Silat athletes gear up for Pusan 2002 Asiad show

Silat athletes gear up for Pusan 2002 Asiad show

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's traditional martial arts pencak
silat athletes gear up for an exhibition at the 2002 Asian Games
in Pusan, South Korea, after silat was accepted as one of the
Asian sports.

"The Asian Pacific Pencak Silat Federation will cover all
expenses to stage the exhibition because the Pusan Asian Games
Organizing Committee (PAGOC) is short of funds," the federation
president Oyong Karmayudha said on Wednesday.

"There will be 90 athletes from 18 countries taking part in
the two-day exhibition on Oct. 5 and Oct. 6 at the quadrennial
event. I am responsible for deciding which athletes will compete
in which events."

Participating countries in the Asian Games include the ten
countries grouped in the Association of the Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) in addition to Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, host South Korea and United Arab Emirates.

Oyong, who just returned from a visit to Seoul and Pusan, said
he received enormous help from the Indonesian honorary consul in
Pusan, Kim Soo-il who is also the dean of the Graduate School of
International Management/Area Studies at the Pusan University of
Foreign Studies.

"Kim said he was willing to set up a local organizing
committee to prepare the event. He even offered the use of the
university's sports hall free of charge. The hall is very large
and nice."

"He also offered students as liaison officers. Students with
specific language capability will be assigned to suitable
participants."

Currently the consul has been collecting information on hotel
rates and local restaurants.

"It is estimated to cost about 25,000 won (US$18) for meals
for one day per athlete. We will have to wait for a detailed
budget from Kim before proposing the total budget to all of the
federation's members," Oyong said.

"We have also urged all members to approach their own National
Olympic Committees (NOCs) to include the silat team in the main
Asiad contingent to help reduce the cost."

Oyong said the plenary meeting also discussed regional events
scheduled in 2001.

"There will be the Malaysian Open in July which will take
place in the venue being prepared for the SEA Games in Johor
which will also host archery, taekwondo and weightlifting.
Malaysia expects all countries to send their best teams in the
warm up session prior to the SEA Games," he said.

"Another warm up event is the Brunei Invitational in August in
conjunction with the Visit Brunei Year 2001."

"After the SEA Games, there will be a world festival in
Penang, Malaysia in October, focussing on the seni (martial arts)
events." (nvn)