People's Gyms In State Of Disarray

By Ahmad Muliady Ab. Majid

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 (Bernama) -- Sazali Abd Samad used to pump iron by lifting scrap metal at his car workshop in his village in Batu Pahat, Johor in 1980s for workouts as there is no gymnasium nearby.

Sazali, 42, eventually became Mr Universe four times - in Melaka in 2000, Moscow (2004), Czech Republic (2006) and South Korea (2007).

But budding bodybuilders no longer had to improvise their weight lifting equipments as the government had built 92 people's gyms costing between RM50,000 and RM100,000 nationwide.

They are managed by the National Agility Branch, Sports Development Division of the Youth and Sports Ministry.

However, much to Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek chagrin, 72 of them are in a state of disarray and only 20 are properly managed.

In his walkabout to the Kampung Pandan Sports Complex, Ahmad Shabery, who is a gym buff himself, discovered that the gym equipments were poorly maintained.

The 72 poorly managed gyms depended on a monthly cash aid of RM740 from the ministry while 20 others could run independently despite receiving only RM290 monthly cash aid.

Pahang has the most number gyms in 10 places followed by Selangor (eight), Johor (seven), Kedah (seven), Negeri Sembilan (seven), Sabah (six), Melaka (five), Perak (five), Penang (five), Sarawak (five), Terengganu (five), Perlis (four), Kelantan (three), Kuala Lumpur (two), Labuan (two) and Putrajaya (one).

The remaining 11 gyms are managed by the National Youth Skills Institute, an agency under the ministry.

Damaged equipments at poorly managed gyms are not repaired or replaced while newly acquired equipments could not be placed there due to lack of space. As such they are stored elsewhere.

It is learned that the ministry has not allocated any provision for repair of the equipments other that the cash aid.

National Agility Branch director Mohd Azhari Mohammad, who admitted this, said Ahmad Shabery was trying to get more provision for the gyms.

He said to revive inactive gyms, the ministry encouraged local communities to set up sports clubs or associations, which could run them.

"They can collect monthly membership fees to cover the operation and maintenance cost. However, the clubs and associations must register with the Sports Commissioner office first," he told Bernama.

He commended several successful gyms which were able to add new equipments with their own resources without any assistance from the ministry.

"Although these successful gyms are managed by the local communities, they are monitored by the ministry as we want to ensure that they do not go against ministry's objectives," he said.

Mohd Azhari said as lack of qualified instructors was another reason why local communities shunned the people's gyms, the ministry was planning to organise courses to train instructors.

"However, our gym instructors are getting only RM450 monthly allowance. That is why we find it hard to get qualified coaches," he added.

Mohd Azhari said most of the gyms are located away from public areas and are not served by the public transportation.

"We had no choice but to use government buildings to house the gyms as we are providing the facilities free of charge to the people.

"Although we could not match the facilities provided by commercial gyms, we have basic equipments for those who want to improve their general fitness and health," he said.

-- BERNAMA