KUCHING: Translators will be provided to help bridge language barriers among athletes and officials from the 11 countries competing at the 2027 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development, Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said translators would be provided to assist participating contingents during the Games.
He said some participating countries may have athletes and officials who are unable to communicate in Bahasa Malaysia or English.
“Definitely, there will be translators. The liaison officers who will be handling or looking after each contingent will also be there to guide them,” he told reporters after officiating the one-year countdown to the SEA Games 2027 launching ceremony at The Spring here on Friday (Sept 18).
Abdul Karim said the translators and liaison officers would help ensure participating contingents received the necessary assistance throughout their stay.
The 11 participating countries are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.
Meanwhile, he said the number of Sarawak athletes who would represent Malaysia at the Games had yet to be finalised.
He said selection must be based on merit and managed by the respective sports associations.
“I believe we have not finalised who is going to represent Malaysia. Definitely, there will be athletes from Sarawak, but we cannot be requesting too much that those who represent Malaysia must come from Sarawak.
“It has to be managed by the sports association based on merit,” he said.
Abdul Karim said Sarawak athletes selected to represent Malaysia could expect strong support from family members, friends and fellow Sarawakians while competing on home ground.
However, he urged spectators to support the entire Malaysian contingent rather than focusing solely on athletes from Sarawak.
“They will be given much more support from family members, friends and all that. But I hope Sarawakians, when they come to the venues, don’t look at it from the angle of just supporting Sarawak athletes.
“You have to support all Malaysian athletes. We want to see Malaysia coming up to be champion, overall champion for this SEA Games,” he said.
Also present were Deputy Minister for Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Sarawak Datuk Dr Ripin Lamat, Local Organising Committee (LOC) Sarawak Cluster chairman Datuk Hii Chang Kee, and Malaysia SEA Games Organising Committee’s (MASOC) Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Abdul Rashid Yaakub.
Joining them were Malaysian Contingent Chef-de-Mission (CDM), Azizul Annuar Adenan, and Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Sarawak, Dzulkornain Masron.
