HARI SUKAN NEGARA (HSN) 2018 EMBASSY OF MALAYSIA, ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN SATURDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2018
Ambassador of Malaysia, Syed Bakri has been appointed as the Chairman of the ASEAN Committee in Astana (ACA) from July to December 2018. ACA comprises four (4) ASEAN Embassies in Astana, namely the Embassy of Malaysia, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, the Royal Thai Embassy and the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Apart from organizing meetings/ fora/ talks to spread awareness on ASEAN, each of the ASEAN Embassies is required to organize at least one (1) sporting event every year to advocate healthy lifestyles and connect ACA families with the local community.
2. Thus, in conjunction with Hari Sukan Negara (HSN) 2018, the Embassy of Malaysia has decided to organize a Badminton Tournament, which is one of Malaysia's and also ASEAN’s favorite sports. The ASEAN Friendly Badminton Tournament was held on Saturday, 13 October 2018 at QSI International School, Astana. The Tournament started at 1:00 pm and ended at 5:00 pm.
3. About 50 people, including Ambassadors of ASEAN namely Ambassador of Malaysia, Ambassador of Vietnam, Charge? d'Affaires of the Royal Thai Embassy, Charge? d'Affaires of the Indonesian Embassy, Director of QSI School, Home Based Staff (HBS), Locally Appointed Staff (LRS), Malaysians in Kazakhstan, as well as the ASEAN families gathered as early as 12:30pm to participate in the tournament and support the players. Several Kazakh friends also participated in the event, as players as well as umpires (they used to play for Kazakhstan’s badminton national team before).
4. The event started with welcoming remarks by Ambassador Syed Bakri. He commented that HSN is a great initiative by the Government of Malaysia. The annual event, which is held every second Saturday of October was first observed in 2015, and spearheaded by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Malaysia (KBS). He also informed all the participants that the main purpose of HSN is to encourage Malaysians of all ages, wherever they are located around the world to keep a physically active lifestyle and and turn it into a way of life. Secondly, sports is one of the best mechanisms to foster national unity among the various racial groups in Malaysia, and by extension among the ASEAN countries as well.
5. It was delightful to see that all participants have exemplified the highest spirit of sportsmanship and enjoyed the Tournament. They also congratulated and expressed their appreciation to the Embassy for organizing this wonderful event and they hoped to continue participating in future sporting events. The Friendly Tournament was then concluded with a prize-giving ceremony by the ASEAN Ambassadors. Trophies were awarded to champions (VIP, Doubles and Women’s Singles categories) and medals for the second, third and fourth places of each category.
6. Malawakil will continue to organize such sporting activities in the future to raise awareness about the importance of sports as well as to create a vibrant, active and united society, especially among the Embassy staff, Malaysians and ASEAN families living in Astana, and the local community.
