Dr Mahathir tells Sea Games contingent to stay strong

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 3  -- Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad hopes that the Malaysian contingent to the 30th SEA Games will remain patient and strong in the wake of typhoon Kammuri making landfall in the Philippines.

The prime minister also advised the national athletes to give it their all in the biennial Games to show that Malaysia is capable.

"This is my hope and I pray that the Malaysian team will succeed,” he told reporters after handing over the Malaysian flag to participants of the All Women Expedition to Antarctica (AWETA) at Perdana Putra here today.

Dr Mahathir said although the Philippines had been struck by a powerful typhoon, he is confident that the Philippine government would ensure that the Games would be run properly.

According to media reports, several events at the Subic and Clark clusters have been rescheduled because of typhoon Kammuri.

Earlier, Dr Mahathir spent about 30 minutes listening to a briefing by AWETA mentor Dr Sharifah Mazlina Syed Abdul Kadir on the impending expedition by the country’s three “ice queens”.

The prime minister also handed over a 2030 time capsule named 'Semangat Malaysia Boleh Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad' which will be planted by the team during their mission to Antarctica from Dec 18 to Jan 3.

The three expedition members are soldier Koperal Siti Jumaidah Bensali, 34, Home Ministry administrative and diplomatic officer Salehah Abu Nor, 33, and pharmacist Nurul Atiqah Tamarun, 31, while Sharifah Mazlina will be acting as their mentor and moderator.

"I have my own duty too because I want to retrieve my old time capsule (buried in Antarctica in 2004), so at the same time I can help and monitor them.

"I will send them to the starting line, and after that they will walk as a group and I will meet up with them at the finishing point. There we will find my old capsule and they will bury this capsule (2030),” she said.

Sharifah Mazlina said these three proteges had been picked from among 1,000 people who had undergone mental and physical tests during a selection process which started in 2017.

She said the expedition would traverse the route of Last Degree 89°S To The South Pole covering 110km using the skiing technique.

-- BERNAMA