THE MIXED MARTIAL ARTS – OCTAGON FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON 3 FINAL ROUND

SPEECH BY CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG, YAB TUAN CHOW KON YEOW

FOR THE MIXED MARTIAL ARTS – OCTAGON FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON 3 FINAL ROUND

 

9 December 2022

Maritime Automall Upper-Level Car Park, Karpal Singh Drive

 

YB Yeoh Soon Hin

Penang State Executive Councillor for Tourism & Creative Economy (PETACH)

YB Lim Siew Khim

Member of Penang State Legislative Assembly for Sungai Pinang

 

Mr. Raschada Jiwalai

Consul General of Royal Thai Consulate General in Penang

Mr. Andi Djufri Said

Head of Chancery of Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia

 

Dato’ Tan Hiang Joo

Deputy President of Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce

Dato’ Oon Weng Boon

Vice President of Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce & YES Advisor

Mr. Lee Tong Leon

Committee Member of Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce cum YES Chairman

 

Mr. Chris Tan Chee Kean

YES Deputy Chairman cum Organizing Chairman

 

Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee Members

 

Media Friends

Ladies & Gentlemen

Good evening to all of you.

I have the great pleasure to attend this evening’s Mixed Martial Arts – Octagon Fighting Championship Season 3 Final Round.

Mixed martial arts has emerged as the fastest growing combat sport globally, and it now enjoys a mainstream status in most parts of the world. As a global sport, it has many benefits for its practitioners such as increased confidence, full body workout, increased flexibility, better coordination, self defence skills, lowering of blood pressure and heart rate and improving mental stamina as well as social skills.

There can be no other better way to channel our positive energy towards a healthy activity especially what we have been through over the past two years. When the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak, most outdoor activities came to a stand still and there was great despair as lives and livelihoods were adversely affected.

The state government is aware of the negative impact the pandemic had on us especially on our mental well-being. Hence, our main focus when the MCOs were eventually eased was to hold sport tournaments and physical programmes to ease our transition back to normalcy. This was done through the Love Penang campaign that I believe many of you are familiar with. 

Moreover, the state government is also fully aware of the importance of having proper infrastructure to ensure the smooth running of our sports events as well as to foster the competitive spirit of our athletes and most of all, their safety while playing or during their practice. To this end, the state government in 2022 spent about RM1.6 million to upgrade our public sport facilities and I have also announced in our Budget for 2023 that RM3.5 million would be allocated for the same purpose. 

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Mixed martial arts, as we know it today, is also a unique form of physical cultural expression and can be promoted as a tourism product. Such efforts, if done correctly and strategically, provide the platform for cultural exchanges to foster deeper appreciation for the origins of the sport as well as cross-cultural understanding. 

What we are witnessing today is a good example of how such a sport can be successfully promoted to attract the participation of many professional and amateur fighters, both locally and international fighters from India and Japan.  

This success in reaching out to local Penangites and attracting fans and supporters from all over the world to visit Penang as they will be willing to show their support to the players during the competitions, hence contribute to the tourism industry.

Lastly, I would like to congratulate you all for your efforts that made the event so successful. 

Thank you.