Kasim is appealing for government funding for the Sarikei Kenyalang Skydiving Sport Club.
Foreign jumpers used to outnumber local ones at the Sibu International Base Jump in Sarawak, but not anymore.
In this year’s edition, 29 of the 33 jumpers were from Malaysia while the few foreigners were from Australia and the United States.
The formation of the Sarikei Kenyalang Skydiving Sport Club in 2017 had attracted locals to take up the sport.
This year, the club’s nine newbies each made seven jumps from the 28-storey Wisma Sanyan during the event.
Meanwhile, Sarikei Kenyalang Skydiving Sport Club president Kasim Alias Ahmad Drahman appealed for funding from the government.
He said the club was in dire need of financial aid.
“We are planning to set up an academy in Sarawak and hope the government can give us aid,” he said, adding that the club needed assets for its activities.
“Our club was formed not only for base jumps but also for skydiving which currently is popular in peninsular Malaysia,” said Kasim.
“We planned two years ago for a skydiving course in Tanjung Manis but we could not organise it because as we don’t have planes and pilots.”
He said that due to the shortage of funds, the club’s short-term plan was to just send a small team to participate in skydiving in peninsular Malaysia and possibly overseas. — By ANDY CHUA
