Ready to take off Commonwealth Games: An upbeat Malaysia prepares to become the first Asian country to host this major event

The land of bunga raya (hibiscus) is a riot of red, blue and yellow. The national flower lines the Malaysian countryside, its colours brighten the national flags fluttering atop buildings and flash out from the billboards and festoons displaying the logo of the XVI Commonwealth Games starting on September 11.

For the sportspersons who will descend on Kuala Lumpur, the gigantic K.L. International Airport at Sepang would be the first testament of the country's preparedness for the event. Its magnificent dome-shaped pillars and marble corridors announce the event through posters of Sukom 98 (sport 98); a company registered for the organisation of the Games with the government of Malaysia and the Olympic Council of Malaysia as the shareholders. The government has named 1998 'sport and recreation year' to celebrate the Commonwealth Games coming to Asia for the first time.

In the streets, one is face to face with Wira, the Orang-utan, the mascot of the Games. The six yellow pollen dots on the logo standing for the six regions of the Commonwealth regenerate the spirit of the Games, last held four years ago in Victoria, Canada.

All roads in Kuala Lumpur lead to Bukit Jalil. Situated four kilometres from the city, it is part of the tin-mining district of Sungei Besi. The place has been transformed into an artery of freshly-paved highways leading to the 196-acre National Sports Complex (NSC). The complex consists of an outdoor stadium with a capacity of 100,000, a 16,000 capacity indoor stadium, two astroturf hockey stadiums and an aquatic complex.

As one enters the outdoor stadium and looks around, the first glimpse is of a melange; red, yellow and blue again. The red seats are for the huge media team that will take the Games worldwide to 500 million people, the yellow ones are for the VIPs and the blue for the spectators. On the uppermost tier are the corporate boxes for the sponsors and the glass-topped enclosure for the dignitaries.

The games village is located five minutes from the main stadium. It consists of a series of gleaming hillside condominiums that have been pre-sold to the public but will be handed over only after the Games. There are about 1,400 three-bedroom apartments and three clubhouses with recreational and swimming facilities.

Also in the village is the international zone with the dining, banking and medical facilities. The food is from the catering institute of the Malaysian Airlines. A drug testing centre has been set up in the pharmacology department of the Penang University with the help of an expert from King's College, England. With this Kuala Lumpur joins Tokyo and Seoul as the only Asian cities with drug test facility.

The VIPs congregating for the event will be housed at the spectacular Palace of Golden Horses Hotel, designed in the Moorish style. The media team will be accommodated at the Mint Hotel close to the NSC. With gleaming restaurants, new pubs, guest houses and shopping complexes all around, the once-quiet mining area, as local people say, does not recognise itself.

The Sukom office is bustling with activity, the walls are lined with dates and time tables and the shelves with memorabilia. Mediapersons are briefed by the communications cell. Its assistant manager K. Chandrasekharan, whose ancestors hail from Kerala, said that the Games has the biggest contingent of sportspersons and officials; more than 6,000 from 67 countries.

In addition to the 11 individual events, four team sports are being introduced for the first time; netball, hockey, seven-a-side rugby and cricket. Team-pin bowling in which the hosts are expected to win is the other new game.

Courtesy : The Week

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