Nay Pyi Taw October 3
Sports or sporting competitions are much beneficial for the organization and the country apart from the outcomes that are good for individuals. The love for own organization and the country and patriotism for national defence rise through sports. Hence, sports must be uplifted and encouraged on a national-scale, said Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing at the ceremony to honour disabled athletes and their coaches who brought honour to the nation in the 9th ASEAN Para Games and to set up a trust fund of Ks-1 billion for Myanmar Sports Federation for the Disabled-MSFD held at Bayintnaung Villa here at 1 pm today.
Also present at the ceremony together with the Senior General were wife Daw Kyu Kyu Hla, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Commander-in-Chief (Army) Vice-Senior General Soe Win and wife Daw Than Than Nwe, Chief of the General Staff (Army, Navy and Air) General Mya Tun Oo, Union ministers and their wives, senior military officers of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief and their wives, the commander of Nay Pyi Taw Command and wife, the director-general of Sports and Physical Education Department, honourable coaches and medal winners and invited guests.
Regarding the nature of sports, the Senior General in his address said naturally athletes need physical and spiritual health and fitness. As sports include competitions, athletes are striving with unyielding spirit and zeal and perseverance in the training sessions as well as in the contests. Sporting spirit includes basic spirits such as fair competition, competition in line with the prescribed disciplines and mutual respect between athletes. Success can be made by achieving synergy in combination with individual abilities such as zeal, perseverance, enduring training, strong morale and team work. Promoting Myanmar’s sports standard through this synergy means shouldering national duties and building national spirit.
It is advisable for everyone to play a certain sport so that they can be fit and healthy. By doing a favourite sport for good health, training can be turned into habit thereby contributing to physical and mental wellness. Continued training with zeal, perseverance and stamina will make athletes honourable for the State. Technique is instrumental in any kind of sports. Other supporting things such as sports settings, actions and exercise are also important. Sport equipment can promote every athlete’s performance as well as their stamina and fitness.
It is especially necessary to provide disabled athletes with sports gear and fitness training equipment as their sports area is narrower than that of able athletes. This is why for the disabled sport contingent, Tatmadaw (Army, Navy and Air) families raised an initial fund of Ks-100 million. With Ks-900 million more donated by public well-wishers, a fund of Ks-1 billion will be raised. That money has been saved to fixed deposit bank account, and the interests could be spent on training and travel expenses to compete in international sports events as of 10th ASEAN Para Games. He urged the federation to use the money systematically as the fund is intended to fill the gap in requirements for training equipment, accommodation and meals, and avoid being forced to skimp. He thanked the donors and invited other well-wishers to make donations.
He praised the athletes who took part in the ASEAN Para Games for displaying strong mentality, immense physical courage and dauntless fighting spirit despite their disabilities as well as for enhancing the dignity of the country and promoting their lives with great diligence, assiduity and industry. He urged them to continue practicing and preparing for next sports events with diligence not lower than that of normal people, and assiduity and industry greater that those of normal people in order to be able to maintain their success.
The government is promoting sports sector in line with the slogan ‘Myanmar Sports to conquer the World.’ Tatmadaw is fulfilling requirements in all aspects to turn out outstanding athletes and maintain younger generations of athletes as the decline in sports levels can undermine nationalist spirit. In so doing, it is not only taking actions from defence perspective according to the slogan ‘Promoting sports is to safeguard the country’, but also aims to build and strengthen cohesion, unity, and nationalist fervor of all. He called for cooperation and collaboration to promote Myanmar sports not only to regional level but also onto international stage.
Then, the Senior General presented certificates of honour and cash awards to Maung Aung Myint Myat who won three gold medals in the 100-m, 200-m and 400-m freestyle singles’ events in the 9th ASEAN Para Games, Maung Naing Sit Aung who bagged three gold medals in the 50-m butterfly/breaststroke event and 200-m four-stroke singles’ event, Maung Aung Phone who secured one gold and two silver medals in the 100-m breaststroke event, 200-m four-stroke and 50-m freestyle singles’ events and Lance Corporal Tin Nyo who won one gold and two bronze medals in the javelin, discus and shotput events of track and field sports.
The Senior General’s wife Daw Kyu Kyu Hla presented certificates of honour and cash awards to Ma Htet Htet Aye who bagged two silver medals in the discus and shotput singles’ events of the track and field sports in the 9th ASEAN Para Games, Ma Nanda Lin who won one silver and one bronze in the 200-m and 400-m races of track and field sports, Ma Nyein Sanda Aung who secured one silver medal in the 79-kilo weight-lifting event, and Ma Phyu Phyu Win, on behalf of the one-silver winning Chess team in the B-1 slow response team-wise Chess event.
Vice-Senior General Soe Win also presented certificates of honour and cash awards to the athletes who won one gold medal in the shotput F-55 singles’ event, one gold medal in the shotput F-44 singles’ event, one gold medal in the sitting volleyball men’s team-wise event, two silver and one bronze medals in the 50-m breaststroke, 100-m breaststroke and 200-m freestyle singles’ events, and the Vice-Senior General’s wife Daw Than Than Nwe, certificates of honour and cash awards to the athletes who secured two bronze medals in the B-2 slow response/blitz team-wise Chess events, two bronze medals in B2 slow response / blitz singles’ Chess event, one bronze medal in the B-1 blitz singles’ Chess event and one bronze medal in the B-1 blitz team-wise Chess event in the 9th ASEAN Para Games.
General Mya Tun Oo gave certificates of honour and cash awards to the athletes who bagged two silver medals in the 200-m and 400-m race events of the track and field sports, one silver and one bronze medals in the 50-m butterfly and 200-m four-stroke of swimming event, one silver in the 50-m butterfly event and one silver medal in the 100-m breaststroke event in the 9th ASEAN Para Games, Union Minister for Home Affairs Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, certificates of honour and cash awards to the athletes who won one silver medal in the shotput event, two silver medals in the 50-m and 100-m breast-stroke singles’ event, two bronze medals in the 50-m breaststroke and 400-m freestyle singles’ event and one bronze medal in the javelin singles’ event, and Union Minister for Defence Lt-Gen Sein Win, the athletes who won one bronze medal in the B-1 blitz singles’ Chess event, one bronze medal in the table tennis singles’ event and one bronze medal in the B1 blitz Chess team-wise event, and U Mya Khaing, on behalf of sports coaches for their performance in training their athletes so as to secure 11 gold, 15 silver and 17 bronze medals in the 9th ASEAN Para Games by bringing honour to the State.
As part of setting up the trust-fund of the Myanmar Sports Federation for the Disabled, President of the federation Maj-Gen Soe Win accepted Ks-100 million donated by families of the Tatmadaw (Army, Navy and Air) through Adjutant-General Lt-Gen Hsan Oo, Ks-300 million by Brighter Future Foundation through Managing Director U Min Maw Aye, Ks-300 million by Ayeya Myanmar Insurance Co Ltd through General Manager Daw Yin Yin Aye and Ks-300 million by Myanmar Consultant Co Ltd through Director U Aung Myint.
Next, Captain Min Naing Oo (Retd), on behalf of the prize winning athletes in the 9th ASEAN Para Games, spoke words of thanks.
During the tea party which those present joined, the Myawady Band presented variety of songs.The Senior General and party cordially greeted those present.
