responsibility initiatives.
“We will give our best to raise the standard of rugby in Sarawak and encourage our students and youth to take up and enjoy the game for character development and lead a healthy and disciplined life,” assured Song.
The drainage system is poor and the field will turn into a paddy field after continuous heavy downpours. — Richard Song, SRU president