FIRST NATIVE TO REPRESENT MALAYSIA AT YACHTING EVENT

LANGKAWI (Malaysia), Jan 2 (Bernama) -- National backup sailor Norashikin
Mohd Sayed will be the first from a Malaysian native community to represent the
country at the International Yachting Championship in Auckland, New Zealand, to
be held in February.

Norashikin, 16, who is in Form Four at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Mahsuri
(a secondary-level school) in northern island resort of Langkawi, is among 23
sailors from the national backup squad undergoing intensive training here since
July as part of their preparation for the 2010 Asian Games in China.

"I'm happy to be the first Orang Asli to represent the country at the
championship," she told Bernama here Thursday.

Norashikin, who hails from Sepang, Selangor, and is from the "Mahmeri"
tribe, said her first stint in the yachting event was in the optimist category
in 2006 at the age of 13 and two years later she progressed to a bigger yacht
through the international 420 event.

The sixth of eight siblings, Norashikin is determined to make it in the list
of the country's squad to the Asian Games in China.
--BERNAMA