Last week the paintball fraternity in Asia saw pictures of Paul Lam who is the head of the MPOC and PALS in a meeting with Tun Dr Mahathir former Prime Minister of Malaysia. It was indeed a historic meeting between an icon of Malaysian Paintball with an icon of Malaysia in Tun Dr Mahathir.
I am sure many of you would be curious to as what transpired in the meeting so I asked Paul Lam what they talked about. So here is an exclusive interview to what transpired at that meeting.
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Hi Paul, it was great to see pictures of your meeting with Tun Dr Mahathir. Every paintballer in Malaysia and the region is excited about the news of this historic meeting. We all want to know what the meeting was about and what transpired?
PAUL: The meeting held mainly because the [World Cup Asia and Command & Conquer] events are held on Langkawi Island which has been his pet project* since day 1.
It was also to get the acknowledgement from arguably one of the most intelligent and influential statesman from Malaysia for our sport of paintball. If Tun Di Mahathir can see the positive elements of our sport, I am hopeful that all others would too. Imagine Lee Kuan Yew** as the patron of the Singapore Paintball Series - that would help the sport in Singapore right?
It also came to my attention recently that Tun Dr Mahathir actually mentioned paintball as a training tool for military training way before the first paintball center in the country was set up. This idea was called off after a feasibility study and largely forgotten. I thought what better opportunity than now to help make his vision come through than this November - hence the Command & Conquer event in conjunction with the World Cup Asia 2011 in Langkawi.
What did paintball gained from this meeting with Tun Dr Mahathir?
PAUL: When I looked him in the eye at the end of the chat to reconfirm his agreement to be the Patron of the Command & Conquer event...he said "yes" with a twinkle in his eye. We shook hands for the second time and this is another mission I must and would love to deliver well. It is a great honour for our sport!
Thank you Paul and we all hope that World Cup Asia will live up to every one's expectations.
*The development of Langkawi Island is Tun Dr Mahatir's pet project. It was his vision to create a world class bicycle race that is the Tour de Langkawi and the LIMA Langkawi International Martitime and Air show.
**Lee Kwan Yew former Prime Minister of Singapore
1 comment:
Haiz, if only Singapore paintball has this kind of support. We can't even convince staff from the sports council to witness our SPS event. They were stranded at the MRT because of the heavy rain and decided to head off. What absurd reasons... I still cannot believe it until today, especially when we have made arrangements for them to participate in a free tryout. Unbelievable... Well done Paul and kudos to you for all that you have done for paintball in Malaysia and for Asia. No doubt about that for sure!
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