LETTER | Recently, I was in Jakarta to be with the Malaysian contingent competing in the Jakarta Asian Para Games.

The youth and sports minister and I wanted to spend as much time as possible with our para athletes just as we did with our Asian Games athletes.

It was my first time watching para games live. And I was totally amazed by the ability of those we call “persons with disabilities” (PWDs).

We can talk all about the achievements of PWDs but only after one has witnessed for oneself, can one truly understand the determination, potential and strength of our para athletes.

After winning a match against his Thai opponent, wheelchair-bound badminton athlete, 23-year old Mohd Ikhwan Ramli (photo, left) told me that he is hoping to get a new wheelchair.

I asked Ikhwan how much his wheelchair cost. He replied, “RM6,000”. I then asked him if the opponent whom he had just defeated also used the same type of wheelchair. He smiled and said, “His wheelchair was about RM30,000”.

My heart sank. Why can’t we provide better equipment and gear for our athletes who are training and fighting hard for the dignity of our country?

For the sake of athletes like Mohd Ikhwan, I am more determined to eliminate corruption and implement good governance. I want to ensure that for every RM1 which the government spends on an athlete, he or she must receive the value of RM1, if not more. It cannot be that middlemen get 10 sen while another gets 10 sen, to the extent that in the end, our athletes receive very little or nothing at all.

I have said previously that we want good financial governance, not only in the government, but also within all sports bodies as well.

Another amazing athlete is Salmiah Zakaria, also wheelchair-bound, who won a silver medal in the lawn bowling event.

I also managed to watch the amazing Ridzuan Puzi better known as “Dekwan”, our track and field paralympian who won two gold medals at the Asian Para Games.

Some of us were worried because his closest opponent, the Chinese sprinter Yang YiFei, was clocking very fast speeds. However, I knew in my heart Dekwan would not disappoint. True enough, during the final T36 (classification for coordination impairment) 100m sprint, Dekwan ran so hard he not only won the gold medal but broke the world record. Dekwan suffers from cerebral palsy.

And then there is his fellow paralympian, Abdul Latif Romly, who soared 7.60 metres in the men’s long jump event and created a new world record. We were so excited watching him and the audience was cheering him on: "Terbang! Latif, Terbang!" (Fly Latif, Fly).

I also managed to watch the end of the amazing table tennis match where our men’s double TT8-9 category pair, Chee Chao Ming and Ting Ing Hock won another gold medal for Malaysia.

Each time I sang the Negaraku and watched our Jalur Gemilang rise at the podium, I trembled in awe thinking of the blood and sweat which our para athletes, their coaches, and family members have shed in order to glorify Malaysia’s name.

The motivational value of their stories is immense for every one of us, whether able-bodied or disabled.

The previous government did well to give equal rewards to both para athletes and able-bodied athletes. Now is the time to give equal treatment, equal publicity and equal opportunities to our para athletes.

The big elephant in the room, of course, is the lack of publicity for the para games and para athletes. When I share my accounts with friends in Malaysia, many of them asked why these were not reported in the media. I am committed to change this. I want to tell the incredible stories of our para athletes.

One prominent media company, Astro Awani, told me that it wants to make a difference in this area. I welcome other media outlets to also do their part. We need to tell the amazing stories of our para athletes. We must let Malaysians know what great heights our fellow countrymen have been achieving despite their physical limitations, to inspire more greatness with the “Malaysia Boleh” spirit.

The writer is the MP for Bukit Mertajam and deputy minister of youth and sports.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.