The 2006 FESPIC Games, officially known as the 9th and Final FESPIC Games, was an Asia-Pacific disabled multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 25 November to 1 December 2006. It was the first and last time Malaysia hosted the games. Malaysia is the eighth and the last FESPIC organisation member to host the FESPIC games after Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, China, Thailand, and South Korea. Around 3,641 athletes from 46 nations competed at the games which featured 19 sports. The games was opened by Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at the KLFA stadium. The final medal tally was led by China, followed by Thailand, South Korea, and host Malaysia. Several games and national records were broken during the games. The games were deemed generally successful with the rising standard of disabled sports competition among the Pacific and Asian nations for other active sports tournaments. With the games concluded, the FESPIC organisation was officially defunct, and since then, the Asian Countries participate at the Asian Para Games held after every Asian Games, beginning with the 2010 Asian Para Games in Guangzhou, China.
Host city
In 1999, Malaysia, New Zealand and Hong Kong formally submitted the bid for the games. With the withdrawal of New Zealand and Hong Kong from the bid, the hosting right was awarded to Malaysia which named its capital, Kuala Lumpur as the host city. Like Thailand and South Korea, Malaysia also bid for the Asian Games alongside the FESPIC Games but lost the Asian Games hosting rights to Qatar. Had Malaysia won the hosting rights of the 2006 Asian Games, it would have been the third and last time the FESPIC Games is held at the same country as the Asian Games. When Qatar won the bid for the Asian Games in 2000, it was not a FESPIC Federation member at that time as it was considered a middle east member.
Development and preparation
The KL'06 9th FESPIC Games Organising Committee was formed to oversee the staging of the games.
Venues
The 2006 FESPIC Games used a mix of new, existing and temporary venues. Most venues were public-sporting facilities which will revert to public use after the games. No major retrofitting work were done in most venues as most had been used to host major multi-disciplinary events such as the 1998 Commonwealth Games, 2001 Southeast Asian Games and the 2001 ASEAN Para Games. At the centrepiece of the activities was the National Sports Complex. Incorporating the new 87,411-seat national stadium, it hosted most of the events. A games village was not built. Instead, a "village in the city" concept saw athletes and officials housed in 13 hotels across the Klang Valley. They are physically near to the assigned sports venues of the games, and was hoped that it will add vibe to the hosting venues and reduce post-games costs in converting a dedicated games village to other uses. The Final FESPIC Games had 20 venues for the games. 11 in Kuala Lumpur, 7 in Selangor and 1 each in Putrajaya and Negeri Sembilan respectively.
Marketing
Logo
The 2006 FESPIC Games logo is a heart-shape image which represents the spirit, passion and tradition of the FESPIC Games. The initial KL in the logo, represents Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia as the venue of the Games, '06 represents to the year 2006, the heart shape in the '0' portrays the loving, caring and hospitality of the people of Malaysia, while the brush stroke sphere represents unity of the Malaysians.
Mascot
The official mascot of the 2006 FESPIC Games is a pair of mousedeer named "Ujang", the male one and its female counterpart, "Cek Mek". The mousedeer is a native animal in Malaysia locally known as pelanduk or kancil which is shy, but very agile and quick thinking. It is a favourite character in local folktales commonly known as "Sang Kancil", noted for its intelligence, wit, cunning feints and quick reaction to escape from all kinds of danger, especially from its enemies. The adoption of mousedeer as the games mascot is to represent the courage of the Paralympic athletes in overcoming challenges and the odds. The names of the mascots, Ujang and Che Mek, are common nicknames for local Malay youths.
The games
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony was held on 25 November 2006 at the KLFA Stadium. The ceremony begins with the marching of the Malaysian Armed Forces along with the mascots of the games. This was followed by the firework display and the marching of the contingents of the participating nations. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, then Prime minister of Malaysia, declared the games opened. Lee Seng Chow, the blinddiscus throw athlete then take the oath on behalf of the athletes. Finally the torch was lit by four Malaysian paralympic athletes, Razali Jaafar, Hisham Khaironi, Choo Kam Chan and David Wang.
Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony was held on 1 December 2006 at the KLFA Stadium.
A total of 1476 medals, comprising 542 Gold medals, 476 Silver medals, 458 Bronze medals were awarded to athletes. The host Malaysia's performance was their best ever yet and was placed fourth overall amongst participating nations.
