Rebranding for 'Harimau Malaya'

The Ministry of Youth and Sports hope to rebrand the National Jersey "Harimau Malaya" (Malayan Tiger) donned by the Malaysian contingents at international events to form a supporters group for the 'Road to London 2012'.
Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek (picture) said the rebranding exercise would be launched by year end to project a single identity wear that can be proudly worn by athletes and supporters.
"We want Malaysians to be proud when they wear the 'Harimau Muda' attire just like what footballs fans of teams like Manchester United who come in the team's kit," he told reporters in PutraJaya, Tuesday.
The national jersey, which has black tiger stripes motif on a yellow background, was unveiled by the then Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Nov 14, 2005 in time for the Manila SEA Games.
Since then, national athletes and officials going for competitions abroad, used the attire which draws instant recognition as Malaysian participants.
Ahmad Shabery said, in efforts to win the country's first gold medal in the Olympics, the 'Road to London 2012' programme will be a significant one to garner support from fans towards achieving the objective.
"Staring 2010, we will have about two years to ensure the 'Malayan Tigers' attire becomes a household attire in line with the 1Malaysia concept," he said.
He added that with strong support from the fans and the inspiration derived when wearing the attire, can spur national athletes their gold medal quest, especially in sports like badminton, archery and cycling.
Though the main target for the gold is from badminton, archery and cycling are also capable of producing gold medal performances, he said.
Meanwhile, the term Paralympic Sports will now be used in place of 'Disabled Sports' when referring to games participated by people with a special disability.
"As of today, we have agreed to refer disabled sports as Paralympic Sports and it will be streamlined at all levels. As such, it will be used at all levels, be it district, state or national," said Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
He added that the Malaysian Paralympics Council (MPC) would be notified of the new development.