Sports and Youth Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has responded to the embarrassing claims on social media after the Junior Cycling Malaysia (JCM) programme offered cash prizes worth of RM30 to Under-9 and Under-11 kids during the National Sports Council event on Saturday.
The 40 year-old does not deny that the value of the cash prizes awarded to the winners is low but he wants the nation’s future athletes to not be influenced by large sums of money.
“The children of our future will forget the main goal in sports if their primary concern is winning cash prizes from a young age,” Khairy Jamaluddin posted on his Facebook page.
“We want them to grow up with the right values and attitude. Yes, money is important and if they do well in sports, they will be financially rewarded later on but let’s not spoil them from when they are young. Let them want to win for the sake of winning, to be the best not because of money but because of determination and honour,” the Minister added.
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