Minister: Use sports to close social gaps, address uneven playing field

INTERVIEW | While many might associate sports with just winning and losing, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh believes that it can play a part in bringing people together and improving health, as well as closing social gaps.

Malaysia has its elite sportspersons who are visible, but the key is initiatives that help reach out to all Malaysians, be they children from the B40 group or senior citizens, she told Malaysiakini.

“I really want to help the struggling youth as much as possible. That’s why one of our programmes was to teach swimming to children from B40 families who live in areas which are hotspots for drowning.

“We found that swimming was seen as more of a middle-class sport and that many B40 in PPR (People’s Housing Scheme) flats had no opportunity.

“So, we introduced the programme firstly to reduce the number of drowning cases but at the same time, we are identifying new talent,” said Yeoh.

She said while Malaysian sports fans might...