Official sponsors announced at SEA Games launch

JAKARTA (JP): The five official sponsors of the 19th SEA Games, to be staged here from Oct. 11 to Oct. 19, were announced yesterday.

They are National Panasonic, Tiger Beer, Konica, Aqua and Nikon.

Enggartiasto Lukita, a member of the Games consortium, said the sponsors were expected to hand over a combined US$8 million deposit by the end of the month.

"The money is only between 10 percent and 20 percent of their sponsorship. The rest of the money will be given after the Games end," he said.

The consortium, chaired by President Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo, plans to spend Rp 60 billion staging the event.

It will also give the national training program Rp 35 billion to train 1,222 athletes.

Enggartiasto denied sponsors did not trust the organizers or the consortium.

"It's not like that. In business, they want to know if the show will be a success or not. But they will definitely pay," he said.

The consortium has paid Rp 11 billion to the organizers to stage the biennial event, including its Rp 300 million launch.

"The money came from Bambang (Trihatmodjo)," he said.

Enggartiasto said the consortium had not received any money from other countries but would not refuse it if they offered.

"That's government business. But if there are countries that want to help, we might accept it," he said.

Launch

More than 1,500 people braved the chilly air at the Senayan Tennis Indoor Stadium last night for the Games official launch.

Forty dancers and 10 cheerleaders performed Guruh Soekarnoputra's Pagelaran Indonesia Jaya for about 50 minutes.

The stage's set was the Senayan gate, with two statues of archers on pillars. The Games cauldron sat between the two pillars.

The launch, which began at 7:30 p.m., was attended by Vice President Try Sutrisno, State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman, National Sports Council Chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar, Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare Azwar Anas and other ministers.

In his speech, Try urged the athletes to train hard to win the overall Games' title from Thailand.

At the last Games in Thailand in 1995, Indonesia won only 77 golds, 67 silvers and 77 bronzes, while Thailand won 157 golds, 98 silvers and 91 bronzes.

Indonesia will have the biggest team at this year's Games with 894 athletes.

Try urged the public to give spiritual and material support to the organizers and athletes.

"The public should be hospitable to our guests during the Games," Try said.

Indonesia will accommodate almost 5,000 athletes and 2,000 officials and referees during the Games.

This year's Games will feature 34 sports and offer 440 gold, 440 silver and 558 bronze medals.

Bodybuilder Ade Rai, gymnast Jonathan Sianturi and karate-ka Omita Olga Ompi announced last night they would win gold medals at the Games.

Ten skydivers jumped from a plane carrying the flags of participating countries - Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and host Indonesia.

Another skydiver dressed in a Hanoman costume carried the SEA Games flag.

The Games mascot Hanoman, the white-haired half-monkey knight symbolizes the never-say-die spirit.

Indonesia's and the Games' flags were erected at the front of the stage. A Hanoman dancer and a mascot performed, which amazed applauding spectators.

Djoko said the launch was not a waste of money.

"It's not just spending money because the launch is very significant," he said. (yan)