Hayono urges equal bonus for athletes
Hayono urges equal bonus for athletes
JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports
Hayono Isman has urged sports organizations to give bonuses to
all Indonesian 19th SEA Games athletes, not just medalists.
"Giving bonuses to athletes is very generous. I personally
suggest all athletes receive an equal amount of money," Hayono
said Friday night after witnessing the Games opening ceremony
rehearsal at the Senayan indoor tennis stadium.
"If some organizations, who have money, want to give more to
the medalists, please don't expose the amount because it may be
unfair to others who fail to win medals or whose organizations
are not able to provide the money," he said.
Hayono was commenting on sports organizations which will
provide bonuses to medalists of the biennial event.
Indonesian Judo Association chairman Hendroprijono said he
would provide Rp 35 million (US$12,963) to each medalist, while
the Indonesian Boxing Association will give Rp 25 million to each
medalist.
"If we provide the same amount of bonus, I think organizations
which can give a lot of money can subsidize others which are
incapable of giving bonuses," Hayono said.
He said athletes must not be obsessed by the bonus or winning
at the Games, which runs from Oct. 11 to Oct. 19.
Rehearsal
The opening ceremony rehearsal, called Gelar Nusantara,
featured 400 students from 32 senior high schools in the city.
The actual ceremony will feature 5,000 students and will take
place at the Senayan Main Stadium.
The rehearsal was witnessed by Hayono, National Sports Council
chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar, former council chairman Maladi,
the Games consortium's promotion and business deputy Enggartiasto
Lukita, and State Minister of Administrative Reforms TB Silalahi,
who is also the coordinator of the opening and closing
ceremonies.
About 200 athletes also witnessed the rehearsal, which
performed traditional dances from 11 provinces. They are East
Java, Maluku, Bali, South Sulawesi, West Java, Central
Kalimantan, Yogyakarta, East Nusa Tenggara, Irian Jaya, North
Sulawesi and Aceh.
Each dance represented certain sports which was displayed on a
big screen. For example, Aceh represented swimming, while Irian
Jaya represented javelin throwing.
Silalahi said one of the biggest barriers was gathering
students because teachers and principals thought the six-week
practice would disturb students' study.
"But thank God, everything was alright and teachers and
principals attended tonight," he said.
"The opening and closing ceremony symbolizes our strong
culture," he added. "We don't take money from the council nor
from athletes' allowance."
The 50-minute rehearsal aroused athletes' spirit and cured
them of homesickness.
"I just hope they can perform better at the opening ceremony
because we'll have more students in a very huge place," Silalahi
said. (yan)