KUCHING: The 21st Asia Masters Athletics Championships (AMAC) 2019 will witness the first Torch Run in its 37-year-old history.
The AMAC which began in Singapore in 1981, will see the first torch run of its kind which will start two weeks before Dec 2, here, where the torch will be lit in Singapore and the relay run will end in the host city, here.
Sarawak will give a new treat to the event to popularise the championship among Malaysians with the torch run, organising chairman and Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Sarawak, Datuk Snowdan Lawan said at a press conference at the State Stadium, here, yesterday.
“We have written to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia (KBS) on our intention to include the torch run in the event as it has been mooted to start in Singapore and we will need their (KBS) blessings and assistance both monetarily and in terms of coordination,” said Snowdan.
“Sarawak is just the venue host and Malaysia is the host, so KBS will have to play its role as well to make the event sucessful,” added Snowdan.
Snowdan was confident of good participation from the 45-50 expected countries as it is similar to the International Paralympic Championship.
“This event was given the green light by the previous administration so we want to avoid any misunderstanding as we are just hosts while Putrajaya are the policy makers for Malaysia,” he stressed.
“We want to avoid any misgivings or miscommunication with the federal government as the event will start in Singapore so we will need all the help we can get to make it a success,” he said
“We have had two meetings with KBS and the Minister and the letter we sent to them was to inform them about the adding in of the Torch Run into the programme and as it involves Singapore (a foreign country), we need their blessings,” he explained
“We want to capitalise on the sports tourism aspect of the event as well so we have been heavily promoting our event at the World Masters Athletics Championships Spain, in September of 2018, the Asia Pacific Masters Games Penang also in September of 2018, and the 32nd Malaysian International Masters Athletics Championships Kuala Lumpur in October of 2018,” he said
“We have also produced a promotional brochure aimed at all the affliates around Asia and in terms of preparation we are two months ahead of schedule and will have most aspects of the event covered by the end of May this year,” he added.
“Preparations for the event began in January 2018 and now we have two secretariats set up – one in Kuala Lumpur and one in Kuching. With the help of KBS we are confident the event will be smoother to manage,” said Snowdan.
