BY James Kon

Brunei Darussalam will be sending a contingent of 13 members including six hearing impaired athletes to the upcoming 1st SEA Deaf Games 2022 to take place from November 21 to 27 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Muhammad Aslam bin Mohd Hassan, Haji Md Zulkhairi bin Haji Md Tahir and Md Amiruddin bin Haji Md Zain will be competing in the athletic events, while Haji Mohamad Zin Hasim bin Haji Umar, Mohammad Nazri bin Haji Mahal and Md Hariz bin Hassan will be taking part in the ten-pin bowling event.

A national flag handing over ceremony for the Brunei Darussalam contingent took place at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) on Thursday.

Present to officiate the national flag handing over ceremony was Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Nazmi bin Haji Mohamad.

The minister said, “Today we move one step further on the history of the development of sports in this country, especially on the policy of sports for all. Today, we see that hearing-impaired athletes will participate in multi-sports tournaments for the first time in a contingent basis. This will certainly open up opportunities for hearing-impaired athletes to further develop their potential.”

He added, “This participation also reflects part of the government’s efforts to support inclusivity and social participation through sports programmes in this country.

“It is also in line with the efforts of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam‘s Government to empower and improve the quality of life of people with different abilities in the Sultanate.”

The Action Plan for People with Disabilities 2021-2024 under the National Council on Social Issues, he said, “Has the mission of ‘Raising the quality of life, providing equality of rights and empowering people with disabilities and their family members inclusively’.”

“Alhamdulillah, the participation of the national contingent in the 1st SEA Deaf Games 2022 is in line with the focus area in advocating the involvement of people with disabilities within society.

“This will be a measure of the performance of hearing-impaired athletes in preparation for participating in more challenging tournaments such as the Deaflympics and the Asia Pacific Deaf Games.”

The participation to the tournament, the minister said, “will encourage high spirit of competitiveness, instil athlete’s professionalism, being proactive and focussed as well as consistent as a high-performing athlete and to improving the position of the hearing-impaired in society”.

In promoting the development of sports, he noted that the MCYS is and will continue to develop the needs of sports as the approach for all levels of athletes in the country, especially professional service facilities such as coaching assistance, sports science and sports infrastructure in a more inclusive manner to further improve the level of performance of all levels of athletes in the country.

He also hoped the efforts of the government will continue to be welcomed and supported by the community, especially family members who will become a catalyst to help young people in the field of sports, including hearing-impaired athletes.

The minister also congratula-ted the athletes for their hard work in giving high commitment and discipline to qualify for the tournament.

Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary (Sports) at the MCYS Pengiran Mohammad Amirrizal bin Pengiran Haji Mahmud said, “The competition is organised for the first time by ASEAN Deaf Sports Federation with Malaysia Deaf Sports Association. Five affiliated member countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines Singapore and Thailand – with six provisional member countries – Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Timor Leste and Malaysia – will be participating.

“Five sporting events will be competed including badminton, football (men), futsal (men and women), athletic and ten-pin bowling.”

He also shared that this is the first time Brunei is sending a contingent of hearing-impaired athletes to Southeast Asian level tournament and the contingent will be bearing a significant responsibility to ensure the competition will run smoothly and the well-being of the officers and athletes will be maintained.

Pengiran Mohd Amirrizal advised the officers and coaches to give their full commitment and cooperation with the organiser of 1st SEA Deaf Games and to comply to all the competition and sports regulation.

He also reminded all the athletes and officers to maintain the good reputation of the country, foster ties and avoid committing acts that could jeopardise the image of the Sultanate.

The highlight of the ceremony was the handing over of the national flag by the minister to Chef de Mission of Brunei contingent to the 1st SEA Deaf Games 2022 Khairul Anwar bin Haji Jofari.

Malaysian High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam Dato’ Raja Reza bin Raja Zaib Shah, Permanent Secretary (Culture) at the MCYS Pengiran Haji Mohd Hasnan bin Pengiran Haji Ali Hassan, Permanent Secretary (Youth) at the MCYS Haji Zakaria bin Haji Serudin as well as senior officials from the ministry and Association for the National Hearing Impaired members were also present.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin