DILI, 09 may 2022 (TATOLI) – Timor-Leste presented its religious and cultural heritage at the Exhibition of Hanoi Sea Games in Vietnam, the Ambassador of Timo-Leste to Vietnam, Maria Olandina Isabel Caeiro Alves has said.
“We have visited all the stands of various countries at the exhibition, and the Organizing Committee of the Sea Games requested us to demonstrate Timor-Leste religious and cultural heritage. So, we exhibit the image of Cristo Rei of Fatumaca and other cultural artifacts, including, belak, mortel, and ceremonial cloth known as tais,” Alves told TATOLI, in Malaysia, on saturday.
Participating in the Sea Games gave Timor-Leste a good sign for its ASEAN membership prospects.
Timor-Leste national under-23 football team has been accompanied well by the ambassador of Timor-Leste in Malaysia.
“Our athletes are controlled by the Sea Games organizing committee, and Timor-Leste National Olympic Committee. We will also keep accompanying them, and if they experience serious problems then we will take further actions to solve such issues,” She said.
Alves hoped that some of the athletes would perform well to win some matches in the next competition.
“We lose 4-0 to the Philippines’ national team, I hope that we will win some games against Myanmar, Malaysia, and Indonesia,” she said.
Originally the 2021 Sea Games was scheduled to take place from 21 november to 2 december 2021, but it was moved to 12 to 23 may 2022 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 31st edition of the Southeast Asian Games features 40 sports across 526 events and counts on the participation of 5,467 athletes from 11 different nations – Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Singapore, Philippines, Timor-Leste, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The Southeast Asian Games owe its origins to the South East Asian Peninsular Games or SEA Games. On 22 May 1958, delegates from the countries in the Southeast Asian Peninsula attending the Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan had a meeting and agreed to establish a sports organization. The SEA Games was conceptualized by Luang Sukhum Nayapradit, then Vice-President of the Thailand Olympic Committee. The proposed rationale was that a regional sports event will help promote cooperation, understanding, and relations among countries in the Southeast Asian region.
Six countries, Burma (now Myanmar), Kampuchea (now Cambodia), Laos, Malaya (now Malaysia), Thailand, and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) were the founding members.
The first SEA Games were held in Bangkok from 12–17 December 1959, with more than 527 athletes and officials from 6 countries; Burma (now Myanmar), Laos, Malaya, Singapore, South Vietnam, and Thailand participating in 12 sports.
Journalist: Hortencio Sanchez
Editor: Cancio Ximenes/ Nelia Borges Fernandes
Translation: Filomeno Martins
