Following concerns and dissatisfaction raised by national track cycling ace Azizulhasni Awang towards the National Sports Council (MSN) for failing to provide a complete support system in preparation for Paris, she said the ministry was taking the requests of national athletes seriously.

“The RTG committee will meet next week to review each request of the athletes selected for the RTG programme.

“I have contacted Azizulhasni through our coordinator, Stuart Ramalingam.

“We will do our best for our athletes to ensure Malaysia’s chances of winning the gold medals are bright,” she told reporters after officiating at the Malaysia Aktif@Komuniti programme at PPR Taman Bagan Jaya here today.

Yeoh said that today’s programme was a new initiative by her ministry, with the support of the local government development ministry.

It is aimed at promoting a sporting culture among the people, specifically those staying in people’s housing programme (PPR) communities and public housing projects (PPA), she added.

Aerobics and zumba are among the activities featured.

Yeoh said the programme’s objective is to promote an active and healthy lifestyle among the community in addition to strengthening unity, harmony and well-being.

“Under this first phase, the zumba programme will run every Saturday or Sunday for 30 weeks in two selected PPRs, involving six states, namely Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah.

“The trainers’ wages will be paid by the youth and sports ministry for 30 weeks, which is until December 2023. We expect 36,000 people to take part in the programme.”

Yeoh said the second phase of the programme would involve Kuala Lumpur, Sabah and Sarawak.