BUKIT JALIL: The Wushu Federation of Malaysia (WFM) have urged that local coaches be paid a decent salary to prevent existing homegrown talent from being snapped up by foreign countries.
The matter was raised by WFM president Datuk Chong Kim Fatt during a working committee meeting with the National Sports Council (NSC) yesterday as part of preparations for next year’s Malaysia SEA Games.
Kim Fatt explained that the national squad were currently facing a shortage of local coaches as the salaries offered have been considered too low.
The situation has become more pressing with countries such as Singapore, Canada and Brunei keen to recruit Malaysian coaches and prepared to offer more attractive packages.
For example, Canada have already appointed 2013 world championships silver medallist Yeap Wai Kin as their coach.
"We must take care of our local coaches. After we returned from the World Championships in Brazil last year, we finished third overall behind China and Iran with five gold medals.
"At that time we saw foreign countries hiring Malaysian coaches to train their athletes. They offered salaries of around US$2,000 (RM7,782) to US$2,500 (RM9,727), while in Malaysia local coaches receive between RM5,000 and RM6,000.
It is understood that the National Sports Council have verbally agreed to raise the salaries of local coaches, although the exact increase has yet to be finalised.
At present, the national squad have only three coaches, led by China’s Chang Yong Sang, alongside Koo Chee Zhung and Loh Choon How, who won two gold medals at the 2019 Manila SEA Games and now oversees the back-up squad.
Wushu has often been a gold mine for the national contingent, with the Thailand SEA Games last December yielding three gold medals, one silver and five bronze.
