Independence Day celebration venue to be determined

PUTRAJAYA: The Youth and Sports Ministry is still awaiting for a decision from the Communications and Multimedia Ministry (KKMM) on the venue to celebrate Independence Day on Aug 31 which will also involve the archery event of the 29th SEA Games in Dataran Merdeka.
Its minister Khairy Jamaluddin said if the 60th Independence Day celebration is held in Dataran Merdeka then the venue for the archery event might be moved to the National Sports Council (NSC) in Bukit Jalil.
"If the venue (Independence Day celebration) is elsewhere as has been proposed, I leave it to KKMM to announce it, we can hold the archery event in Dataran Merdeka.
"We are ready for both options. On the competition schedule, I leave it to the technical committee because it involves technical (aspect)," he told reporters after witnessing the sponsorship deal signing ceremony between Kuala Lumpur Secretariat 2017 and McDonald's Malaysia here yesterday.
Earlier the national archery coach Muhammad Marbawi Sulaiman said the squad did not have any problem if the competition took place either in Dataran Merdeka or Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (Usim) because the host and national athletes had the advantage to adapt to the condition of the field earlier.
The archery team set a target of four gold medals compared to five won in Singapore with its hopes resting mostly on the shoulders of compound archer Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh.
Meanwhile Kuala Lumpur Secretatriat 2017 chief executive officer Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong said a change in the schedule and competition venue involving the archery event would not affect the national athletes' chances of winning gold medals.
He said if the venue of the archery event is changed, it would not be a problem to attract spectators to support the squad either in Usim or NSC in Bukit Jalil.
"Both are in a cluster ... Usim is near the National Velodrome while NCN is in the Kuala Lumpur Sports City," he said.
Zolkples said an announcement on the competition schedule changes would be made tomorrow following the changes in the closing date of the SEA Games one day earlier due to Hari Wukuf and Hari Raya eve which falls on Aug 31.
The 29th SEA Games will take place here from August 19 to 30. — Bernama