Malaysia's Perak State To Hold Forum On E-Sports

IPOH (Perak, Malaysia), Aug 13 (Bernama) -- The Perak state government intends to organise an e-Sports forum for the first time in the state. State Youth and Sports Development Committee chairman Howard Lee Chuan How said it would be held to discuss measures to develop e-Sports as well as establish networking within the virtual sports industry. "The forum will gather people from the (e-Sports) community, especially those behind the scenes such as sports event organisers, announcers, programmers, coaches, crews and agents," he said. He said this during the winding-up session on the motion of thanks for the royal address at the 14th Perak State Legislative Assembly here Monday. According to Lee, e-Sports sports should not be neglected as it was gaining momentum globally, especially among the youth. Lee said the rapid development of e-Sports was driven by deep interest among youths, the development of the Internet and technology, as well as investment by video game companies that have provided large sponsorship deals for various e-Sports tournaments. Lee, who is also Pasir Pinji assemblyman said the state government also planned to host an e-Sports tournament in Ipoh in the near future to strengthen Perak's position as an e-Sports hub in Malaysia. "The state government is in the final stages of establishing an Electronic Sports Relations Council to attract sports enthusiasts to share their opinions and advice with the state government on organising the sport," he said. In the meantime, Lee said the state government would continue with the Youth assembly and wanted the speaker to be appointed from among the youth. Meanwhile, State Tourism, Arts and Culture Committee chairman Tan Kar Hing said the proposal to make Parit a World Heritage Site under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) needed to be reviewed to ensure it met the set criteria. He said the National Heritage Department should conduct a thorough study including the site's history and other related matters such as tourism products, convenience, land ownership and readiness of the local community. Tan, who is also Simpang Pulai assemblyman said based on the Perak Tengah District Local Plan 2030 there was a proposal to uplift the image and design of the town in Parit town following the unique colonial design of the existing buildings in the town. -- BERNAMA