PHNOM PENH: It’s festival time!
After 64 years of waiting, Cambodia finally held a historic opening ceremony of Southeast Asia’s largest sporting event as the 2023 SEA Games with the motto “Sports: Live In Peace” was officially opened in spectacular fashion here last night.
Hosts Cambodia staged an eye-catching opening ceremony in a blaze of colour, light, and fireworks at the Morodok Techo National Stadium, which was constructed specifically for the Games, seven days after the first event, cricket, kicked off.
The May 5–17 biennial sporting extravaganza began with the countdown ceremony from ten to one after about 75,000 spectators were entertained with a variety of art performances from well-known singers, dancers, and artists to usher in the historical regional event.
Immediately after that, the glorious ceremony continued with 64 children parading the Cambodian flag, which refers to the 64 years of the Kingdom expecting to be the host for the 32nd edition of the SEA Games, and the singing of the Cambodian national anthem that ‘rocked’ the stadium.
Spectators were then treated to a series of National March of Cambodia performances that told the history of Cambodia across the ages, which lasted for about an hour.
They then greeted the 11 participating countries with thunderous applause as the athletes and officials marched into the stadium in alphabetical order, starting with Brunei, and Malaysia was the fifth to march in.
The Malaysian contingent was represented by a delegation of about 42 people, including flagbearer R. Sharmendran, chef de mission (CDM) Datuk Mohd Nasir Ali and his two deputies, Datuk Shalin Zulkifli and Sharon Wee, and the national petanque squad.
Malaysian batik was chosen as the official dress of the parade this time because the heritage dress throughout the ages symbolises Malaysian identity and culture.
The colour blue for men symbolises peace in the sports arena as a sign of readiness to appear on the court accompanied by a high level of sportsmanship. For women, they dressed in red batik, which depicts courage and an aggressive spirit in the pursuit of victory.
The Games was officially declared open by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, just after the Southeast Asian Games Federation flag-raising ceremony and an oath-taking ceremony read by athlete and competition judge representatives, respectively.
This was followed by an incredible cauldron-lighting ceremony, with 2014 Incheon Asian Games gold medallist in Taekwondo Sorn Seavmey given the honour before fireworks were let off, illuminating the Phnom Penh night sky.
This SEA Games will serve as a launchpad for the postponed 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled this September before embarking on the 2024 Paris mission to bring home the elusive Olympic gold medal.
Malaysia has set a target of 40 gold, 37 silver, and 64 bronze medals to better the country’s achievements from the previous edition in Hanoi, Vietnam, when the national contingent collected 39 gold, 45 silver, and 90 bronze.
A total of 581 gold medals from 37 sports, including teqball, will be competed in the games held in Phnom Penh and four other provinces, namely Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, Kampot, and Kep, with approximately 6,200 athletes participating. – BERNAMA
