Mass sports inculcate values: Tawfiq
Published on: Friday, January 30, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: State Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan said "sukan massa" or mass sports should not be treated as insignificant because they have been proven as a good avenue in producing back-up athletes.He said that through mass sports or community sports, the values of sports are inculcated and thus people treat sports as part of their culture.Because of this, people will naturally become inclined to sports.
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"And when this is prevalent, it is much easier to scout for new athletes (to replace ageing athletes) since most people are already into sports," he said at the Sports for All Award (Asus) at Ming Garden on Wednesday night.But, more importantly, he said community sports are aimed at producing a healthy and productive society not only at the State-level but also nationwide.He said Federal Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin mooted the "sukan massa" with a good intention, which is to make sports or healthy activities part of the people's lives.However, the move augurs well with the nation's effort in producing back-up athletes since the people would already have been inculcated with the values of sports.
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With obesity in Malaysia rising, Tawfiq said "sukan massa" is deemed more important to counter this chronic illness.He said the National Health Morbidity survey in 2011 stated that 15.1 per cent of Malaysians that are 18 and above are obese.
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In 2006, the survey stated that 14 per cent Malaysians in similar age category are obese."This shows that obesity is rising in the country which means that 2.6 million of the adult population in Malaysia are categorised as obese," he said.This makes Malaysia also, he said, one of the nations in Southeast Asia with the highest rate of obesity."That is why various mass sports activities have been carried out such as the Fit Malaysia programme," he said.The State Government, through the Ministry of Youth and Sports, is committed with the development of sports in Sabah.To this, he said the ministry has planned a blueprint for sports development in Sabah for the period 2015-2030 to enhance the level of sports in the State.With the blueprint, he said, Sabah would be able to determine the direction of its sports development whether it is high-performance sports or mass sports.Meanwhile, seven awards were presented during the Asus programme.Asus was organised by the Sabah Federal Youth and Sports Department.The recipients of the awards are:i. Team Kecergasan Sabah – Special Awardii. Yu Eng Tay Pang Yew – Special Awardiii. Yee Wan Pin family – Active Family Awardiv. Dulikom Ajak – Motivator and Volunteer Awardv. Dr Helen Lasimbang – Women Leader Awardvi. Tan Hock Seng – Men Leader AwardStay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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