REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SOLO -- Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi on Saturday saw off the Indonesian National Paralympic Committee (NPC) contingent that left here to participate in the ASEAN Para Games (APG) VIII 2015 in Singapore.
The games will be held from December 3 to 9.
The NPC delegation, consisting of 256 athletes and officials, was led by Deputy of Sports Culture Development of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Faisal Abdullah.
The minister said President Joko Widodo actually wanted to see off the contingent himself but could not and instead assigned him (the minister) to represent him.
"He apologized for not being able to be with us but I will present his messages for you," he said.
He said the President has asked the athletes to play with in a full spirited manner to defend the country at the APG VIII and hoped that they would use it as an opportunity to test their skills.
He also hoped that athletes would use the opportunity to learn and widen their global outlook and friendship with other Olympians from the Southeast Asian region.
"If you meet with your friends from Southeast Asia, invite them to come to Indonesia. Tell them that Indonesia is beautiful, peaceful and rich in natural resources and cultural traditions," he said.
The minister said the President also said that winning the games is not everything and so they must bring to the contest a sporting spirit and maintain the bonds of friendship and brotherhood.
"The President said the event could be used to measure our achievement as the country prepares for even bigger events, such as Asian Paragame or Paralympic 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil," the minister said.
Faisal Abdulah said Indonesia would take part in 11 out of 15 disciplines, including table tennis, archery, athletics, swimming, chess, weight lifting, goal ball, shooting, bowling, '7 side football' and badminton, cabor rowing, boccea and fencing. Indonesia would not take part in the game of basketball, he added.
He said Indonesia was optimistic to win the largest haul of medals and become a general champion, as it did in the APG VII 2013 in Myanmar.
"The contingent is scheduled to leave from Adi Soemarmo airport in Boyolali on Monday at 8am." he said.
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