All eyes on Syed Saddiq
WHAT THE SPORTS FRATERNITY SAY ON THE APPOINTMENT OF SYED SADDIQ SYED ABDUL RAHMAN AS THE NEW YOUTH AND SPORTS MINISTER
Ahmad Faiz Mohammad Noor
(National cricket player)
The former Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has set a high benchmark for national athletes by introducing the Kita Juara and Podium Programme. And the new minister faces a big challenge to emulate Khairy. I hope Syed Saddiq will work together with Khairy to continue the existing programmes for athletes. He needs to come out with new ideas to further develop the sports in Malaysia.
Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail
(National Sports Council (NSC) director general)
The NSC are excited to have a young and a calibre minister on board and we hope his appointment will motivate the athletes and coaches to reach greatness especially in the high performance sports.
Billy Johan
(Ice Skating Association of Malaysia president)
Syed Saddiq is the right man to develop a new generation of Malaysian youth through sports. We hope he will create a wave in ice skating scene locally, regionally and internationally.
Johnathan Wong
(National shooter)
I hope the new minister will pump more support into shooting and push for its development. Generally, the main problem is lack of talents and development programme. Only certain state associations have large number of athletes. Hopefully, the wellbeing of national athletes will not be neglected.
Datuk Seri Abdul Azim Mohd Zabidi
(Asian Games chef de mission)
Syed Saddiq is the appropriate choice given his age and vitality. We look forward to working with him and hope to get his full support especially with the Asian Games just over a month away.
Mejar (Rtd) S. Maniam
(Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) director)
I’m looking forward to discussing the direction of the sport with Syed Saddiq. I am convinced that he will bring the exuberance and dynamism to the ministry.
Wong Choong Hann
(Former national badminton player)
Hopefully, the 25-year-old will bring Malaysian sports to new heights. I believe he has the ability to do so and given time, we will see the result.
Rafiq Ismail
(National bowler)
He’s young and energetic, definitely a perfect fit for the post. And with most of athletes being young people, we hope he can guide us to greater heights.
I hope the ministry will consider improving welfare of national athletes. For instance, we do not enjoy EPF entitlement right now like any other employees, and it would be great if he looks into that.
Datuk Dr. P. S. Nathan
(Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress president)
Welcome Honorary Minister! Welcome to the world of sports! We are seeking your help to get bowling into the Olympics and Malaysian sports into the podium of every international event!
Melvin Chia
(Malaysian Snooker and Billiard Federation president)
Sports promote unity and peace. I have high hopes that new minister will consider promoting sports to all levels because presently, there are quite a number of sports which are only played or dominated by one particular race. The NSC took away our training centre in Bukit Jalil. We hope to get a proper training centre to develop and produce more top players.
Tan Sri Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor
(Malaysian Golf Association president)
MGA is looking forward to the transformation of sports development in Malaysia. We welcome a holistic approach by the minister that hopefully will give more emphasis on talent-based selection of athletes and a systematic sports-science approach to develop future champions.
Datuk Karim Ibrahim
(Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) president)
We respect Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamed’s decision to pick Syed Saddiq as the Sports Minister. He is young and energetic. We are sure that he will carry out his job well. We want to have a good working environment with him to generate more money to help track and field athletes further improve their performance.
Nor Saiful Zaini
(National junior hockey coach)
He is young but age is not a factor. What is important is for him to carry out his duties well. For example, hockey is the number one team sports in Malaysia but more can be done to make the sports popular in the country. We hope he will play a bigger role in encouraging more schoolchildren to take up hockey.
Chan Foong Keong
(Table Tennis Association of Malaysia secretary-general)
I don’t know much about his background. But it is good to have a young minister as he will have some new ideas and will understand the younger generation well. His top priority of course, is to do more for sports in Malaysia. Malaysia did well in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in April and hope he will bring better luck for athletes in the coming Asian Games in Jakarta in August.
R. Jaganathan
(Head coach of Para Athletics)
Hope the new minister will give the Para-athletics full support by providing bigger budget to send athletes for overseas training-cum-competition stints in preparation for the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. We won three golds and one bronze at the Rio Paralympics and we hope to maintain it in Tokyo. We also want him to continue the good job by former minister Khairy Jamaluddin to support Para-athletes. We hope to concentrate more at grassroots to look for new talents in all sports in Para Games.
Ng Eain Yow
(National Squash player)
The change will be interesting but all I hope is that he will take care of the athletes’ wellbeing and continue to give full support for sports in Malaysia.
Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin
(Football Association of Malaysia incoming president)
We congratulate him and hope to continue to enhance the cooperation between FAM and the ministry to gain more success for Malaysian football .
Siti Zalina Ahmad
(National lawn bowler)
We believe Syed Saddiq will be understanding of the athletes’ needs. We hope all the plans which have proven to be successful will be continued and further improved. We see him as a charismatic leader despite his age and we hope it will bring a positive aura.
The Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM)
We congratulate him and hope this appointment will drive Malaysian sports to more greatness.
Jamery Siga
(National Para swimmer)
I hope the ministry will continue to support and improve the programmes for Para athletes.
Saiful Merican
(Malaysian MMA Association (MASMMA) vice-president)
I hope different types of martial arts will be introduced in the school curriculum as a form of self defence against the ever growing bullying issue. With the support from the ministry, we hope to produce more champions in future.
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