SEA Games 2027: Sarawak provides a hotel, not a sports village

KUCHING, 18 September: Sarawak will not provide a sports village concept for the contingents participating in SEA Games 2027, instead athletes from 11 Southeast Asian countries will be accommodated in hotels that have been identified to ensure their comfort throughout the course.

Sarawak's Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneurship Development, Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the approach is different from SUKMA's (Sports Malaysia Association) which uses the concept of sports village to accommodate athletes.

"For the SEA Games involving national athletes from each country, we do not use the Sports Village system, but will host specific hotels to accommodate athletes.

"We know that in the sports campuses of universities, there is no air conditioning and so on. We have therefore made arrangements to ensure that all athletes from the 11 participating countries will stay comfortably in the hotels provided", he said.

He said so at the Annual Second Countdown Towards SEA 2027 Cluster Sarawak Games here, tonight.

According to Abdul Karim, the hotel capacity in Sarawak is expected to be sufficient to accommodate over 4,000 athletes expected to participate, besides officials and contingent members.

"For such a sum, our hotels are sufficient and sufficient", he said.

Meanwhile, Abdul Karim said the Sarawak Sports Complex will not only be a focus of sporting activities, but it will also be revived with a concept like a festival.

He said that in addition to the competition venue, the area will feature facilities like Malaysian kitchens as well as sales space to allow local entrepreneurs to promote their products and goods.

"We want it to be very lively, not only for sports but also for entrepreneurs who can showcase, sell their products and goods", he said.

Regarding the venue's preparation, Abdul Karim said almost all of the 11 venues undergoing upgrades are now in good condition, including Sarawak Stadium which will be the location of the inauguration ceremony.

"I've been briefed on the preparation of the venue. Of the 11 venues upgraded, almost all of them, including the main stadium, Sarawak Stadium, where its inauguration will be held", he said.

Apart from the work of upgrading sports facilities, he said, construction of International Broadcasting Centre (IBC) next to Baitulmakmur building is also underway.

Abdul Karim said the centre is expected to be completed ahead of schedule and will play an important role in disseminating information and data on the competition to participating countries and audiences around the world.

"We're pretty focused on this so that data, information etc. can be easily passed to the countries involved because they also want to see what happens from minute to minute and from hour to hour", he said.

Abdul Karim also assured that translation facilities will be provided to help contingents from countries who may not understand Malay or English.

He said the liaison officer assigned to watch over each convoy would also help provide guidance as long as they were in Sarawak. - TVS