Story by Amanda Khong
PENANG has produced and will still continue to produce world class athletes in the years to come.
State exco member for Youth and Sports and Women, Family and Community Development Chong Eng said this in her winding up speech on Nov 19 in the State Legislative Assembly sitting.
“I would like to take this opportunity to say well done and congratulate Malaysia’s men’s singles badminton player Datuk Lee Chong Wei and women’s singles player Goh Jin Wei who won the China Open in Fuzhou, China and the Yonex BWF World Junior Badminton Championship in Lima, Peru respectively,” said Chong Eng.
The recent wins for these two national badminton stars has increased their personal world rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The Penang State Sports Council has also taken the initiative to give Goh a special allowance of RM1,000 per month for her achievements since January 2013.
Chong Eng added that other than producing world class shuttlers, there is also Penang’s very own wushu queen, Chan Lu Yi.
Chan recently won the gold medal in the Taiji-Quan event on Nov 16 defeating over 904 other athletes from more than 70 countries in the 13th World Wushu Championship in Jakarta.
Other notable achievements by Penang’s athletes include Moh Keen Hoo and Lim Kok Leong who emerged as world champions in the International Snooker and Billiards Federation (IBSF) World Team Championship on Aug 15 in Karachi, Pakistan and national diver Ooi Tze Liang who qualified for the 2016 Olympics on Sept 4.
Pengkalan Kota assemblymember Lau Keng Ee brought up the issue of establishing a football academy in Penang.
Chong Eng clarified that football development is among those given priority by the Football Association of Penang (FAP).
A total of 15 football academies that are registered with FAP are very proactive in training new players in Penang.} else {