2017 ASEAN Para Games
The 2017 ASEAN Para Games, officially known as the 9th ASEAN Para Games, was a Southeast Asian disabled multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 17 days after the 2017 Southeast Asian Games from 17 to 23 September 2017. This was the third time Malaysia host the ASEAN Para Games and its first time since 2009. Previously, Malaysia also hosted the inaugural games in 2001.
Around 1452 athletes participated at the event, which featured 369 events in 16 sports. It was opened by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
The final medal tally was led by Indonesia, followed by host Malaysia and Thailand, while East Timor won its first ever ASEAN Para Games gold medals.
Host city
As per ASEAN Para Games traditions, the games are usually held after every Southeast Asian Games and usually the host country of the Southeast Asian Games is also the host of the ASEAN Para Games. Like the Southeast Asian Games, each country is assigned a year to host but may choose to do so or not.Previously, in July 2012, the SEAGF meeting in Myanmar confirmed that Malaysia would host the Southeast Asian Games in 2017, should there be no other country willing to bid for the host job. Olympic Council of Malaysia secretary general Sieh Kok Chi, who attended the meeting, said that Myanmar would host the Games in 2013, followed by Singapore in 2015. Then it should be Brunei's turn but it wanted to host the 2019 Games instead of the 2017 edition. Malaysia is willing to be the host for the 2017 Games. This means the hosting rights of the ASEAN Para Games automatically goes to Malaysia, which will host the games two weeks after the end of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.
On 12 May 2016, a meeting was held between Olympic Council of Malaysia and the Paralympic Council of Malaysia to discuss the possibilities of organising the 2017 Southeast Asian Games and the 2017 ASEAN Para Games simultaneously and the merger of the two games. The same topic was also discussed at the Asean Para Sports Federation Board of Governors meeting on 7 June 2016. By 14 July, the proposal has been rejected by SEA Games Federation Council, with 9 member countries have opposed the proposal while only two agreed, citing the reason for the rejection was due to the tradition and culture that has long been maintained by SEAGF. Hence, the date of the 2017 ASEAN Para Games was set from 17 to 23 September 2017.
Development and preparation
The Malaysia SEA Games Organising Committee is the governing body for the 2017 ASEAN Para Games. It was formed in 2015 to oversee the staging of the event.Venues
The 2017 ASEAN Para Games was held around the Klang Valley area, consists of Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya and Negeri Sembilan.All the existing venues in Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex were upgraded while the velodrome, costed MYR 80 million was built in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan to host track cycling events and was completed on late March 2017 and opened on 26 May 2017. They were equipped with disabled-friendly facilities prior to the games.
More than RM1.6 billion has been allocated by the host country to turn the National Sports Complex in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, and its surrounding areas into a Sports City. The first phase of the work will get the Bukit Jalil National Stadium ready to host the 2017 Southeast Asia Games and the 9th ASEAN Para Games.
A games village was not built. Instead, a "village in the city" concept saw athletes and officials housed in 6 hotels in the area. Besides being physically near to the Sports City, it was hoped that it will add vibe to the nation and reduce post-games costs in converting a dedicated games village to other uses.
The 9th ASEAN Para Games had 17 venues for the games. 14 in Kuala Lumpur and 1 each in Selangor, Putrajaya and Negeri Sembilan respectively.
Public transport
Prasarana became one of the 2017 ASEAN Para Games sponsors as “Official Public Transport Service Provider” on 9 May 2017 during the SEA Games 100-days countdown celebration. The company provided 60 buses for the participating athletes throughout the games and cars for technical officers and guests.Volunteers
The organisers estimated that about 20,000 volunteers are needed to successfully host the SEA games and the ASEAN Para Games. They were tasked with a variety of duties, such as scorekeeping, crowd control, ticketing, promotions. Volunteer recruitment began on 14 November 2015, the same date as the launch party of the games logo, theme and mascot until July 2017, in which 50,000 people have signed up as volunteers. The Games Volunteer Program was held at the National University of Malaysia in Bangi in four phases from February to June. On 19 July 2017, of the 50,000 online applicants, 13,000 people were selected to be the games volunteer. 9,000 people were chosen to be the volunteer of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, whereas another 4,000 people were chosen to be the volunteer of the 2017 ASEAN Para Games.Ticketing
On 4 July 2017, it was announced that no paid tickets are required for the ASEAN Para Games events and the entry to the games' venues is entirely free.Countdown
During the closing ceremony of the 2015 ASEAN Para Games, the ASEAN Para Sports Federation Flag was formally handed over to Malaysia from Singapore. This was followed by a song and dance section highlighting Malaysia as the next venue. On 14 November 2015, a launch party was held at the Suria KLCC to launch the logo, mascot and the volunteer recruitment programme.On 19 August 2016, a series of festivities, dubbed the "Wau Factor" were held at the National Sports Council Centre in Setiawangsa, to mark the one-year countdown to the games. From 2 March to 20 May 2017 Malaysia SEA Games organising committee organised a school tour programme dubbed the KL2017@Schools programme at 33 selected schools across Peninsular Malaysia to instill awareness about the games amongst the school students.
On 9 May 2017, Malaysia SEA Games Organising committee organised a major countdown event at KL Sentral to mark the 100-day countdown in a few days which was attended by athletes, officials, Para athletes, stakeholders, sponsors and volunteers. After that, various individuals and organisations marked the games countdown through a video tribute. This included: Kyopropaganda and Malaysia SEA Games Organising Committee, Ipan Bender, Intan Sarah and National Women Futsal teammates, Aminemo and the Royal Malaysian Police Personnel, Superpandy, Farhan Kapoor and the scouts, Joseph Germani and Malaysia Basketball Association trainees, Olivia Shyan and the SK Taman Megah students, Ahmad Aiman and 30 locals, Muhammad Rezza, Akwa Ariffin and 20 tai-chi practitioners, Joseph Germani and the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia personnel, Farhan Hadi, Preston Les and Tanesh, Ain Suhada and Iqbal Harun and Miss Alvy, Yasmin Matthews, Khor Adrian and Raj Mahal.
Security
The principal agency to ensure the security of the games is the Royal Malaysian Police Force. Six drills were held to prepare the police force to face any unpredicted situations.Medals
Similar to the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, the medals of the games were designed by Royal Selangor, which is also the designer company for the torch and the baton. They were announced on 30 May 2017, the same day Royal Selangor announced as one of the games main sponsor which made MASOC's sponsorship total RM82.6 million, exceeded its sponsorship target of RM80 million. The medals have subtle curved surfaces, rims and edges, and are made of pewter with a disc of kempas wood integrated into the design. They featured the ASEAN Para Sports Federation logo on the obverse, and the games logo on the reverse.Baton relay
The games baton relay dubbed the Rising Together Baton Run, shares the same route as the baton relay of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games and is the first of its kind in the history of ASEAN Para Games. It covered a distance of 10 kilometres on average in the 10 capital cities of the Southeast Asian Region countries, excluding the host country, passing through the landmarks of each countries' capital city. The baton relay began with Brunei on 5 March 2017, followed by the Philippines on 12 March, Laos on 18 March, Myanmar on 25 March, Thailand on 1 April, Vietnam on 9 April, East Timor on 17 April, Cambodia on 22 April and Indonesia on 30 April and ended with Singapore on 13 May 2017. The games baton was designed by Royal Selangor which sold the baton to the public at MYR 1480 and its design was inspired by the games' theme, rising together. Its design depicts shards and a triangular cross section. The baton has a length of 400 mm, a width of 44 mm, weighs approximately 600g and made up of materials which are a stave in kempas, a tawny wood native to Southeast Asia, and a satin-finished pewter finial.Torch relay
The same day the baton relay ended in Singapore, the torch relay was held across the country began with the state of Johor until 18 May 2017, followed by Malacca from 18 to 21 May 2017, Negeri Sembilan from 22 to 25 May, Labuan from 3 to 4 June, Sabah from 5 to 8 June, Sarawak from 8 to 13 June, Perlis from 15 to 17 June, Kedah from 17 to 20 June, Penang from 3 to 6 July, Perak from 7 to 12 July, Kelantan from 13 to 17 July, Terengganu from 17 to 23 July, Pahang from 24 to 30 July, Selangor from 31 July to 5 August, Putrajaya on 6 August and ended with the host city Kuala Lumpur on 12 August 2017. The games torch has a length of 125 mm, width of 86 mm and a height of 850 mm and weighs 2 kg with fuel and 1.8 kg without fuel. Like the baton, the torch was designed too by Royal Selangor. It has a sleek custom-milled combustion chamber and a triangular cross section which symbolises strength in unity and has the games logo and motto, the SEA Games and the ASEAN Para Games logo emblazoned on it.Sustainability
As an aspect of staging the games, the Games organising committee committed to a focus on sustainability and environmental protection by launching the Kuala Lumpur 2017 Green Initiatives on 5 June 2017. Among the activities of the initiative is the ‘One Medal, One Tree’ programme aimed at having a total of 5,249 trees be planted in and around Kuala Lumpur Sports City, one for each medal awarded to winning athlete during the games which is divided into three phases. Other activities included providing waste recycling bins at games' main venue, providing public transportation and providing electric car facilities at selected spots of the games' main venue.Marketing
Motto
Similar to the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, the official motto of the 2017 ASEAN Para Games is "Rising Together" or "Bangkit Bersama" in Malay. It was chosen to highlight unity between the nations in Southeast Asia as well as to signify the Kuala Lumpur games as the first ASEAN Para Games to be held after the formation of the ASEAN Community in 2015.Logo
Similar to the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, the logo of the 2017 ASEAN Para Games is an image of a Wau Bulan, a crescent-shaped kite traditionally popular on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The combination of stripes and colours of the logo were derived from the flags of all countries in Southeast Asia. A nationwide competition was held to select the logo of the games which saw a total of 174 entries submitted for the design competition. The Kuala Lumpur 2017 logo, made by combining the games' logo with the logo of 2017 Southeast Asian Games is sometimes used by the organisers to reflect the common relationship as Parallel games of one another with SEA Games being held for the able-bodied athletes and the ASEAN Para games held for the disabled athletes.Mascot
Similar to the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, the official mascot of the 2017 ASEAN Para Games is an anthropomorphic Malayan tiger named Rimau. It was unveiled on 14 November 2015, together with the games' logo and theme. The mascot's name is not only a Malay word for Tiger, but also an abbreviation of the games' core values, namely: Respect, Integrity, Move, Attitude and Unity. He is described as a gracious, friendly, competitive and athletic athlete.Songs
The 2017 ASEAN Para Games had 4 theme songs. During the 100 day countdown to SEA Games celebration on 9 May 2017, Malaysians were requested by singer Dayang Nurfaizah and composer Ramli MS to submit their ideas and stories related to the games' theme "Rising Together" to social network websites through a crowdsourcing campaign to enable them to create the games theme song. On 8 August 2017, one theme song for the games has been released and is entitled "Rising Together".On 2 August 2017, a theme song titled "Tunjuk Belang" was released. It was performed by, Azlan Typewriter and maliQue. The song is described as a rock song which merges "traditional and modern sounds". The composer and producer of the song is. The title of the song literally means showing off one's true colours in English and "Belang" means stripes alluding to the mascot of the games, shown above.
Another theme song was released earlier on 13 July 2017, titled "So Many Hands" and was performed by Mia Palencia in English and Asmidar in Malay which is the song of the Kuala Lumpur 2017 Promo Video, "It Takes a Nation to Raise a Champion".
A closing theme song for the Games, "Together We Rise" was released on 30 August 2017. It was performed by Vince Chong and Jaclyn Victor.
Sponsors
Like the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, Dentsu Sports Asia, a subsidiary of Dentsu and the Sportswork Group are the sponsorship agencies of the 2017 ASEAN Para Games. The partnership of the two firms were announced in January 2016. Dentsu is responsible for manages sponsorship matters involving international and Malaysian firms while Sportswork manages Malaysian government linked companiesThere are four tiers of sponsorship depending on the amount of funds a company contributes to the games. Bronze sponsors contributed RM1 million or less, Silver sponsors contributed RM1 to 3 million. Gold sponsors contributed RM3 to 7.5 million and Platinum sponsors contributed RM7.5 to 15 million.
A total of 39 sponsors, comprising 6 Platinum sponsors, 6 Gold sponsors, 9 Silver sponsors and 18 Bronze sponsors, contributed to the 2017 ASEAN Para Games.
The Games
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony was held in Bukit Jalil National Stadium on 17 September 2017 at 20:17 MST which highlighted aspects of disabled people overcoming challenges in life. The ceremony was directed by film director Saw Teong Hin alongside the Memories Entertainment creative team with co-operation from the Malaysian Armed Forces. The time 20:17 was chosen to start the opening ceremony to mark the year 2017, the year which Malaysia hosted the 9th ASEAN Para Games.A minute of silence was held before the ceremony to mourn the passing of the 14th Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the 28th Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Abdul Halim and the victims of the 2017 Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah madrasa fire in Petaling Jaya. The ceremony begins with the arrival of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor. The National Anthem of Malaysia, Negaraku was performed by Malaysian Armed Forces band as the national flag was raised. This was followed by the countdown projection, the video of several Malaysian children carrying the flags of the participating nations and the projection of the games logo on the stage centre. After that, the national flags of the participating nations, the ASEAN Para Sports Federation flag and the edition flag, were brought into the stadium to symbolise the welcoming of the participants by Malaysia, the games' host nation. "Rimau", the mascot of the Games then entered the stadium in a wheelchair after the Volunteers form the shape of the mascot's head as the projection of the mascot's head appears on the stage centre.
Next, the parade of athletes from all 11 competing nations started with Brunei leading the field in alphabetical order and ended with the host nation, Malaysia entering the stadium last, led by two flagbearers who were gold medalists of the 2016 Summer Paralympics. A video featuring Malaysian notable Paralympic athletes and rapper Aman RA entitled I am Here was also shown.
| Order | Nation | Flag bearer/s | Sport |
| 1 | Sahri bin Hj Jumaat | Athletics | |
| 2 | Yav Vannak | Swimming | |
| 3 | Anto Boi | Powerlifting | |
| 4 | Pia | Powerlifting | |
| 5 | Si Thu Min | Table tennis | |
| 6 | Menandro Junni Redor | Chess | |
| 7 | Suhairi Bin Suhani | Athletics | |
| 8 | Wannaruemon Kewalin | Athletics | |
| 9 | Maria Julieta A Da Cruz | Boccia | |
| 10 | Le Van Cong | Powerlifting | |
| 11 | Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli Abdul Latif Romly | Athletics Athletics |
The 10-minute performance of the ceremony, We Are One told the story of the disabled people desire of integration into the society. It featured violin performance by Malaysian Para Swimmer and Violinist Yeo Yi Lin, sape performance by Alena Murang and Stephen Kayang, Bamboo flute performance by Ramlan Koyok and piano performance by Clarence Kang. Yuna makes her appearance at the stadium, performed the song, Rescue accompanied by performers and dancers on stage, from The Beautiful Gate Foundation, Malaysian Down Syndrome Society, United Voice Self Advocacy Society of Persons with Learning Disabilities Selangor & Kuala Lumpur, Pusat Penjagaan Kanak-Kanak Cacat Taman Megah and Farah Sulaiman Dancing Troupe. In keeping with tradition, welcoming speeches were given by the President of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation Osoth Bhavilai and Malaysia's Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. The former and current Paralympic medalists, national sportsmen and sportswomen Mohamad Khasseri Othman, Perumal Mariappan, Nabilah Ahmad Sharif, Cheok Kon Fatt, Norhayati Sanoh, Siow Lee Chan, Felicia Mikat, Zul Amirul Sidi Abdullah, Hemala Devi Enikutty, Faridul Masri and Siti Nor Liasah Mohd Ariffin led the Royal Malaysian Navy Personnel who carried the Games Federation flag and the games edition flag into the stadium. The flags were then raised by the Navy personnel at the centre stage.
After that, Prime Minister Najib declared the games opened. Sharifah Raudzah Syed Akil took the oath for athletes, while Teo Kian Joo took the oath for the judges. The cauldron was lit by Hasihin Sanawi, 2012 Summer Paralympics Archery bronze medalist with support from Para cycling World championship bronze medalist Muhammad Afiq Afify, 2015 ASEAN Para Games athletics silver medalist Krishna Kumar Haridas, 2016 Summer Paralympics Bronze medalist Noor Radiah Ismail and 2015 ASEAN Para Games swimming Gold medalist Fraidden Dawan. Hasihin lit the torch flame on the cauldron's segment which is suspended by wire, while Afify, Krishna, Noor and Fraidden move the pedal to push the segment towards the cauldron along the wire. The cauldron of the Games is similar to the 2017 Southeast Asian Games' cauldron. Its design was inspired by the traditional Malaysian oil torches used to welcome guests during festivals, and was to symbolise national unity. It had five spokes inscribed with the Rukun Negara and the colour gold served to honour Malaysia's monarch, as well as a nod to the highest award at the biennial games. The ceremony concluded with a colourful fireworks display erupted over the National Stadium, signalling the official commencement of the Games.
Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony was held in Bukit Jalil National Stadium on 23 September 2017 at 20:30 MST. Like the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony was directed by film director Saw Teong Hin alongside the Memories Entertainment creative team with co-operation from the Malaysian Armed Forces.The ceremony begins with the arrival of the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. The National Anthem of Malaysia, Negaraku was performed by Malaysian Armed Forces band as the national flag was raised. Flags of the participating nations, the Federation flag and the Games edition flag were brought into the stadium. This was followed by the parade of athletes from 11 nations and Rimau entering the stage with Malaysia entering the stadium last. The parade of volunteers started with the volunteers dancing to Faizal Tahir's hit single, "Gemuruh", followed by a video shot of several volunteers and top para athletes and Minister of Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin. A cultural performance titled "Sama-sama", a sign of gratitude for Malaysia being given the opportunity to host the games, was presented.
Closing speeches were given by the President of the Malaysia Paralympic Council, SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin and ASEAN Para Sports Federation President, Osoth Bhavilai. Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Ahmad Zahid Hamidi then declared the 2017 ASEAN Para Games closed. A video about the participating athletes performing throughout the games, featuring some Malaysian sports medalists and their coaches with Jaclyn Victor and Vince Chong song, "Together We Rise" as background music, was played followed by the extinguishing of the cauldron and the lowering of the APSF flag by the Royal Malaysian Navy. The ASEAN Para Sports Federation flag was handed over from the Malaysian Paralympic Council President to the Philippines Paralympic Council President, Michael I. Barredo through Minister of the Youth and Sports of Malaysia, and APSF President. The National Anthem of the Philippines, Lupang Hinirang was played and the Philippines flag was raised, symbolising the hosting responsibilities being passed to Philippines. A video of the Philippines tourism featuring Philippines Para athletes was later shown. The ceremony concluded with a special concert by Yuna and fireworks erupted over the stadium, signalling the official conclusion of the games.
Participating nations
Some 1,452 athletes from all 11 ASEAN countries participated in the Games. East Timor returned to compete at the ASEAN Para Games for the first time since 2011 after its suspension by the International Paralympic Committee had been lifted.-
Sports
- Archery
- Athletics
- Badminton
- Boccia
- Bowling
- Chess
- Cycling
- * Road
- * Track
- Football 5-a-side
- Football 7-a-side
- Goalball
- Powerlifting
- Sitting volleyball
- Swimming
- Table tennis
- Wheelchair basketball
- Wheelchair tennis
Calendar
Medal table
The 2017 ASEAN Para Games featured 369 events, resulting in 369 medal sets to be distributed.Two bronze medals were awarded in most events in racket sports: 11 in Badminton, 18 in Table tennis and 3 in Wheelchair tennis. Furthermore, there was a third-place tie in the Bowling mixed doubles TPB8+TPB8 event, giving a total of 33 additional bronze medals. On the other hand, 7 silver and 28 bronze medals were not awarded in 28 events in 6 sports competed at the games due to few number of participants. These are: Athletics, Boccia, Cycling, Powerlifting, Swimming and Table tennis.
As a result, a total of 1105 medals comprising 369 gold medals, 362 silver medals and 374 bronze medals were awarded to athletes.
The Host Malaysia's performance was their third best in ASEAN Para Games History and was second behind Indonesia as overall Champion. Meanwhile, despite small contingent size, East Timor managed to win its first ever ASEAN Para Games gold medals, all 2 of them are from athletics.