07. April 2005  
Kuala Lumpur / Malaysia  
Happy Gymnastics

General Gymnastics in Malaysia

The Malaysian Gymnastics Federation (MGF) hopes that the Education Ministry will consider introducing gymnastrada (general gymnastics) as a demonstration sport in the 2007 SIPMA Games in Kedah.
While MGF secretary N. Shanmugarajah did not dispute the decision to exclude gymnastics, he hopes the Malaysian ministry will be favourable in their decision to include gymnastrada in future Games as the sport has mass appeal.
Negri Sembilan (... is a federation of states (9) on the West coast of peninsular Malaysia) will host the inaugural Games on Aug 8-12 this year.,,,
MGF want gymnastrada as demonstration sport
- by Shenton Gomez, New Straits Times

Gymnastrada instils the basic fundamentals found in all disciplines in artistic and rhythmic gymnastics and is widely regarded as the stepping stone for aspiring gymnasts to pursue the sport more seriously.

"We will start the gymnastrada inter-district championships by the end of the year and this will expand the talent base and bring the sport to more people," said Shanmugarajah. "And hopefully, this will also spur the growth of the sport in schools and institutions of higher learning as well."
Which means the educational institutions will have the students who know the basics of gymnastics.
In the 2005 inter-district gymnastrada development programme which was approved by the Sports Ministry last week, RM 3,070,000 has been allocated for administration, wages, equipment, coaching courses and seminars for 110 districts in the country.

The first phase of the programme emphasises on the basic fundamentals where upon completion, the gymnasts will be exposed to Level One training in either rhythmic or artistic gymnastics.
"We got the approval of the Sports Ministry to establish inter-districts championships and once that is on the way, we hope to expand to State and national level," he said. "We conducted a course two years ago to train teachers to be gymnastrada instructors and we have 900 instructors in schools around the country. We are confident that the programme will be a success as we hope to get the full support from our State affiliates," added Shamugarajah.
And pave the way for the sport to be included in the 2007 SIPMA.
(source: New Straits Times