Official sponsors announced at SEA Games launch
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)