Athletes' Council to spur Para Athletes to greater heights

KUALA LUMPUR: The establishment of the Athletes' Council by the Paralympic Council of Malaysia (PCM) has the potential to propel the development of the country's para athletes in the future, said Deputy Youth and Sports Minister, Adam Adli Abd Halim.

He said the ministry welcomes the initiative of PCM as the council could also be a platform to discuss the problems faced by the para sports community both in and outside the court.

"I hope the council will bring more benefits to our para athletes by being the best platform for them in terms of self development," he told Bernama after the closing ceremony of the Social Entrepreneurship for Rural Youth (SERY) 2023 here tonight.

Yesterday, PCM announced the Athletes' Council will be headed by women's para swimmer Carmen Lim with para athlete champion Mohamad Ridzuan Puzi, men's swimmer Jamery Siga and Fraidden Dawan as well as boccia player Noor Askuzaimey Mat Salim as council members.

The council is the voice for the present and future para athletes and those who have retired within the ambit of the Paralympic Movement in line with the strategic direction of PCM and to support Malaysian para athletes.

In the meantime, Adam Adli said the SERY programme is the government's commitment to fuel the Rakan Muda initiative through the Rakan Niaga lifestyle in making entrepreneurship one of the youth's priority areas.

He said through the SERY programme, the potential of youth can also be strengthened through structured and comprehensive training with elements of guidance and mentoring.

"As a result, new business ideas are successfully developed, social problems can be addressed and the network of strategic collaboration can be increased as a catalyst for change and development in communities in rural areas," he said.

Meanwhile, the SWD Mulch group consisting of four young people from Sabah, who produced fertilizer innovation to enrich the fertility of the soil, used by farmers around Kota Kinabalu, was crowned winners of the second edition of SERY.

The leader of the group, who is also a second-year student majoring in wood technology and industry of Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Nur Maisarah Mizan, 21, said they got the idea to produce the fertilizer to prevent the dumping of unused wood and seaweed waste in Sabah.

"If left alone, the remains of wood and seaweed would rot. To put them to good use, we produce innovations that indirectly help the farmers in Sabah," she said.

Besides winning plaque, the SWD Mulch group also took home RM10,000 in cash.

-- BERNAMA