Malaysian youth athlete climbers require funds to compete

PETALING JAYA (June 26, 2013): Two Malaysian youths with the dream of elevating the country's status in the world of rock climbing want to take matters into their own hands by participating in the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Youth Climbing Championships in Canada.

Zoe Lim and Taqi Zulkifli, both 19, are the National youth athletes who aspire to propel the Malaysian rock climbing scene to greater heights in Canada from Aug 15 to 19, 2013, but much cost needs to be covered before they can achieve their dream.

"It is our last year to compete as youth athletes and I think it is about time Malaysian climbers start getting out into the rest of the world and competing against the best," Zoe told theSun.

Both Zoe and Taqi placed 45th at last year's IFSC World Youth Climbing Championships in Singapore. However, RM 20,000 is needed to send them to Canada, an amount of which they cannot fork out themselves.

With the help of Camp5 Indoor Climbing Gym, Zoe, Taqi, and a host of other Camp5 instructors will be hosting two-hour sessions of interactive climbing games on 30 June and 6 July from 5pm to 7pm with the aim of raising funds for the young climbers.

"Our main source of funds has to come from private donations and sponsorships from governmental organisations such as the Ministry of Youth and Sports. We have appealed to them for help and are awaiting their response," said Taqi, who is a student at the Malaysian International Islamic University.

The sessions are priced at RM96 per person and are open to all ages. Each session can accommodate up to 25 people, and additional classes may come if more donations are needed.

Zoe also said she hopes the fundraiser will help the community to experience climbing and its thrills.

"I do think we deserve more public support and awareness. A lot of people still are very intimidated by the sport and don't understand it well yet," she said.

"Everyone in the climbing community is very supportive of each other, regardless of their skill differences or age gap. We are one big family with no borders," she added.

Zoe dreams to climb the ranks of international charts and to sing the Malaysian national anthem on an international podium while Taqi's ultimate goal is to keep climbing and competing for the nation.

They will both compete under the banner of the Malaysian Mountaineering Federation and as part of the Malaysian National Youth Climbing team.