WITH just over two weeks to go before the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games (KL2017), Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin admitted to feeling the heat of hosting the largest sporting event in Southeast Asia.
"I am excited and I cannot wait for it but of course, I am also feeling nervous and anxious because it is such a huge event," said Khairy after launching the One Medal, One Tree programme yesterday at the KL Sports City in Bukit Jalil.
Khairy explained that even if the Games only involved countries from the Asean region, it is still larger than the Commonwealth Games when it comes to the number of sports.
"Looking at the scale, the Sea Games is so much bigger. We will have about 15,000 athletes, officials, coaches and others who will make it a logistic challenge."
Khairy added that apart from looking into the welfare of the athletes, the Malaysian Organising Committee (MASOC) must also make sure that other facilities like food, accommodation, transportation and traffic congestion are taken care of.
"I just hope that everything will go according to plan. Yesterday we had our final organising committee meeting before the Games.
"Everything is in order and it's now down to execution. Hopefully it would reflect everything we had plan for. The rest we leave it to God,” he said.
The 29th Sea Games kicks off on Aug 19, but sports like football and netball will begin earlier on Aug 14.
Translated from Berita Harian