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)