MPM initiative to help Paralympians head to Tokyo 2020
KUALA LUMPUR: The ‘Tambah Emas’ or Increase Gold Medal initiative, which is a public fundraising programme for Malaysian paralympic athletes to prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games organised by the Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPM) shows the body understands the government’s current financial constraints.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said she was hopeful that corporations and the general public would contribute to the fund to enable more Paralympians to contribute gold medals to the country.
“I would like to congratulate MPM on all their efforts to promote the para-athletics movement in our country.
“The government will always support and provide various resources to the best of its ability for the movement in Malaysia,” she said when speaking at the Wheel Walk Fun Run held in conjunction with the national-level International Day of Persons with Disabilities celebration.
The programme, which coincided with the launch of the Tambah Emas initiative, was held at the Kampung Pandan Paralympic Sports Excellence Centre, here yesterday.
Also present at the event were Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, MPM patron Tun Jeanne Abdullah and MPM president SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin.
The ‘Tambah Emas’ programme which is targeting a collection of RM5 million by 2020 is accepting contributions via the Boost e-wallet application or on MPM’s website.
Dr Wan Azizah, who is also Women, Family and Community Development Minister, said Malaysia’s success in achieving three gold medals for the first time in the 2016 Paralympic Games was also a testimonial to the efforts of various agencies involved.
She said sports gave the disabled community an opportunity to be brave, sociable and attain high confidence and self-esteem.
“I am also very grateful that the disabled community has been able to rise up and fight hard, to face various obstacles and resistance, in order to achieve excellence in sports domestically or abroad,” she said.
Meanwhile, Dr Wan Azizah said her ministry will be carrying out several programmes for the disabled including two studies focusing on employment opportunities and support systems for caregivers of the disabled.
Citing statistics released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2011, she said, on average, 15 per cent of the population of a country comprised those with disabilities.
He said that as of Oct 31, 2018, a total of 488,948 disabled persons were registered with the Social Welfare Department, which constituted 1.5 per cent of the country’s population. – Bernama
